Myths of Babylonia and Assyria by Donald A. Mackenzie [1915]

This volume of the Myths and Legends series covers the still nascent subject of ancient Near Eastern mythology. Because the primary documents had only been deciphered a few decades prior to the writing of this book, Mackenzie necessarily has to round out the exposition with a detailed history of the region, Biblical accounts, and speculative cross-cultural comparisons, particularly to Hindu and Northern European mythology and folklore.

The picture emerges of the birth of the world culture in the region which is today known as Iraq. Besides writing, codes of law, irrigation, mathematics, astronomy, urban life and many other innovations, the fertile crescent developed a brutal form of despotism. The history is a constant churn of wars, invasions, massacres, genocide and regicide.

This work remains a decent introduction and reference work for the religion, culture, history and general background of the ancient Near East, and well worth studying by anyone interested in the topic.

Index