Published under the direction of the Tract Committee
Third Edition--Revised, With Appendices and Notes
Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge
Foreword Chapter I. The Early Traditions Of The Creation. Chapter II. The History, As Given In The Bible, From The Creation To The Flood. Chapter III. The Flood. Appendix. The Second Version Of The Flood-Story. Chapter IV. Assyria, Babylonia, And The Hebrews, With Reference To The So-Called Genealogical Table. The Tower Of Babel. The Patriarchs To Abraham. Chapter V. Babylonia At The Time Of Abraham. The Religious Element. The King. The People. "Year of Samas and Rimmon." Chapter VI. Abraham. Salem. Chapter VII. Isaac, Jacob, And Joseph. Chapter VIII. The Tel-El-Amarna Tablets And The Exodus. Chapter IX. The Nations With Whom The Israelites Came Into Contact. Amorites. Hittites. Jebusites. Girgashites. Moabites. Chapter X. Contact Of The Hebrews With The Assyrians. Sennacherib. Esarhaddon. Assur-Banî-Âpli. Chapter XI. Contact Of The Hebrews With The Later Babylonians. Chapter XII. Life At Babylon During The Captivity, With Some Reference To The Jews. Chapter XIII. The Decline Of Babylon. Appendix. The Stele Inscribed With The Laws Of Hammurabi. Appendix To The Third Edition. Notes And Additions. Index. Footnotes
Bas-relief and inscription of Hammurabi, generally regarded as the Biblical Amraphel (Gen. xiv. 1), apparently dedicated for the saving of his life. In this he bears the title (incomplete) of "King of Amoria" (the Amorites), _lugal Mar[tu]_, Semitic Babylonian _sar mât Amurrî_ (see page 315).
"There is a charm in finding ourselves, our common humanity, our puzzles, our cares, our joys, in the writings of men severed from us by race, religion, speech, and half the gulf of historical time, which no other literary pleasure can equal."--ANDREW LANG.
The present work, being merely a record of things for the most part well known to students and others, cannot, on that account, contain much that is new. All that has been aimed at is, to bring together as many of the old discoveries as possible in a new dress.
It has been thought well to let the records tell their story as far as possible in their own way, by the introduction of translations, thus breaking the monotony of the narrative, and also infusing into it an element of local colour calculated to bring the reader into touch, as it were, with the thoughts and feelings of the nations with whom the records originated. Bearing, as it does, upon the life, history, and legends of the ancient nations of which it treats, controversial matter has been avoided, and the higher criticism left altogether aside.