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The History of Babylonia. Ed. by A.h. Sayce
The History of Babylonia Ed by Ah Sayce Author:George Smith General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1884 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER II. THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. Origin and chronology of Babylonian history -- The ten antediluvian kings of Berosus -- The Flood -- The Garden of Eden -- The Izdhubar or Nimrod legends -- Discoveries in Southern Babylonia, In the antiquity of its civilization and history Babylonia has no rival in Asia, and the only country in the world which can compare with it, in these respects, is Egypt. The history of Babylonia has an interest of a wider kind than that of Egypt, from its more intimate connection with the general history of the human race, and from the remarkable influence which its religion, its science, and its civilization have had on all subsequent human progress. Its religious traditions, carried away by the Israel1tes who came out from Ur of the Chaldees,1 have 1 Gen. xi. 31. through this wonderful people, become the heritage of all mankind, while its science and civilization, through the medium of the Greeks and Romans, have become the bases of modern research and advancement. The extent of country comprehended under the name of Babylonia varied at different times, and it is impossible to fix the exact boundaries of the country at any period during the empire, for alternate conquest and defeat caused the boundaries to fluctuate continually. Generally speaking, it comprehended the country from near the Lower Zab to the Persian Gulf, about 400 miles long, and from Elam, east of the Tigris, to the Arabian Desert, west of the Euphrates, an average breadth of 150 miles. Within this space, in early times, there were several kingdoms; and often, at a later period, local chiefs made themse...« less