The extent to which the common people had been mulcted of their property by the officials of the palace is well illustrated by two of Urukagina's reforms, from which it would appear that the patesi himself and his chief minister, or grand vizir, had enriched themselves by enforcing heavy and unjust fees. One instance concerns the practice of divination by oil, which at this time seems to have been a not uncommon method of foretelling the future. If we may judge from inscriptions of a rather later period, the procedure consisted in pouring out oil upon the surface of water, the different forms taken by the oil on striking the water indicating the course which events would take.[44] To interpret correctly the message of the oil a professional diviner was required, and Urukagina relates that not only did the diviner demand a fee of one shekel for his services, but a similar fee had to be paid to the grand vizir, and no less than five shekels to the patesi himself. That these fees should have been keenly resented is in itself a proof of the extent to which this form of divination was practised. Urukagina tells us that after his accession the patesi, the vizir, and the diviner took money no more; and, since the latter's fee was also abolished, we may probably infer that diviners were a recognized class of the official priesthood, and were not allowed to accept payment except in the form of offerings for the temple to which they were attached. The other matter in which it had been the custom of the patesi and his vizir to accept fees was one in which the evil effects of the practice are more obvious. Urukagina tells us that under the old regime, if a man put away his wife, the patesi took for himself five shekels of silver and the grand vizir one. It is possible that, upon their first introduction, these fees were defended as being a deterrent to divorce. But in practice they had the contrary effect. Divorce could be obtained on no grounds whatever by the payment of what was practically a bribe to the officials, with the result that the obligations of the marriage tie were not respected. The wives of aforetime, according to Urukagina, were possessed by two men with impunity. While abolishing the official fees for divorce, it is probable that Urukagina drew up regulations to ensure that it was not abused, and that compensation, when merited, should be paid to the woman. On the other hand, we have evidence that he inflicted severe punishment for infidelity on the part of the wife, and we may assume that by this means he attempted to stamp out practices which were already beginning to be a danger to the existence of the community.