An eclipse threatened the Assyrian king, so another man received his crown—and his predicted death. Behind the substitute-king ritual stood sophisticated astronomy, court politics, and a brutal attempt to outmaneuver fate.
Babylonian astronomers did more than study the sky. Their observations helped determine seasons, harvests, labor, and taxes—turning celestial cycles into instruments of imperial administration.
Writing, wheeled transport, irrigation, medicine, astronomy—the foundations of complex civilization were already taking shape in ancient Mesopotamia thousands of years ago.