How did Hittite experts use favorable or unfavorable omens to identify an offense needing expiation?

Hittite experts identified offenses requiring expiation by using divination to ascertain the cause of divine displeasure. This process relied on three primary methods: augury (observing bird flight), haruspicy (examining animal entrails), and the use of tokens with symbolic names.1

These arts were practiced by specific experts: the bird-watcher, the seer, and the "old woman," respectively. When a question was posed to these experts, the resulting omens were interpreted as either favorable or unfavorable, providing a binary "yes" or "no" response. By systematically applying this method through a lengthy process of elimination, the experts could pinpoint the precise offense that had angered the gods and necessitated expiation. This practice was essential because the Hittites viewed the relationship between humans and gods as that of a servant to a master, where divine anger could cause life on Earth to wither.12