A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Those readers who may desire to enlarge their information on any particular subject referred to in this volume cannot do better than consult the following works. For a history of the excavations, Hilprecht’s Explorations in Bible Lands (T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh), is a most useful book. For further details regarding the excavations at Nippur Peters’ Nippur, or Explorations and Adventures on the Euphrates (Putman) should be consulted, and also Fisher’s Excavations at Nippur (Philadelphia). For a study of cuneiform writing and the inscriptions, Sayce’s Archæology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions (S.P.C.K.) should be read. It is the most recent work on the subject, is full of interest and original ideas. For the literature of the Babylonians and Assyrians, see Harper’s Literature of the Assyrians and Babylonians, (Aldine Library), which contains the translation of a thoroughly representative selection of the literary products of both countries.
An account of the excavations carried on during the last decade by the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft at Babylon and Ashur will be found in the official reports of Koldewey and Andrae in the Mitteilungen of the Society (published by J. Hinrichs’sche, Buchhandlung Leipzig), while for a detailed account of the Anu-Adad temple at Ashur Andrae’s Der Anu-Adad Tempel (also published by Hinrichs) should be consulted. The works of De Sarzec and Heuzey (published by E. Leroux, Paris) should be studied by those who wish to gain a full and comprehensive account of the excavations at Tellô; of these the Découvertes en Chaldée is the most important. This magnificently illustrated work, which contains a complete statement of the early discoveries made on this site, and also a critical and well-balanced judgment of the deductions which we may make from those discoveries, is unquestionably one of the most important contributions to the study of Sumerian art. Of M. Heuzey’s smaller works, Une Villa Royale Chaldéenne (Leroux, Paris) is calculated to be of special interest to the student of Babylonian architecture, while his numerous articles in the Revue d’Assyriologie (Leroux, Paris) and papers in the Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres solve many of the problems which beset the study of oriental art. In regard to Cylinder-seals, the monumental work which has recently been published by W. Hayes Ward, The Cylinder-Seals of Western Asia (Carnegie Institute) is by far the most comprehensive on the subject, and is the culmination of a great many years’ research in the public and private collections of Europe and America.
For the study of Law, the reader should consult C. J. Johns’ Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters (Edinburgh), Assyrian Deeds and Documents (Cambridge), and An Assyrian Doomsday Book (Delitzsch and Haupt, Assyriologische Bibliothek, Band XVII, Leipzig), while the student of Babylonian and Assyrian Religion should refer to Morris Jastrow’s Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (Boston, U.S.A), which is the only exhaustive work on the subject. For a detailed and comprehensive treatment of the arts and crafts of the Babylonians and Assyrians in the light of the material available when the book was published, Perrot and Chipiez, History of Art in Chaldaea and Assyria (Chapman & Hall, London; A. C. Armstrong & Son, New York) should be read.
In regard to manners, customs and general mode of life, reference should be made to the standard works of Maspero—The Dawn of Civilization, The Struggle of the Nations, and The Passing of the Empires (S.P.C.K., London), to the same writer’s (Maspero) Life in Ancient Egypt and Assyria (Chapman & Hall) to Sayce’s Assyrians and Babylonians (J. C. Nimmo, London); and to Delitzsch’s Handel und Wandel in Altbabylonien (Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart), while for military matters, the reader should consult J. Hunger’s Heerwesen und Kriegführung der Assyrer in Der Alte Orient 1911.
This volume does not deal with the history of the Babylonians and Assyrians, but those interested in that branch should read Rogers’ History of Babylonia and Assyria (Eaton & Mains, New York; Jennings & Pye, Cincinnati), Goodspeed’s A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians (Smith, Elder & Co., London); and the standard-works of Maspero—The Dawn of Civilization, The Struggle of the Nations and The Passing of the Empires (S.P.C.K., London) for a general history, while for the early period King’s Sumer and Akkad (Chatto & Windus) and Radau’s Early Babylonian History (Oxford University Press) should be studied.
LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT
KINGS AND RULERS
AND A BRIEF CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY
| Approximate dates B.C. | |
| Mesilim, king of Kish, suzerain of Southern Babylonia | 3000 |
| First Dynasty of Lagash. | |
| Ur-Ninâ, the founder of dynasty Akurgal Eannatum Enannatum I Entemena Enannatum II Enetarzi Enlitarzi Lugal-anda | 3000 |
Urukagina, defeated by Lugal-zaggisi, king of Erechand Sumer | 2800 |
| Dynasty of Kish. | |
| Sharru-Gi Manishtusu Urumush | 2750 |
| Dynasty of Agade. | |
Shar-Gâni-sharri, established empire embracing Assyria,Syria and Palestine | 2650 |
| Narâm-Sin | |
| Second Dynasty of Lagash. | |
| Ur-Bau | 2500 |
| Gudea | 2450 |
| Ur-Engur | 2400 |
Dungi, sacks Babylon, exercises suzerainty over Babylonia,extends his sway to Elam | |
| Bur-Sin I Gamil-Sin Ibi-Sin | |
| Dynasty of Isin. | 2300-2100 |
| First Dynasty of City of Babylon. | |
Khammurabi, king of Babylon, establishes a powerfulkingdom in Babylonia, expels the Elamites whohad effected a settlement in Ur and Larsa, restoresShar-Gâni-Sharri’s empire in Palestine and embracesAssyria within the sphere of his influence | 1900 |
KhaThis dynasty is brought to an end by an invasionof the Hittites, who captured Babylon | |
KhaThe Kassites from the mountainous district, east ofthe Tigris, invade Babylonia and establish themselvesas kings of Babylon. About a centuryafter the Kassite invasion Assyria asserts her independenceand becomes a separate kingdom | |
| (?) Ushpia,[192] the probable founder of the temple ofAshur | 2100 |
(?) Ki-Ki-a, the first builder of the Dûru at Ashur,restorer of the temple of Ashur, and builder ofthe Adad-temple | 2000 |
| Shalmaneser I | 1300 |
| Tukulti-Ninib I, king of Assyria, conquers Babylonia | 1275 |
| Ashur-rêsh-ishi | 1140 |
| Tiglath-Pileser I | 1100 |
| Ashur-naṣir-pal extends the limits of the empire | 885-860 |
Shalmaneser II becomes master of the whole ofWestern Asia. The Israelites under Jehuacknowledge his suzerainty | 860-825 |
Tiglath-Pileser III recovers the ground lost by hisimmediate predecessors, carries the tribes ofReuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manassehinto captivity | 745-727 |
| Shalmaneser IV besieges Samaria | 727-722 |
Sargon, the usurper, takes Samaria and transportsmost of population; defeats Egyptians andPhilistines at Raphia; reduces Babylonia,carries on war in Elam; builds great palace atKhorsabad | 722-705 |
Sennacherib reduces rebellious Babylonia; defeatsEgyptians at Altaku in Dan; carries on warin Palestine; Hezekiah of Judah acknowledgeshis suzerainty; destroys Babylon (689) | 705-681 |
| Esarhaddon conquers Lower Egypt (672) | 681-668 |
Ashur-bani-pal invades Egypt, the latter havingthrown off the Assyrian yoke; sacks Thebes,the Egyptian capital (666); entirely subjugatesElam; defeats and puts to death Shamash-shum-ukîn,Viceroy of Babylonia | 668-626 |
KhaEgypt and Lydia assert their independence | |
KhaThe Medes made raid on the eastern bordersof the empire (circ. 634) | |
Ashur-bani-pal dies | 626 |
| Neo-Babylonian Dynasty. | |
| Nabopolassar | 625-604 |
Nebuchadnezzar II defeated Necho, king of Egypt,before his accession; captures Jerusalem andtakes Judah into captivity | 604-561 |
Nabonidus, entrusts Babylon to his son Belshazzar.Cyrus, the Persian, invades Babylonia, capturesBabylon and destroys the Neo-BabylonianEmpire | 555-538 |