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# Why I used sheep entrails to predict the Trump era
- URL: https://www.assyriapost.com/why-i-used-sheep-entrails-to-predict-the-trump-era/
- Published: 2026-01-11T22:55:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-11T23:32:59.000Z
- Description: Predicting Donald Trump’s presidency via sheep entrails must rank among the most unusual exercises in academic outreach ever undertaken. But it is just one way Dr Selena Wisnom has brought her Assyrian research to the wider world.
- Author: The Assyria Post
- Tags: Curated stories

****Editor's pick**   
This post is part of hand-picked stories from across the web, curated by the editors of the Assyria Post. 

"Wisnom argues that reading the literature is not enough: "There are all kinds of things you can understand better if you try it than if you just read about it,' she says – an assertion that any teacher of ovine anatomy would second. She chose political prediction because in Assyria divination was a vital political tool. 'They would ask things like, "Is there going to be a rebellion in the south? Is the chief eunuch going to take the throne?"

*Read the full article here:*

[Heritage: Assyrian omens | University of OxfordPredicting Donald Trump’s presidency via sheep entrails![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/f5/5df5a6c1-1f57-4975-951e-ddd33d31dec7/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png)Home HomeDr Selena Wisnom![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/f5/5df5a6c1-1f57-4975-951e-ddd33d31dec7/content/images/thumbnail/her_banner_lion.jpg)](https://www.ox.ac.uk/oxford-heritage-projects/assyrian-omens?ref=assyriapost.com)