The ancient Chaldeans believed that literature and the art of writing were gifts from the gods, and in the myth which to them explained how knowledge came into the world, it was numbered among the things taught them by the Man-Fish, Oannes. This is the myth as Berosus told it: "There was originally at Babylonia a multitude of men of foreign race who had colonized Chaldea, and they lived without order, like animals. But in the first year (of the new order of things) there appeared from out the Persian Gulf where it borders upon Babylonia, an animal endowed with reason, who was called Oannes. The whole body of the animal was that of a fish, but under the fish's head he had another head, and also feet below, growing out of his fish's tail, similar to those of a man; also human speech, and his image is preserved to this day. This being used to spend the whole day amidst men, without taking any food, and he gave them an insight into letters, and sciences, and every kind of art; he taught them how to found cities, to construct temples, to introduce laws and to measure land; he showed them how to sow seeds and gather in crops; in short, he instructed them in everything that softens manners and makes up civilization, so that from that time no one has invented anything new. Then, when the sun went down, this monstrous Oannes used to plunge back into the sea and spend the night in the midst of the boundless waves, for he was amphibious."
It was believed that learning and letters were under the special protection of the gods, and for this reason it was fitting to preserve books in the temples. The libraries thus established were cared for by scribes and were open to the public. Many were engaged constantly in copying, repairing and taking care of the tablets. An order of celibate priests, not unlike the monks of the Middle Ages, devoted itself to the task of book-making, regarding the work as a pious undertaking.
Among the most ancient books recovered is one containing bits of folk-lore, popular songs and maxims. One of the maxims runs:
"Like an oven that is old
Against thy foes be hard and strong."
A fragment of a ploughman's song says:
"My knees are marching—my feet are not resting;
With no wealth of thy own—grain thou makest for me."
The Creation legends were among the most ancient writings.
"A plant had not been brought forth, a tree had not been created.
A brick had not been made, a beam had not been formed.
A house had not been built, a city had not been constructed.
A city had not been made, earthly things had not been made glorious.
Nipur had not been built, (its temple) E-kura had not been constructed.
Erech had not been built, (its temple) E-Ana had not been constructed.
The deep had not been made, Eridu had not been constructed.
As for the glorious temple (of Eridu), the house of the gods, its seat had not been made.
The whole of the lands, the sea also, (had not been formed).
When within the sea the current was
In that day Eridu was made. E-Sagila was constructed,
E-Sagila which the god Lugal-du-azagga founded within the deep;
Babylon (also) was built, E-Sagila was completed.
The gods and the spirits of the earth were made altogether.
The glorious city, the seat of the joy of their hearts, supremely they proclaimed.
Merodack (Marduk) bound together the slime before the water.
Dust he made and he poured it out with the flood.
The gods were made to dwell in a seat of joy of heart.
He created mankind.
The god Aruru, the seed of mankind, they made with him.
He made the beasts of the field and the living creatures of the desert.
He made the Tigris and Euphrates, and set (them) in (their) places
Well proclaimed he their name.
The ussu-plant, the dittu-plant of the marshland, the reed and the forest he made.
He made the verdure of the plain;
The lands, the marshes, and the greensward also;
Oxen, the young of the horse, the stallion, the mare, the sheep, the locust;
Meadows and forests also.
The he-goat and the gazelle brought forth to him."[1]
Babylonian myths often took the form of epics. The epic of Gilgamesh was popular. Twelve tablets composed it, each corresponding to a zodiacal sign. The Deluge Story made up the eleventh chapter. Another epic, the Descent of Ishtar into Arallu, or Hades, was well known. Ishtar, herself a goddess, mourned a departed god, her consort, so greatly that she braved the terrors of the underworld to find him and to carry him water from the fountain of life, that he might rejoin her. This was the earliest form of a myth which later appeared in many lands.