Babylonian Books.

"General view of the contents of Babylonian books" was the subject of Professor Lyons lecture yesterday afternoon. The Babylonians and Assyrians had many libraries at Larsa, Cuthra, Sippar, Calah and Nineveh. From the last named, the youngest of all (668-626 B. C.) many of the most valuable books have come. The writings may be classed as historical, imaginative, religious, scientific and social. The historical records, giving the accounts of the royal wars, limits and erection of cities, palaces and temples, are written on rock mountain sides, on stone statues, monuments, and slabs, but especially on clay books in the shape of prisms, cylinders and tablets. Besides such documents there are others of the nature of historical compilations, while still others are proclamations or letters from the king, petitions to him or reports from his generals and his governors. The total impression made by such records when taken in connection with the art remains is that of enormous power and enterprise. The politics of western Asia pass before us like a mighty panorama. The products of the imagination are partly mythical and partly legendary. The great poem known as the Izdubar epic seems to be a solar myth and contains as an episode a deluge story practically the same as in the book of Genesis. There are also tablets recording the adventures of the goddess of love, the story of creation and the wars of the god. From the religion of the people come many tablets with hymns and psalms to the gods, some of the psalms having passages strikingly similar to the Biblical psalms. The theological system, with its greater gods and its demons, can be pretty thoroughly made out. In the sciences, especially mathematics and astronomy, considerable progress was made. Numerous astronomical reports exist. There are also writings showing the beginning of grammar, legicograhy, medicine, botany, zoology and geology. The enormous number of books relating to the social and private life of the people is reserved for the next lecture.

Attention was directed to various works on Babylonian-Assyrian topics, as The Records of the Past, (new ed.), the histories of George Smith, Modern Ragosin, C. P. Tiele, Schrader's Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, The Hibbert Lectures for 1887 (Sayce), George Smith's Chaldean account of Genesis, Kellner's translation of the story of the deluge, Zimmer's Babylonische Busspsalmea and Perrot and Chipier on Ancient Art.