Handbooks on the History of Religions: The Religions of Babylonia and Assyria
by Morris Jastrow, Jr.
1902

To my knowledge this is the first time that the attempt has been made on a somewhat large scale to cover the entire subject of Babylonian-Assyrian civilization for English readers. The aim of this work is to present a survey of the remarkable civilization which arose in the Euphrates Valley thousands of years ago and which, spreading northwards, continued to flourish till close to the threshold of the Christian era.

As a result of the combined activities of explorers, decipherers and investigators of many lands during the past seventy years, we can follow the unfolding of the growth of the centres of settlement in the south which led ultimately to the formation of theB abylonian Empire, and of the offshoot of Babylonian civilization which resulted in the rise of a rival empire to the north, known as Assyria.

While much still remains to be done before we can be said to have solved the problems historical, linguistic, archaeological and ethnological raised by the discoveries made beneath the mounds which concealed the remains of forgotten Babylonian and Assyrian cities for so many centuries, we have learned to know the customs and manners, the religion, the law, the commerce and art of both Babylonia and Assyria quite Ultimately. We know how these peoples lived and how they died, the arrangement of their houses, palaces and temples, as well as of their tombs; their daily life and their religious aspirations.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)