ABSTRACT
If we are to think of ON-IJE as a body of material the oracles must show signs of sharing a common form; otherwise they are no more than a series of unconnected statements or relics of extempore speeches or impromptu writings. If each oracle is composed within a set form common to them all then we are dealing with a specific kind of literature that can be analysed and it will be possible to ask where this form of literature originated and what its purpose was.
