23 chapters
26 hour read
Selected Chapters
23 chapters
Donald A. Mackenzie
Donald A. Mackenzie
List of Figures This volume deals with the myths and legends of Babylonia and Assyria, and as these reflect the civilization in which they developed, a historical narrative has been provided, beginning with the early Sumerian Age and concluding with the periods of the Persian and Grecian Empires. Over thirty centuries of human progress are thus passed under review. During this vast interval of time the cultural influences emanating from the Tigro-Euphrates valley reached far-distant shores along
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Preface
Preface
The student will find footing on surer ground by following the process which exalts the dragon of the folk tale into the symbol of evil and primordial chaos. The Babylonian Creation Myth, for instance, can be shown to be a localized and glorified legend in which the hero and his tribe are displaced by the war god and his fellow deities whose welfare depends on his prowess. Merodach kills the dragon, Tiamat, as the heroes of Eur-Asian folk stories kill grisly hags, by casting his weapon down her
31 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Introduction
Introduction
In sacred literature proud Babylon became the city of the anti-Christ, the symbol of wickedness and cruelty and human vanity. Early Christians who suffered persecution compared their worldly state to that of the oppressed and disconsolate Hebrews, and, like them, they sighed for Jerusalem--the new Jerusalem. When St. John the Divine had visions of the ultimate triumph of Christianity, he referred to its enemies--the unbelievers and persecutors--as the citizens of the earthly Babylon, the doom of
52 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter I. The Races and Early Civilization of Babylonia
Chapter I. The Races and Early Civilization of Babylonia
Figure I.2. STATUE OF A ROYAL PERSONAGE OR OFFICIAL OF NON-SEMITIC ORIGIN ( British Museum ) Much controversy has been waged regarding the original home of the Sumerians and the particular racial type which they represented. One theory connects them with the lank-haired and beardless Mongolians, and it is asserted on the evidence afforded by early sculptural reliefs that they were similarly oblique-eyed. As they also spoke an agglutinative language, it is suggested that they were descended from
56 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter II. The Land of Rivers and the God of the Deep
Chapter II. The Land of Rivers and the God of the Deep
This historic country is bounded on the east by Persia and on the west by the Arabian desert. In shape somewhat resembling a fish, it lies between the two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, 100 miles wide at its broadest part, and narrowing to 35 miles towards the "tail" in the latitude of Baghdad; the "head" converges to a point above Basra, where the rivers meet and form the Shatt-el-Arab, which pours into the Persian Gulf after meeting the Karun and drawing away the main volume of th
55 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter III. Rival Pantheons and Representative Deities
Chapter III. Rival Pantheons and Representative Deities
Ea-bani was attracted to Erech by the gift of a fair woman for wife. The poet who lauded him no doubt mirrored public opinion. We can see the slim, shaven Sumerians gazing with wonder and admiration on their rough heroic ally. Like the giant Alban, the eponymous ancestor of a people who invaded prehistoric Britain, Ea-bani appears to have represented in Babylonian folk legends a certain type of foreign settlers in the land. No doubt the city dwellers, who were impressed by the prowess of the hai
59 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter IV. Demons, Fairies, and Ghosts
Chapter IV. Demons, Fairies, and Ghosts
Some modern writers, who are too prone to regard ancient peoples from a twentieth-century point of view, express grave doubts as to whether "intelligent Babylonians" really believed that spirits came down in the rain and entered the soil to rise up before men's eyes as stalks of barley or wheat. There is no reason for supposing that they thought otherwise. The early folks based their theories on the accumulated knowledge of their age. They knew nothing regarding the composition of water or the a
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter V. Myths of Tammuz and Ishtar
Chapter V. Myths of Tammuz and Ishtar
The weeping ceremony was connected with agricultural rites. Corn deities were weeping deities, they shed fertilizing tears; and the sowers simulated the sorrow of divine mourners when they cast seed in the soil "to die", so that it might spring up as corn. This ancient custom, like many others, contributed to the poetic imagery of the Bible. "They that sow in tears", David sang, "shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VI. Wars of the City States of Sumer and Akkad
Chapter VI. Wars of the City States of Sumer and Akkad
The capital of the Elamites was the city of Susa, where excavations have revealed traces of an independent civilization which reaches back to an early period in the Late Stone Age. Susa is referred to in the Old Testament--"The words of Nehemiah.... I was in Shushan the palace". [ 144 ] An Assyrian plan of the city shows it occupying a strategic position at a bend of the Shawur river, which afforded protection against Sumerian attacks from the west, while a canal curved round its northern and ea
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VII. Creation Legend: Merodach the Dragon Slayer
Chapter VII. Creation Legend: Merodach the Dragon Slayer
Figure VII.2. "THE SEVEN TABLETS OF CREATION" From the Library of Ashur-bani-pal at Kouyunjik (Nineveh): now in the British Museum Now Apsu and Tiamat remained amidst confusion in the deeps of chaos. They were troubled because their offspring, the high gods, aspired to control the universe and set it in order. [ 153 ] Apsu was still powerful and fierce, and Tiamat snarled and raised tempests, smiting herself. Their purpose was to work evil amidst eternal confusion. Then Apsu called upon Mummu, h
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VIII. Deified Heroes: Etana and Gilgamesh
Chapter VIII. Deified Heroes: Etana and Gilgamesh
When a great national hero appealed by reason of his achievements to the imagination of a people, all the floating legends of antiquity were attached to his memory, and he became identified with gods and giants and knight-errants "old in story". In Scotland, for instance, the boulder-throwing giant of Eildon hills bears the name of Wallace, the Edinburgh giant of Arthur's Seat is called after an ancient Celtic king, [ 190 ] and Thomas the Rhymer takes the place, in an Inverness fairy mound calle
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter IX. Deluge Legend, the Island of the Blessed, and Hades
Chapter IX. Deluge Legend, the Island of the Blessed, and Hades
"I heard the command of Ea and understood, and I made answer, saying, 'O wise lord, as thou hast said so will I do, for thy counsel is most excellent. But how shall I give reason for my doings to the young men and the elders?' "Ea opened his mouth and said unto me, his servant: 'What thou shalt say unto them is this.... It hath been revealed unto me that Bel doth hate me, therefore I cannot remain any longer in his domain, this city of Shurippak, so I must depart unto the domain of Ea and dwell
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter X. Buildings and Laws and Customs of Babylon
Chapter X. Buildings and Laws and Customs of Babylon
No doubt, Hammurabi's Babylon closely resembled the later city so vividly described by Greek writers, although it was probably not of such great dimensions. According to Herodotus, it occupied an exact square on the broad plain, and had a circumference of sixty of our miles. "While such is its size," the historian wrote, "in magnificence there is no other city that approaches to it." Its walls were eighty-seven feet thick and three hundred and fifty feet high, and each side of the square was fif
57 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XI. The Golden Age of Babylonia
Chapter XI. The Golden Age of Babylonia
Sumu-la-ilu was evidently a great general and conqueror of the type of Thothmes III of Egypt. His empire, it is believed, included the rising city states of Assyria, and extended southward as far as ancient Lagash. Of special interest on religious as well as political grounds was his association with Kish. That city had become the stronghold of a rival family of Amoritic kings, some of whom were powerful enough to assert their independence. They formed the Third Dynasty of Kish. The local god wa
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XII. Rise of the Hittites, Mitannians, Kassites, Hyksos, and Assyrians
Chapter XII. Rise of the Hittites, Mitannians, Kassites, Hyksos, and Assyrians
These early Hittites are "a people of the mist". More than once in ancient history casual reference is made to them; but on most of these occasions they soon vanish suddenly behind their northern mountains. The explanation appears to be that at various periods great leaders arose who were able to weld together the various tribes, and make their presence felt in Western Asia. But when once the organization broke down, either on account of internal rivalries or the influence of an outside power, t
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIII. Astrology and Astronomy
Chapter XIII. Astrology and Astronomy
Reference has already been made to the growth of art, and the probability that all the arts had their origin in magical practices, and to the growth of popular education necessitated by the centralization of business in the temples. It remains with us to deal now with priestly contributions to the more abstruse sciences. In India the ritualists among the Brahmans, who concerned themselves greatly regarding the exact construction and measurements of altars, gave the world algebra; the pyramid bui
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIV. Ashur the National God of Assyria
Chapter XIV. Ashur the National God of Assyria
Damascius rendered Anshar's name as "Assōros", a fact usually cited to establish Ashur's connection with that deity. This writer stated that the Babylonians passed over "Sige, [ 357 ] the mother, that has begotten heaven and earth", and made two--Apason (Apsu), the husband, and Tauthe (Tiawath or Tiamat), whose son was Moymis (Mummu). From these another progeny came forth--Lache and Lachos (Lachmu and Lachamu). These were followed by the progeny Kissare and Assōros (Kishar and Anshar), "from whi
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XV. Conflicts for Trade and Supremacy
Chapter XV. Conflicts for Trade and Supremacy
These sudden and dramatic changes are causing history to repeat itself. Once again the great World Powers are evincing much concern regarding their respective "spheres of influence" in Western Asia, and pressing together around the ancient land of Babylon. On the east, where the aggressive Elamites and Kassites were followed by the triumphant Persians and Medes, Russia and Britain have asserted themselves as protectors of Persian territory, and the influence of Britain is supreme in the Persian
50 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVI. Race Movements that Shattered Empires
Chapter XVI. Race Movements that Shattered Empires
When Syria was sustaining the first shocks of Aramaean invasion, the last wave of Achaeans, "the tamers of horses" and "shepherds of the people", had achieved the conquest of Greece, and contributed to the overthrow of the dynasty of King Minos of Crete. Professor Ridgeway identifies this stock, which had been filtering southward for several centuries, with the tall, fair-haired, and grey-eyed "Keltoi" (Celts), [ 413 ] who, Dr. Haddon believes, were representatives of "the mixed peoples of north
57 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVII. The Hebrews in Assyrian History
Chapter XVII. The Hebrews in Assyrian History
The Syro-Cappadocian Hittites had grown once again powerful and prosperous, but no great leader like Subbiluliuma arose to weld the various States into an Empire, so as to ensure the protection of the mingled peoples from the operations of the aggressive and ambitious war-lords of Assyria. One kingdom had its capital at Hamath and another at Carchemish on the Euphrates. The kingdom of Tabal flourished in Cilicia (Khilakku); it included several city States like Tarsus, Tiana, and Comana (Kammanu)
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVIII. The Age of Semiramis
Chapter XVIII. The Age of Semiramis
As queen or queen-mother, Sammu-rammat occupied as prominent a position in Assyria as did Queen Tiy of Egypt during the lifetime of her husband, Amenhotep III, and the early part of the reign of her son, Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton). The Tell-el-Amarna letters testify to Tiy's influence in the Egyptian "Foreign Office", and we know that at home she was joint ruler with her husband and took part with him in public ceremonials. During their reign a temple was erected to the mother goddess Mut, and bes
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIX. Assyria's Age of Splendour
Chapter XIX. Assyria's Age of Splendour
Tiglath-pileser combined in equal measure those qualities of generalship and statesmanship which were necessary for the reorganization of the Assyrian state and the revival of its military prestige. At the beginning of his reign there was much social discontent and suffering. The national exchequer had been exhausted by the loss of tribute from revolting provinces, trade was paralysed, and the industries were in a languishing condition. Plundering bands of Aramaeans were menacing the western fro
2 hour read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XX. The Last Days of Assyria and Babylonia
Chapter XX. The Last Days of Assyria and Babylonia
Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth.... Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans.... Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save the
31 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter