2-604-918 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Clay model of a sheep's liver, Old Babylonian, about 1900-1600 BC. Probably from Sippar, southern Iraq. The Babylonians believed that the world was controlled by gods and that they could give indications of coming events. One of the most widespread means of prediction was the liver omen, in which a sheep was killed and its liver and lungs examined by a specialist priest, the baru. On this model each box describes the implications of a blemish appearing at this position. From the British Museum's collection.