Destiny. In the Mesopotamian worldview, the powers granted to the gods were considered essential for maintaining the cosmic and world orders against the constant threat of demonic chaos. The gods were said to control and be controlled by an ill-defined design, some sort of powerful and ever-present law of nature to which they had to conform. However, just as the ruler was in charge of even the smallest areas of his administration, so too the gods had to oversee the functioning of all life on earth, lest man and the demons destabilize the world. The gods' directives to mankind were not easy for humans to grasp. They had to be deciphered through techniques of divination.

Divination. In Mesopotamia the gods gave signs of their intent through events. Man sought to learn what the future held by identifying and interpreting signs in the world...