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| Note: | Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/mythslegendsofba00speniala |
MYTHS & LEGENDS OF BABYLONIA & ASSYRIA
BY
LEWIS SPENCE F.R.A.I.
AUTHOR OF "THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU"
"THE CIVILIZATION OF ANCIENTMEXICO" "THE POPOL VUH"
"THE MYTHS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS"
"MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT EGYPT" ETC.
WITH EIGHT PLATES IN COLOUR BY EVELYN PAUL
AND THIRTY-TWO OTHERILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
GEORGE G. HARRAP & COMPANY, LTD.
2 & 3 PORTSMOUTH STREET KINGSWAY W.C.
1916
Assault on a City from a bas-relief representing theCampaigns of Sennacherib
Photo W.A. Mansell and Co.
PREFACE
The purpose of this book is to provide not only a popular account ofthe religion and mythology of ancient Babylonia and Assyria, but toextract and present to the reader the treasures of romance latent inthe subject, the peculiar richness of which has been recognized sincethe early days of archæological effort in Chaldea. Unfortunately, withfew exceptions, writers who have made the field a special study haverarely been able to triumph over the limitations which so often obtrudein works of scholarship and research. It is true that the pages ofRawlinson, Smith, Layard, and Sayce are enlivened at intervals withpictures of Assyrian splendour and Babylonian glory—gleams whichescape as the curtains which veil the wondrous past are partiallylifted—but such glimpses are only interludes in lengthy disquisitionswhich too often must be tedious for the general reader.
It was such a consideration which prompted the preparation of thisvolume. Might not a book be written which should contain the puregold of Babylonian romance freed from the darker ore of antiquarianresearch? So far, so good. But gold in the pure state is notoriouslyunserviceable, and an alloy which renders it of greater utility maydetract nothing from its brilliance. Romance or no romance, in thesedays it will not do to furnish stories of the gods without attemptingsome definition of their nature and origin. For more than ever beforeromance and knowledge are a necessary blend in the making of asatisfactory book on mythology.
Nevertheless, it is anticipated that it will be to the modern readerwho loves the romance of antiquity that[Pg 6] this book will espe