This report was sent on the second day of the month of Shebat.[575] From these specimens and others, it is evident that reports regarding the appearance or non-appearance of the new moon were regularly sent. But in addition to this, the kings sent to the observatory on numerous other occasions for information with reference to the significance of certain phenomena. As in the case of the moon, so also for the sun and the stars, reports were transmitted that served as guides in directing the kings in their affairs. So on one occasion Nabu-mushesi forecasts that[576] If the 'great lion' star is dark, It is favorable for the country. If the 'king' star is dark, The chamberlain[577] (?) of the palace dies. The official character of these reports is one of their significant features. Their great variety is an indication of the frequent occasions on which the kings consulted the astrologers. No important enterprise was undertaken without first ascertaining what phenomena might be looked for on the day fixed for any action, and what these phenomena portended. In the case of the Assyrian reports, it is natural to find many allusions to foreign nations, since war occupied so much of the time and energies of the Assyrian rulers. But we have seen that for private affairs the astrologers were also consulted, as well as for the internal affairs of the country. The reports illustrate the practical application of what became known in the ancient world as "Chaldaean wisdom." If, however, we would know the source whence the astrologers derived the knowledge which they furnished in their reports, we must turn to the long lists prepared by the priests, in which all possible phenomena connected with the planets and stars were noted and their meaning indicated. These compilations constitute the 'Priestly Codes' of the Babylonians, and, as already intimated, they were combined just as the incantations and prayers, into series. Many such series must have existed at one time in Babylonia. A great temple was incomplete without its observatory, and we are warranted in concluding that every great religious center of the Euphrates Valley had its collection of omen tablets. The natural ambition of the priests was to make such a series as complete as possible. The larger the number of observations it contained, the greater the possibility of finding an answer to the question put to them. To these lists additions would constantly be made, and, if we may judge from the manner of literary composition that prevailed among the ancient Hebrews and later among the Arabs, the work of the compilers of omen series consisted essentially in combining whatever material they could obtain, and adding such observations as they themselves had made. While, therefore, the omen code of one place might differ in details from that of another, not only would the underlying principles be the same in all, but each series would