Babylonian and Assyrian Religion

Religion is the backbone of all cultural societies. The Rev. Professor E. O. James has assembled a great collation of studies on Babylonian and Assyrian religions. E. O. James has chosen a wide view of their ancient culture through their temple building, rituals, mythology, and daily life and government world.

Anyone studying Babylonian and Assyrian religion will find it somewhat similar to early western civilization religions. Early western civilization compared to Babylonian and Assyrian with a hierarchy with kings and priests being the highest rulers. It is hard to realize that very little more than a century ago the script and languages in which the records of the great civilizations of the Tigris-Euphrates valley lay concealed were completely unknown. Anyone who reads this book can fascinate the process of bring to light after so many centuries of oblivion, and the vast treasures of Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations. Much of this has been done since the Flood story was translated and revealed to the world, the astonishing resemblance s between the Hebrew story of the Flood and its more ancient Babylonian predecessor. Students of anthropology, the science of man are beginning to recognize that a Babylonian myth may be as worth of study. The author shows how the Ibo myth for the light is may throw on man s early reactions to his environment and his early social patterns.

The myths of Assyrian and Babylonian religion are given here to explain the book and why it is not possible to prevent Assyrain religion in a separate treatment. Broadly speaking, Babylonian religion, built on the foundation laid by Sumerians, was a mystic religious system based on the fear of evil sprits, and other incalculable elements in the social environment. Also the author points out the existence of important differences between the civilization of Assyria and that of Babylon, in spite of the facts, (a) that an earlier Sumerian culture underlay the civilization of bother countries; (b) that both Assyrians and Babylonians were of Semitic stock and spoke very closely related forms of Semitic language; (c) that the Assyrians borrowed largely from the Babylonians especially in the law and religion.

This book is a general outline of the religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians is mainly concerned with the elements common to both countries, but such outstanding differences as occur will be pointed out in their place.

All of this is presented very interesting manner. Instead of being boring and drown out with unconcerned information, the author broadens you thought in relations with other great epics. With this in thought it will keep an uninteresting topic in to a must reader, and Babylonian and Assyrian religion is a winner in my book.