[Illustration: CLAY CYLINDER OF TIGLATH-PILESER I.]

_Present Day Primers_

_Primer of Assyriology_

BY

A. H. SAYCE, LL.D.

PROFESSOR OF ASSYRIOLOGY, OXFORD AUTHOR OF 'FRESH LIGHT FROM THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS' 'ASSYRIA, ITS PRINCES, PRIESTS, AND PEOPLE,' ETC.

WITH SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 56 PATERNOSTER ROW AND 65 ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD

_First Edition, September, 1894._

CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER I

THE COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE

Geography--Population and Language--The Chaldaeans--The Kassi-- Natural Products--Canals--Architecture--Asphalt and Naphtha-- Character of the Babylonians and Assyrians 7

CHAPTER II

THE DISCOVERY AND DECIPHERMENT OF THE INSCRIPTIONS

The Site of Babylon--The Site of Nineveh--Excavations--The Decipherment of the Inscriptions--The Decipherment tested-- Sumerian--Vannic--Other Languages--The origin of the Cuneiform Syllabary--Simplification of the Syllabary 18

CHAPTER III

BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN HISTORY

Different States in Babylonia--The first Empire--The monuments of Tello--Chronology--The United Monarchy--The rise of Assyria-- Babylon a sacred city--Tiglath-pileser I--The First Assyrian Empire--The Second Assyrian Empire--The Babylonian Empire--Cyrus and the Fall of Babylon--Belshazzar--Decay of Babylon 42

CHAPTER IV

RELIGION

The religions of Babylonia and Assyria--Differences between Babylonian and Assyrian religion--Sumerian religion Shamanistic-- Two centres of Babylonian religion--Semitic influence--The goddess Istar--Bel-Merodach--Other deities--Sacred books and ritual--The Priests--The Temples--Astro-theology--Sacrifices and offerings--The Sabbath--Monotheistic tendency--The future life--Cosmology 80

CHAPTER V

BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN LITERATURE

Aids to the reading of the texts--The libraries--Varieties of literature--The texts autotypes--Astronomy--Mathematics--Medicine and law--History and mythology--The Chaldaean epic and the Deluge--Epic of the Creation 95

CHAPTER VI

Table of contents (by pages)

• 1: A Primer of Assyriology by A. H. Sayce
• 2: From Pura came the Semitic Purat
• 3: ' dingir ene ku 'to the gods
• 4: Babylonia also furnishes asphalt and naphtha
• 5: And by the Turks Eski Mosul
• 6: The Decipherment of the Inscriptions
• 7: The next step of importance was taken by Rask in 1826
• 8: Sayce's decipherment of the inscriptions of Mal Amir
• 9: Like those of de Saulcy in 1847
• 10: A bilingual text Assyrian and Vannic
• 11: ' Simplification of the Syllabary
• 12: Not only were there separate kingdoms in Accad and Sumer
• 13: Kudur Mabug was not himself king
• 14: And that lists of the older limmi may yet be recovered
• 15: 847 Hadadezer and his allies were again defeated
• 16: Tiglath pileser reigned eighteen years B
• 17: Rezon was blockaded in his capital
• 18: Sennacherib thereupon proceeded against the Philistines
• 19: The step son and successor of Tirhakah
• 20: Saul suma yukin was less fortunate
• 21: One is an inscription of Nabonidos himself
• 22: One of the sons of Nabonidos was Belshazzar
• 23: Nipur was the seat of Shamanism
• 24: Along with Ea and Bel of Nipur
• 25: The priests of Istar and the 'elders
• 26: The sabattu is described as 'a day of rest for the heart
• 27: 2 The ideographs often prove a great assistance
• 28: Illustration PART OF AN ASSYRIAN BOOK
• 29: And here conversed with Xisuthrus
• 30: Some of them have Aramaic dockets attached to them
• 31: That in the reign of Nabonidos
• 32: 60 Uban 'fingers' 1 Ammat 'cubit'
• 33: Rendered by the Semitic bit ili Beth el
• 34: Called Tiglath pileser III in Assyria 727 Ulula
• 35: Bel Kapkapu 'the founder of the monarchy'
• 36: Shalmaneser II defeats Hadadezer of Damascus