![]() ![]() In all these cultures, the rainbow was a sign of the divine will. Or blizzard to freeze the summer’s warmth. In the Greek Iliad, the rainbow is similarly viewed as an omen of devastation: Like a lurid rainbow Zeus sends archingĭown to mortal men from the high skies, a sign of war In one Mesopotamian astronomical text (called Mul-Apin), the variable is the rainbow’s direction: “If is in the south: rain. Like other celestial phenomena, the rainbow could be a good or bad omen, depending on the situation. ![]() The rainbow was also viewed as a sign, placed in the heavens by the gods. This is the rationale for astrology, which was invented in Mesopotamia. They were signs or omens placed in the sky by the gods, which cryptically communicate the gods’ plans. But what exactly does it signify? The Rainbow as Heavenly Writingįor most cultures in the ancient world, the movement of stars and other celestial phenomena were viewed as “heavenly writing” ( shitir shamey in Akkadian). But this scientific fact was not known to the ancients, and thus this text understands the rainbow as a supernatural sign. For the modern reader, the rainbow is an optical phenomenon created by the diffraction of water droplets. At the end of the Flood story, God sets his bow ( qeshet)-the rainbow-in the clouds to be a “sign of the covenant between me and the earth” (Genesis 9:13). ![]()
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