1. The Accadians and Babylonians.--2. The Cuneiform Letters.--3.
Babylonian and Assyrian Remains.
1. ACCADIANS AND BABYLONIANS.--Geographically, as well as historically and
ethnographically, the district lying between the Tigris and Euphrates
forms but one country, though the rival kingdoms of Assyria and Babylonia
became, each in turn, superior to the other. The primitive inhabitants of
this district were called Accadians, or Chaldeans, but little or nothing
was known of them until within the last fifteen or twenty years. Their
language was agglutinative, and they were the inventors of the cuneiform
system of writing. The Babylonians conquered this people, borrowed their
signs, and incorporated their literature. Soon after their conquest by the
Babylonians, they established priestly caste in the state and assumed the
worship, laws, and manners of their conquerors. They were devoted to the
science of the stars, and determined the equinoctial and solstitial
points, divided the ecliptic into twelve parts and the day into hours. The
signs, names, and figures of the Zodiac, and the invention of the dial are
some of the improvements in astronomy attributed to this people. With the
decline of Babylon their influence declined, and they were afterwards
known to the Greeks and Romans only as astrologers, magicians, and
soothsayers.
2. THE CUNEIFORM LETTERS.--These characters, borrowed by the Semitic
conquerors of the Accadians, the Babylonians, and Assyrians, were
originally hieroglyphics, each denoting an object or an idea, but they
were gradually corrupted into the forms we see on Assyrian monuments. They
underwent many changes, and the various periods are distinguished as
Archaic, hieratic, Assyrian, and later Babylonian.
3. BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN REMAINS.--The origin and history of this
civilization have only been made known to us by the very recent
decipherment of native monuments. Before these discoveries the principal
source of information was found in the writings of Borosus, a priest of
Babylon, who lived about 300 B.C., and who translated the records of
astronomy into Greek. Though his works have perished, we have quotations
from them in Eusebius and other writers, which have been strikingly
verified by the inscriptions. The chief work on astronomy, compiled for
Sargon, one of the earliest Babylonian monarchs, is inscribed on seventy
tablets, a copy of which is in the British Museum. The Babylonians
understood the movements of the heavenly bodies, and Calisthenes, who
accompanied Alexander on his eastern expedition, brought with him on his
return the observations of 1903 years. The main purpose of all Babylonian
astronomical observation, however, was astrological, to cast horoscopes,
or to predict the weather. Babylon retained for a long time its ancient
splendor after the conquest by Cyrus and the final fall of the empire, and
in the first period of the Macedonian sway. But soon after that time its
fame was extinguished, and its monuments, arts, and sciences perished.
Assyria was a land of soldiers and possessed little native literature. The
more peaceful pursuits had their home in Babylonia, where the universities
of Erech and Borsippa were renowned down to classical times. The larger
part of this literature was stamped in clay tablets and baked, and these
were numbered and arranged in order. Papyrus was also used, but none of
this fragile material has been preserved.
In the reign of Sardanapalus (660-647 B.C.) Assyrian art and literature
reached their highest point. In the ruins of his palace have been found
three chambers the floors of which were covered a foot deep with tablets
of all sizes, from an inch to nine inches long, bearing inscriptions many
of them so minute as to be read only by the aid of a magnifying glass.
Though broken they have been partially restored and are among the most
precious cuneiform inscriptions. They have only been deciphered within the
present century, and thousands of inscriptions are yet buried among the
ruins of Assyria. The most interesting of these remains yet discovered are
the hymns to the gods, some of which strikingly resemble the Hebrew
Psalms. Of older date is the collection of formulas which consists of
omens and hymns and tablets relating to astronomy. Later than the hymns
are the mythological poems, two of which are preserved intact. They are
"The Deluge" and "The Descent of Istar into Hades." They form part of a
very remarkable epic which centred round the adventures of a solar hero,
and into which older and independent lays were woven as episodes. Copies
are preserved in the British Museum. The literature on the subject of
these remains is very extensive and rapidly increasing.