Ancient Babylon may have been an autocracy but once a year its subjects knew how to put their rulers in their place. At the new year, the king was publicly humiliated in a ritual of penitence for his wrongdoings. The royal symbols of power were taken away and he was slapped so hard that he cried. If there were no tears, the omens for the new year were not good.
古巴比倫或許一直是一個獨裁國家，但國王的臣民們每年都有一次機會知道，如何讓他們的統治者知道自己並沒有那麼重要。在新年這一天，國王在一項儀式上爲其過失懺悔，並接受公開羞辱。象徵王權的權仗被拿走，國王受到用力的擊打，以致於會痛得哭喊出來。如果國王沒有流出眼淚，那就預示著新的一年的兆頭不好。
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