er planets were arranged on the same principle
as the Venus list. The motions of the planets were carefully observed.
It was noted whether they rose brilliantly or with a pale color. Their
position towards other stars was determined, and much more the like.
Besides the planets, various stars that were distinguished by their
brilliancy, as Sirius, Antares, Regulus, and also comets, were included
in the sphere of astronomical calculations, and furnished omens to the
priests.

These omens, so far as we may judge from the texts at present published,
all hinge around the same series of events that are referred to in the
illustrations given,--rain, crops, war, distress, the country's
prosperity, the king's welfare or misfortune.

Another piece of evidence is thus furnished for the hypothesis that
these lists are based upon reports made to royal masters, and that the
reports again are obtained from the lists prepared for public and
political needs. We must not, however, conclude from this fact that the
observation of heavenly phenomena was of no significance at all for the
private individual, but only that the position of the king and the
general welfare of the country were regarded of larger moment.

Just as the gods were held responsible chiefly for the larger affairs of
this world, the trifles being relegated to the spirits and demons,[605]
so the planets and stars, as symbols of the gods, were regarded as
auguries for the chief of the country rather than for the miscellaneous
population, and more for the general welfare than for individual
prosperity. The individual shared in the omen furnished, in so far as
his well-being was dependent upon such important contingencies as
whether there was to be war or peace, good crops or bad. A population so
largely engaged in agriculture as the Babylonians were, would be
satisfied if they could be reassured as to the outcome of their work in
the fields. Ihering has properly emphasized the strong hold that the
conception of communal interests obtained in Babylonia.[606] This
conception is reflected in the prominence given to public and political
affairs in the omen lists and 'omen' reports. Agriculture was the primal
factor in producing this conception in the south; war which united the
population, even though military service was forced upon the people, was
the second factor; and in Assyria, where military expeditions occupied a
much larger share of public attention than in Babylonia