What was the purpose of these "Tables?"

A table is an item of furniture with a flat top and one or more legs, used as a surface for working at, eating from or on which to place things.

Tables are widely used in communication, research, and data analysis. ... Further, tables differ significantly in variety, structure, flexibility, notation, representation and use. In books and technical articles, tables are typically presented apart from the main text in numbered and captioned floating blocks..

rain should be the answer.

no because it could make the world a terrible place to live in.