Voices of the Past: From Assyria and Babylonia

The land that extends between the Tigres and Euphrates rivers had but one rival in the ancient world, that of Egypt, and there are doubts whether Egypt is as old. The fertile crescent, as it was known, supported what most scholars agree was the world’s first civilization. This bountiful earth had many names throughout the ages. To the Greeks it was known as Mesopotamia. This prime agricultural land was divided into two parts, the upper region or hill country, known as Assyria; and the lower region, or alluvial plain known as Chaldea. In both of these great countries large cities once flourished, and a high proficiency in the arts and sciences were attained many centuries before Christ. Many times entire civilizations have disappeared from the annals of history, only to reappear millennia later under a rubbish heap in some unknown desert. Even after many centuries of exhaustive study, we know very little of the Babylonian people. Aside from the few cuneiform tablets which have survived, much of what has come down to us, in terms of their civilization, their practices and customs, we’ve learned from the Greeks. If it were not for the concerted effort on the part of ancient scribes to translate some of the cuneiform text into a western script, many of these important documents would have been lost to history. In 280 B.C.E., one such scribe, a priest by the name of Berosus, wrote a “History of Chaldea,” as it was then known, for a monarch in Macedonia. Berosus had access to much of the original Babylonian literature, but the process of selection and translation by later writers have diluted much of essence of what was recorded. This book is divided in two parts. The first half details the history of Assyria and how, after many centuries of prominence, they were overthrown by the concerted aggression, and subsequent attacks, from their bitterest of enemies, the Medes* and Babylonians. The great library at Nineveh was recognized throughout the ancient world as a storehouse for the repository of man’s knowledge of the day. This book, originally published over one hundred years ago, provides the reader with a commensurate account of what was known about these great civilizations at that time. Some of this knowledge has been passed down to our generation, and it our duty, if not our birth-right, to duly record and pass this information along for our descendents to enjoy. To that end, this book will make a welcome addition to any collection on ancient history. * Historians know relatively little about the culture of the Medes except that they were polytheistic and were ruled by a caste of warrior priests known as the Magi. Beginning about 835 B.C.E. the Median tribes became irregularly subordinate to the kings of Assyria and eventually rebelled. After many ferocious battles, and with the help of the newly independent nation of Babylonia, the Medians finally captured the Assyrian capital in 612 B.C.E. and, with the help of the Chaldeans, went on to control the fertile valley until the Persians took power in about 550 B.C.E. The point is that the Medes were considered a fierce and ruthless people, not unlike some found in “The Media” today. ISBN 1-59016-892-5 o 219 + 24 illustrated pages o 6 x 9 o tradepaper o illustrated.