比龙尼亚和阿西里亚的宗教The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria - Theophilus Goldridge Pinches.pdf

THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA Theophilus G. Pinches, LL.D. 1 THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA CHAPTER I FOREWORD Position, and Period. The religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians was the polytheistic faith professed by the peoples inhabiting the Tigris and Euphrates valleys from what may be regarded as the dawn of history until the Christian era began, or, at least, until the inhabitants were brought under the influence of Christianity. The chronological period covered may be roughly estimated at about 5000 years. The belief of the people, at the end of that time, being Babylonian heathenism leavened with Judaism, the country was probably ripe for the reception of the new faith. Christianity, however, by no means replaced the earlier polytheism, as is evidenced by the fact, that the worship of Nebo and the gods associated with him continued until the fourth century of the Christian era. By whom followed. It was the faith of two distinct peoples--the Sumero-Akkadians, and the Assyro-Babylonians. In what country it had its beginnings is unknown- -it comes before us, even at the earliest period, as a faith already well- developed, and from that fact, as well as from the names of the numerous deities, it is clear that it began with the former race--the Sumero- Akkadians--who spoke a non-Semitic language largely affected by phonetic decay, and in which the grammatical forms had in certain cases become confused to such an extent that those who study it ask themselves whether the people who spoke it were able to understand each other wit