Researchers Decipher Writings on 4000-Year-Old Babylonian Cuneiform Tablets, Say The Messages Predicted 'Danger'

Researchers have deciphered the inscription on a set of four clay tablets they unearthed in the past and were stunned by its messages. These tablets were from the ancient Near Eastern civilization of Babylonia, Newsweek reported. Years of analysis have revealed that the inscriptions on these tablets are texts written in cuneiform.

These texts detail around 60 omens, most of which are predictions of distress awaiting kings in the future, and some that tracked the movement of the moon and lunar eclipses. Findings regarding the translation have been published in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies.

The tablets were recovered from Iraq over 100 years ago, The Mirror reported. It was found that the markings on the tablet followed the cuneiform script. The ancient script which originated in the Middle East was used to create many languages like Sumerian and Akkadian. The writing found on the tablets used the script, but its meaning was not clear to the experts, as the language was unknown to linguists.

The tablets are currently with the British Museum which has had its custody since the 1800s, The New York Times reported. Experts analyzed and found the tablets were from 1894 B.C. to 1595 B.C.

In the 1980s, independent researcher, Junko Taniguchi, published a brief description of the tablets and a summary of their contents, Newsweek reported. However, no expert had ever been able to comprehensively translate the text, before the recent study.

The research authors revealed that the tablets contained astrologers' observations regarding lunar eclipses of the time and ominous predictions associated with kings' deaths as well as disasters that were to befell civilizations, The New York Times reported. The team believes that the inscriptions reveal a lot about the strong faith of Babylonians.

"The purpose of the omen texts was to figure out what the gods wanted to communicate, good or bad, so as to take action to avoid any trouble ahead," Andrew George, an Assyriologist and emeritus professor at the University of London said.

One of the omens predicted that there would be an attack on the empire by a locust swarm, Mirror reported. Another indicated that regions of Subartu and Akkad would face destruction, stating  "an eclipse begins in the south and then clears: the downfall of Subartu and Akkad," as per researchers. 

The team further claimed that the omens tracked the moon's movement to prepare for upcoming disasters, The New York Times reported. They speculate that the eclipse of the moon could be a harbinger of a terrestrial figure being 'eclipsed' by negative events like death.

"It is possible that this theory arose from the coincidence of an eclipse and a king’s death — that is, actual experience early in Mesopotamian history," Dr. George said. "But it is also possible that the theory was developed entirely by analogy. We cannot know."