Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/65

 Western Asia PORTION OF OLD BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE FLOOD FROM ASSURBANIPAL'S LIBRARY AT NINEVEH This large flat tablet was part of an Assyrian cuneiform book consisting jf a series of such tablets. This flood story tells how the hero, Ut-napishtim, built a great ship and thus survived a terrible flood, in which all his coun- trymen perished. Each of these clay tablet books collected by Assurbanipal for his library bore his "bookmark," just like a book in a modern library. To prevent anyone else from taking the book, or writing his name on it,
 * he Assyrian king's bookmark contained the following warning: "Whosoever

shall carry off this tablet, or shall inscribe his name upon it side by side with mine own, may Assur and Belit overthrow him in wrath and anger, and may they destroy his name and posterity in the land" It shows us all that the Assyrians and their predecessors had been able to learn. There are a great many works dealing with magic and methods of forecasting future events ; for instance, by watch- ing the actions of sick people and examining the entrails of animals. There are also religious works and some dealing with grammar and other subjects.