Our presentation explores the relationship between conceptualizations of law and the observation of natural phenomena in antiquity. We will offer examples from three main cultures of the ancient Mediterranean: Mesopotamia, Greece and Israel.

In the ancient Near East, people tried to explain and predict natural phenomena like illness, the movements of stars and planets, and genetic anomalies through a religious lens. The “laws of nature,” were quite literally divine judgments that humans could interpret through careful empirical observation. By correctly interpreting the divine messages encoded in nature, ancient peoples could not only explain observable phenomena, but also predict the future. Ancient Greeks drew information about future events by consulting nature. Birdwatching was one of the most popular practices, as Greeks drew information from their directions of flight. trees and plants could communicate divine will: oracles where traditionally given under oath-trees, considered a privileged space that enabled humans to communicate with the gods. In ancient Israel and Judah texts and stamp seals often depict the sun as a metaphorical representation of the god Yhwh. Remnants of these ancient Judahite traditions are still preserved in modern Christian liturgy, such as the hymn “Sun of Justice” or in Francis of Assisi’s, “Canticle of the Sun.”