f darkness and disorder. He had proved his powers by
creating and annihilating by means of his "word" alone, and the conflict
which he waged ended in the destruction of the enemy. The body of Tiamat
was torn asunder and transformed into the heaven and earth, her springs
of water were placed under control, and the forces of anarchy and chaos
were banished from the universe. Then followed the creation of the
existing order of things. The sun and moon and stars were fixed in their
places, and laws given to them which they should never transgress,
plants and animals were created, and finally man.

Babylonian literature went back to a remote date. The age of Sargon of
Akkad was already a highly literary one, and the library he founded at
Akkad contained works which continued to be re-edited down to the latest
days of Babylonian literature. Every great city had its library, which
was open to every reader, and where the books were carefully catalogued
and arranged on shelves. Here too were kept the public records, as well
as title-deeds, law-cases, and other documents belonging to private
individuals. The office of librarian was held in honour, and was not
unfrequently occupied by one of the sons of the king. Every branch of
literature and science known at the time was represented. Theology was
naturally prominent, as well as works on omens and charms. The standard
work on astronomy and astrology, in seventy-two books, had been compiled
for the library of Sargon of Akkad; so too had the standard work on
terrestrial omens. There was also a standard work on medicine, in which
medical prescriptions and spells were mixed together. Philological
treatises were numerous. There were dictionaries and grammars for
explaining the Sumerian language to Semitic pupils, interlinear
translations of Sumerian texts, phrase-books, lists of synonyms, and
commentaries on difficult or obsolete words and passages, besides
syllabaries, in which the cuneiform characters were catalogued and
explained. Mathematics were diligently studied, and tables of squares
and cubes have come to us from the library of Larsa. Geography was
represented by descriptions of the countries and cities known to the
Babylonians, natural history by lists of animals and birds, insects and
plants. The Assyrians were endowed with a keen sense of history, and had
invented a system of reckoning time by means of certain officers called
_limmi_, who gave their names to their years of