Babylonian Life and History (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

by E. A. Wallis Budge, Magnus Widell (Introduction)

Overview

This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading.In E. A. Wallis Budge's classic work, Babylonian Life and History, the reader will find everything from Babylonian vampires to the practice of "baby farming" in Mesopotamia. Budge brings to his readers the most famous Mesopotamian myths and legends, such as mankind's first recorded story of the Creation, the Babylonian story of the Great Flood, and the adventures of the world's first epic hero, Gilgamesh. The work provides an introduction to the religious, political, and intellectual foundations of ancient Babylonia.

The book continues as a chronological survey of many of the most important and formative historical events of the ancient Near East, from the beginning of written history in the fourth millennium BC until Mesopotamia became part of the Persian Empire in 539 BC. This survey is rounded off by a detailed description of the city of Babylon and its many well-known monuments. Additionally, we learn about the extensive German excavations of the site directed by Robert Koldewey from 1899 to 1912. Almost every chapter of Babylonian Life and History is full of longer excerpts of ancient texts, in English translations, and provides an account of the history, religion, archaeology, and literature of ancient Babylonia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781411467132
Publisher:	Barnes & Noble
Publication date:	03/13/2012
Series:	Barnes & Noble Digital Library
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	321,276
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was born in London on July 27, 1857. His fascination with the history and languages of Egypt and the Near East led him to Cambridge University, where he studied several ancient languages, including Egyptian hieroglyphics, Coptic Hebrew, Syriac, and Ethiopic. Budge was Keeper of the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum for forty years. He directed several archaeological expeditions in Egypt, the Sudan, and the Near East for the British Museum. He also published a spectacular number of scholarly and semi-scholarly books and articles of somewhat mixed quality. In 1920, he received a knighthood. Budge died November 23, 1934, in London, and was buried in Nunhead Cemetery in south London, bequeathing his private library to Christ's College, Cambridge.