A Primer of Assyriology

An 1894 introduction to the world of ancient Assyria, including history, religion, literature, and archaeological evidence about everyday life.

Archibald Henry Sayce (Author)

9781108082341, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 February 2016

134 pages, 6 b/w illus.
21.7 x 14.3 x 1 cm, 0.2 kg

Archibald Henry Sayce (1845–1933) became interested in Middle Eastern languages and scripts while still a teenager. Old Persian and Akkadian cuneiform had recently been deciphered, and popular enthusiasm for these discoveries was running high when Sayce began his academic career at Oxford in 1869. This 1894 work, published by the Religious Tract Society, is an introduction for a popular readership to the world of ancient Assyria. Beginning with the geography of Mesopotamia and with the early archaeological discoveries in the region, Sayce next describes the decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions and tablets, and the knowledge gained from them, especially about the history of the region, and government and organisation, before describing religion, literature, and what can be deduced about everyday life. An appendix gives weights and measures, lists of kings and gods, and a chronological table linking events known from the archaeological record to accounts in the Old Testament.

1. The country and its people
2. The discovery and decipherment of the inscriptions
3. Babylonian and Assyrian history
4. Religion
5. Babylonian and Assyrian literature
6. Social life
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Archaeology by period / region [HDD]