Legends of Babylon and Egypt - Leonard W. King

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1、LEGENDSOFBABYLONANDEGYPTINRELATIONTOHEBREWTRADITIONLEGENDSOFBABYLONANDEGYPTINRELATIONTOHEBREWTRADITIONByLeonardW.King,M.A.,Litt.D.,F.S.A.1LEGENDSOFBABYLONANDEGYPTINRELATIONTOHEBREWTRADITIONPREPARER'SNOTEThistextwaspreparedfroma1920editionofthebook,hencethereferencestodatesaf

2、ter1916insomeplaces.Greektexthasbeentransliteratedwithinbrackets"{}"usinganOxfordEnglishDictionaryalphabettable.Diacriticalmarkshavebeenlost.2LEGENDSOFBABYLONANDEGYPTINRELATIONTOHEBREWTRADITIONPREFACEIntheselecturesanattemptismade,notsomuchtorestatefamiliarfacts,astoaccommod

3、atethemtonewandsupplementaryevidencewhichhasbeenpublishedinAmericasincetheoutbreakofthewar.Butevenwithouttheexcuseofrecentdiscovery,noapologywouldbeneededforanycomparisonorcontrastofHebrewtraditionwiththemythologicalandlegendarybeliefsofBabylonandEgypt.Hebrewachievementsinth

4、esphereofreligionandethicsareonlythrownintostrongerreliefwhenstudiedagainsttheircontemporarybackground.Thebulkofournewmaterialisfurnishedbysomeearlytexts,writtentowardsthecloseofthethirdmillenniumB.C.Theyincorporatetraditionswhichextendinunbrokenoutlinefromtheirownperiodinto

5、theremoteagesofthepast,andclaimtotracethehistoryofmanbacktohiscreation.TheyrepresenttheearlynationaltraditionsoftheSumerianpeople,whoprecededtheSemitesastherulingraceinBabylonia;andincidentallytheynecessitatearevisionofcurrentviewswithregardtothecradleofBabyloniancivilizatio

6、n.ThemostremarkableofthenewdocumentsisonewhichrelatesinpoeticalnarrativeanaccountoftheCreation,ofAntediluvianhistory,andoftheDeluge.ItthusexhibitsacloseresemblanceinstructuretothecorrespondingHebrewtraditions,aresemblancethatisnotsharedbytheSemitic-BabylonianVersionsatpresen

7、tknown.ButinmattertheSumeriantraditionismoreprimitivethananyoftheSemiticversions.Inspiteofthefactthatthetextappearstohavereachedusinamagicalsetting,andtosomeextentinepitomizedform,thisearlydocumentenablesustotapthestreamoftraditionatapointfaraboveanyatwhichapproachhashithert

8、obeenpossible.ThoughtheresemblanceofearlySumeriantraditiontothatoftheHebrew