| Title | : | The Babylonian Legends of the Creation and the Fight Between Bel and the Dragon |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 132 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1921 |
The Babylonian Legends of the Creation and the Fight Between Bel and the Dragon Reviews
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Really enjoyed the opening chapters with all the information that was contained therein. The only thing about the kindle edition I didn't like was the missing photographs. Mainly because the descriptions of the photos were there and weren't very well separated from the main text so as to become annoying. The translation was good but there is alot of missing sections. Since this was such an early translation hopefully we have found the missing pieces to flesh out any newer translations out there. It is a nice introduction for those just coming to the myths.
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Maybe I should have rated it a 5. The problem is, there are so many lacunae! So, as a story it gets a tad confusing.
But that's no charge against Budge. -
Good overview
Great to have these texts easily available. Electronic format isn't the most accessible presentation and the text suffers from the lack of the referenced illustrative plates. -
This suffers from being written in 1921, when the volume of translations was very small and the understanding of the context and meaning was incomplete. This beats having nothing, but I suspect there are now more complete versions with better translations.
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Interesting,
But requires a good deal of knowledge of the literature in order to be really useful. Not for the beginner -
The Babylonians/Assyrians/etc fascinate me. That so much is lost and known only in cobbled-together pieces across civilizations is equally fascinating. So much of modern concepts of these cultures is tarred by the accounts of them in the Bible— oversimplified religion, perceived as heathens and awful people. So a fresh look at their beliefs gives new perspective.
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Non è un testo facilissimo da seguire e da capire, nonostante sia piuttosto breve, però è sicuramente interessante.
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The Babylonian Legends of Creation (1921) was an awesome follow-up to E.A. Wallis Budge's previous short book on the subject of the Great Flood and the Epic of Gilgamish called
The Babylonian Story of the Deluge(1920). I don't know if somehow my disgruntlement with the lack of maps and illustrations made it back in time to 1921 or if someone re-edited the book, but happily, my edition of Legends of Creation did include both a map and illustrations of different gods and demons.
What the book is about is several interpretations from different times and regions of the Babylonian story of creation. I believe there is 4 versions in total in there, raging anywhere in time from about 2500Bc to 600AD. Bossus' and the version on 7 tablets found at Nineveh were my favourites.
An image of Marduk killing Tiamat.
In general, the story is as follows. The primordial serpentine (draconian) goddess Tiamat, along with her partner Apsu created all. If you ask me it's prolly mostly Tiamat, for after Apsu is killed, she goes on creating without a problem. They sort of exist in primordial waters (some say Apsu IS that primordial water... elsewhere I heared it was Tiamat's womb waters etc etc). In those waters exist many of their undifferentiated creations, or what Babylonians called demons. They would probably appear as abominations to the humans then, Men/women combos, beings of multiple-mixtures of animals and humans. From that primordial soup human-looking gods arise, and to them, a champion: god Marduk (or Enlil/Bel in other versions). Marduk kills Tiamat and fashions the world out of her body that keeps the primordial waters out.
Out of the blood of Kingu (Tiamat's ally) and some clay he fashions humans to serve his buddies, the gods. Out of her allies in battle he creates the constellations that pin half of Tiamat's body to the sky.
[image error] -
Great research
- Quote: "There was a time in which there existed nothing but darkness and an abyss of waters, wherein resided most hideous beings, which were produced on a two-fold principle. There appeared men, some of whom were furnished with two wings, others with four, and with two faces. They had one body but two heads; the one that of a man, the other of a woman; and likewise in their several organs both male and female."
- Thoughts: It is a clarifying experience to find that so many roots of modern religions are nothing more than heritage of older, blasphemous and heretic.
Also, Thiamat's campaign against the gods is pretty cool, she was a really badass goddess back in her time. I should get a T-shirt with her someday.
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These are my personal opinions, you may discord, my final rating of the book is not necessarily linked to this system and may diverge from it.
Real life research
- Development: 4/5 stars
- Research: 5/5 stars
- Enjoyment: 4/5 stars
- Writing stile: 4/5 stars
- Translations: 3/5 stars
- Violence level: Ancient gods battles, mention of human sacrifice (real)
- Tech level: Babylon and Assiria
- Religion level: It's a real religion research
- Main genre: Research
- Subgenre: Religion
- Best of it: The author shows different pieces of the same legend, each from different sources, giving us a broader picture of the real faith of those ancient people.
- Worst of it: No pictures in this old format ebook, some tablets and cylinder seals described can be easily found in Google, some others I could not be sure to get the right one, maps would also be helpful, lots of maps
- Aftertaste: It's like lettuce, it is good if you have a taste for it
World
- Real world (Y/N): sure
- Main scenario: Ancient Mesopotamia, museums
Setting
- Historical importance: 5/5 Stars
- Historical deep: 5/5 Stars
- Historical score: 5/5 Stars
- Geopolitical importance: 5/5 Stars
- Geopolitical variety: 5/5 Stars
- Geopolitical score: 5/5 Stars
- Setting overall score: 5/5 Stars
- About the setting: Great real life research -
Creation stories are always interesting. There is a lot that can be learnt from history. Shame that parts of the narrative have been lost over the years.
Worth reading. -
Very interesting read. Incredible that we are able to have a peek into a culture from thousands of years ago
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This edition is missing the pictures which makes alot of the material a bit unclear.
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Interesting
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Quite fascinating! I used this small booklet as a reference for a research paper I wrote this year.
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A good translation, easier to read than the more popular L W King translation.
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Muy interesante la primera mitad donde resume y explica las tablas.
La segunda mitad que son la transcripcion de las tablas es de menos interes a no ser que se sea un estudioso del tema.
