The Scribes of the Letters and Reports. It is hardly possible to overstate the importance of scholars to the kings of the late Assyrian Empire. Residing in cities all over the empire, Assyrian and Babylonian astral diviners in service to the Assyrian kings regularly watched the heavens, excerpted from the omen literature omens that they deemed appropriate to the observations, and sent this information back to the capital. Not only did their correspondence inform kings about what the scholars had observed and which omen from Enuma Anu Enlil and other omen sources could be derived from a particular celestial event, but the letters also advised rulers on propitious times for state activities and the precautions to be taken to avoid bad forecasts—thus influencing policy-making decisions. Their tablets reveal information about conditions within Assyria and...