Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles – Mesopotamian Chronicles (ABC)
ABC Translation of Column IV The third year : -ahhe-šullim, the governor of Nippur, and Šamaš-ibni, the Dakkurean, were transported to Assyria and executed in Assyria. The fourth year: Sidon was captured and sacked. In that same year: the major-domo conscripted troops in Akkad. The fifth year: On…
Chronicle concerning Alexander the Great
The Babylonian Alexander Chronicle (BCHP 1; ABC 8, Chronicle 8) is one of the historiographical texts from ancient Babylonia. It deals with events from the reigns of the Persian king Darius III Codomannus and his Macedonian successor Alexander the Great. his throne they removed him. Be as his name they…
Mesopotamian Chronicles – Assyrian chronicle describes war of King Assur-res-isi against Babylonian king Ninurta-nadin-sumi
The Chronicle of Aššur-reš-iši is a fragment of an Assyrian chronicle; the tablet was found in Aššur. It describes the war of king Aššur-reš-iši () against the Babylonian king Ninurta-nadin-šumi (). Translation ... against them ... their ... an alliance ... the merchants ... he inflicted a defeat on them.…
The Epic of Atrahasis – a non-biblical account of the Great Flood (1600 BC)
The Epic of Atrahasis is the fullest Mesopotamian account of the Great Flood. The text is known from several versions: two written by Assyrian scribes (one in the Assyrian, one in the Babylonian dialect), the third one (on three tablets) was written during the reign of king Ammi-saduqa of…
Berossus’ Babylonian History – Fragment 4 (278 BC)
Fragment 4 of Berossus' Babylonian History, which was published in 278 BCE, in the translation by Verbrugghe and Wickersham (with some minor modifications).The text itself is lost, but was quoted by a Byzantine author named George Syncellus, who lived in the early ninth century. Syncellus, Chronological Excerpts 53-56…
Epic of Gilgames – Tablet XI – non-biblical account of the Great Flood (1100 BC)
The Epic of Gilgameš is one of the most famous texts from ancient Babylonia. It tells the story of a king who is trying to find immortality, and meets Ut-napištim, who has survived the Great Flood and has found what Gilgameš is looking for. In the following text,…
The Epic of Atraḥasis – a non-biblical account of the Great Flood (1700 BC)
The Epic of Atraḥasis is the fullest Mesopotamian account of the Great Flood, with Atraḥasis in the role of Noah. It was written in the seventeenth century BCE. Translation Complaints of the Lower Gods When the gods were man they did forced labor, they bore drudgery. Great indeed was the…
Account of Nebuchadnezzar II from Berossus (605 BC)
Berossus' own account (in Babylonian History) is lost, but it was summarized by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in his Against Apion. One such account is the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (562 BC – 605 BC). Berossus at length comes down to Nabopolassar, who was king of Babylon and…
Berossus story of the creation of the world and mankind (Enuma eiis)
Berossus' own account (Babylonian History) is lost, but it was summarized in an Armenian translation of the Chronicon by the Christian author Eusebius. Below is its description of the creation of the world and mankind based on the epic Enûma êliš, and includes the story of Oannes, who taught…
Complete but concise summary of each book of the Bible (Old Testament and New Testament)
In the summary below, I present the official name of the biblical chapter with its common name in parenthesis. The author of each book (where known) is included along with a brief summary of the biblical book's intent, content, and key characters. Detailed outlines of each bible book may be…
