Assyro-Babylonian Literature

Assyro-Babylonian Literature, texts written in the Assyro-Babylonian between the 3rd millennium BC and roughly the time of Jesus Christ. Most Assyro-Babylonian cuneiform tablets deal with science, economics, administrative

policies(in the form of letters), and law, including one of the greatest of all legal documents, The Code of Hammurabi. A wide variety of purely literary genres, however, also exists. Among them are epics and myths; historical chronicles and royal annals; historical romances in poetic form; hymns and prayers, incantations and rituals, and texts dealing with magick and divination; collections of proverbs and precept; disputations such as fanciful literary debates between animals, trees, or the like; and remarkable poetic narratives dealing with the problem of human misery. Most of this body of literature is in the Babylonian dialect of the southern part of Mesopotamia(modern Iraq). Those texts written in the Assyrian dialect of the north consist of historical inscriptions, business documents, oracles, and rituals, and official letters; existing literary texts in Assyrian are copies or adaptations of Babylonian originals. The preservation of Assyro-Babylonian literature is, in fact, due to Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, who sent scholars to copy old Assyro-Babylonian cuneiform tablets; thousands of these transcriptions(many now in the British Museum in London were collected in his library at Nineveh. The longest Babylonian epic poems are the Creation Epic and the Gilgamesh Epic. The former, consisting of seven tablets, deals with the struggle between cosmic order and primeval chaos. The secular Gilgamesh Epic, written about 2000BC on 12 cuneiform tablets, concerns the hero's fruitless search for immortality. Masterfully woven together from an older series of separate Sumerian tales, this epic poem had great popular appeal in antiquity. It is of interest to modern biblical scholars because of its reference to a Noah-like character who survived a great flood.(see Deluge and Genesis 6:9)

The Epic of Zu tells of the theft of the Tablets of Destiny from the Gods by the evil bird Zu and of their recovery by the warrior god Ninurta. The search for the plant of birth by the shepherd Etana, who ultimately founded the first dynasty after the deluge, is related in the Epic of Etana. Among other Babylonian epics and myths are The Descent of Ishter to the Netherworld; Atrahasis, which deals with human sin and its punishment through plagues and the deluge; and Nergal and Ereshkigal, concerning marriage of the divinities who ruled the netherworld. Other important works are the Babylonian Theodicy, a poetic dialogue about a Job-like righteous sufferer; a satirical dialogue, The Master and His Obliging Servant; and a recently discovered folktale, The Poor Man of Nippur, which seems to be the ancestor of one, of the stories in the Arabian Nights. Among significant historical romances in poetic form are The Cuthaean Legend, concerning the defeat of King Naram-Sin(reigned about 2255-2218BC) of Akkad;The King of Battle, dealing with a miliary expedition to Anatolia led by Sargon I(reigned about 2335-2279BC) of Akkad; and The Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta, describing the defeat of the Babylonians by the Assyrians.

Leviathan

Leviathan, in the bible, one of the names of the primeval dragon subdued by Yahweh at the outset of creation: "You crushed Leviathan's heads, gave him as food to the wild animals "(Psalm 74:14; see also Isaiah 27:1; Job 27:1; and Amos 9:3). Biblical writers also Rahab (Job 9:3; Psalm 89:10) or simply as the Abyss (Habakkuk 3:10). The biblical references to the battle between Yahweh and Leviathan reflect the Syro-Palestinian version of a myth, creation is represented as the victory of the creator-God over a monster of claos. The closest parallel to the biblical versions of the story appears in the Canaanite Texts from Ra's Shamrah (14th century BCE), in which Baal defeats a dragon-like monster: "You will crush Leviathan the fleeing serpent, you will consume the twisting serpent, the mighty one with seven heads ." ( The wording of Isaiah 27:1 draws directly on this text.) A more ancient version of the myth occurs in the Babylonian Creation Epic, in which the storm god Marduk defeats the sea monster Tiamat and creates the Earth and the Sky by cleaving her corpse in two (see Assyro-Babylonian Literature). The Latter motif is reflected in a few biblical passages that extol Yahweh's military valor: "Was it not you who split Rahab in half, who pierced the dragon through?" (Isaiah 51:9; see also Job 26:12; Psalm 74:13, 89:10). The basic pattern of the Leviathan myth recurs in the Greek story of the battle between Zeus and the many-headed dragon Typhon, recounted by Hesiod in the Thogony. It may also lie behind the much later legend of Saint George and the dragon, which is set in northern Syria. In the Jewish Apocalyptic Writings it is foretold that Leviathan will break out of captivity at the end of present era, but will suffer a second and final defeat at the hands of God (2 Esdras 6:52; 2 Baruch 29:3-8). The apocalyptic version was probably influenced by parallel Iranian beliefs. In the New Testament, the many-headed dragon of Revelation chapter 12 shares a number of characteristics with Leviathan-- particular, it functions as an embodiment of the forces hostile to God. In later Christian lore, Leviathan came to be identified with the "Great Fish" in which Jonah spent three days and three nights (Jonah 2:1), and subsequently with hell.

"What is God?" By. TJ AKA The Amazing Atheist

What is God? Is it a what? Or is it a who? Is it an it? Is he a he? Is she a she? Believers say that God is the entity that created creation. Everything you see is the work of God: trees, hills, bumble bees, pancakes, stars, chocolate pudding, lava, incandescent light bulbs. God made it all. He's a busy guy, if he is a guy, and if he exists, and if he is discernible to the human mind. God. Is it just something to scream when we're mad or when we're cumming? Is he just someone to thank before every meal? Is she our mother earth, forests sewn into her skin like hairs and rivers strewn throughout her body like veins? What is God? Maybe God is an if. If we don't know the answer, then the answer is God. If God makes us feel good, then God is real. If all my friends believe that there is a God, then there is a god. Maybe God is a contingency plan; an ejector seat when reality becomes too difficult. Some say that God is manifest in the splendor of the universe. Why then is he not manifest in the squalor of the universe? We say "God damn it!" when we stub our toe, as if God will hear us and smite the table that we stubbed it on. We say, "God willing," when we hope that God will intercede on the behalf of our cause. We say "God bless you," when someone sneezes, because apparently God cares a lot about the rapid expulsion of mucus from your nostrils. We say, "God help us," when doom approaches. We say, "Oh my God," when exasperation overtakes us. We say, "Why, God?" when malady afflicts us. We say, "God works in mysterious ways" when what we really mean is that the universe acts in random and callous ways. We say, "God bless America," or "God save the Queen," or something similar to express our loyalty towards whatever government power lords over our lives. We say, "God is watching," to instill fear. We say, "God is good," as if to convince ourselves that this is true. We call the righteous men, "God-fearing." Fearing God is righteous. God-loving is not a term that has yet entered the common vernacular, though God is sometimes referred to as a "Loving God." We say, "In God we trust," but if that were true, then what use would we have for all these tanks and missiles. We say, "God helps those who help themselves." But those who help themselves don't need God's help. What is God? Is God an X. A variable? A place marker? God is that which we need God to be. A despot one moment, a redeemer the next. One who will love you, but send your enemies to roast in flames. One who is so great that he created the universe, yet so petty that he persecutes the homosexuals. One who explains everything that isn't explained, until someone else explains it. Believers, I ask: is God you? Is God your biases? Is God your judgments? Is God your ego? Let's cut to the chase: Are you God? When you say, "God damn this chair!" aren't you really the one damning the chair. When you say, "God Bless America!" aren't you really expressing your own love for America. When you say, "God doesn't approve of the sinners," aren't you really saying that you don't approve of someone, and so you've slapped the sinner label on them. When football players thank God for victory, aren't they really saying, "Thank God for making me so great."? Isn't God a crutch, not just for your life, but for your ego? Without God, would your perception of the world collapse? Or would it broaden beyond your mind's ability to comprehend? What is God? What is God? I think, believers, that God is the opinions that you can't otherwise justify. God is your intellectual laziness. God is your ego. God is that which you need God to be. God is X. God is the sum of all your willful ignorance. God is a convenience. God is a social adhesive. God is exclusionary. God is your bigotry. God is an excuse. God is your clever ploy to avoid thinking, responsibility and the need to develop a sense of social justice. God is your lie. What is God? God isn't real.

Obama Care

With the health care bill passing it has made it so every American has good affordable health care, yeah taxes are going to go up, but we're taking about health care no matter what was done to the bill. It would have still cost the same, I like this bill because at least this bill is telling you right out what you're paying for. Unlike the one the republicans were proposing, one where they hid valuable information from the American people, I vote unenrolled, but in the last to elections I voted democrat, why well because I liked what they had to offer, but if republicans weren't so "back and forth" I would have voted for one of them. One of these days someone needs to run for president and pick a democrat as their running mate and the same goes for a democrat running for president they need to pick a republican as a running mate. I say that because it would show real bipartisanship to the American people. All comments are welcome as long as they're respectful.

Obama Health Care

With the health care bill passing it has made it so every American has good affordable health care, yeah taxes are going to go up, but we're talking about health care no matter what was done to the bill it would've still cost the same, I like this bill because at least this bill is telling you right out what you are paying for. Unlike the bill the republicans were purposing, one where it hid information from the American people, I vote uninrolled, but in the last two elections I voted democrat, why because I liked what they had to offer, if republicans weren't so "back and forth" I would've voted for them. One of these days someone needs to run for president and pick a democrat as their running mate if they're republican, and if they're a democrat they should pick a republican as a running mate. I said that because it would show the American people that they can get along with each other. All comments are welcome as long as they're respectful.

Paganism

This blog is is to let all non-pagans know that not all pagans are pagan, there are different sets of Paganism and we only call ourselves Pagan to make it easier for non-Pagans to be able to refer to the group of us as a whole, but as many of us know is that most if not all non-pagans seem to think that we worship in the same way, but that is not true. Just as with Christians worshiping God in different ways, pagans are the same. We all practice in different ways, and we all worship different Gods and Goddesses. We have the same morel standards as many Christians do, we love our fellow men and women, we honor our mothers and fathers, we respect nature and all animals, we honor our Gods and Goddesses. We don't push our religion on other people as Christians do with their religion, we on the other hand respect another person's religious views and whatever else that person might believe. People should respect the views of others and not put anyone in a bad situation down because it could happen to you at some time, because the past may already be written, but the future is unknown. All comments are welcome as long as they're respectful.

Health Care Bill

The current health care bill is not the one Obama proposed when he was running for president, when Obama got into office the republicans changed the whole health care proposal so it looks like you have to get the government option, but in realty you don't cause President Obama said it time and time again, that if you are happy with the health care you have then you don't have to switch your health plan. When and if the plan passes I'm going to stay on my current health plan cause I live in Massachusetts where we already have uni-health care, but I think Obama needs to look at Massachusetts as a model for "his" plan. That is just my opinion.