This article examines observation and description of the world through divination and astronomy in ancient Mesopotamian scribal culture. It discusses observation-statements that stand in relation to the omen divination programme and the astronomical observations of the Babylonian Diaries focusing on their relationships and the formation of the empirical foundation of mathematical astronomy. It suggests that the modern reconstruction of the Babylonian mathematical astronomical texts has been of profound significance for the history of science because the foundation of Western astronomy is...

This article examines observation and description of the world through divination and astronomy in ancient Mesopotamian scribal culture. It discusses observation-statements that stand in relation to the omen divination programme and the astronomical observations of the Babylonian Diaries focusing on their relationships and the formation of the empirical foundation of mathematical astronomy. It suggests that the modern reconstruction of the Babylonian mathematical astronomical texts has been of profound significance for the history of science because the foundation of Western astronomy is traceable in those sources.