Biblical Lessons

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 (r.1133-1115) against the Babylonian king Ninurta-nadin-šumi (r.1132-1126). Translation [1'] [...] ... against them ... their ... an alliance ... the merchants ... he inflicted a defeat on them.   [2'] ... conquest. Aššur-reš-iši, king of Assyria,

  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 Babylonia (c.1647-c.1626 BCE). Atrahasis' Dream Explained [i.b35] Enlil

    Fragment 4 of Berossus' Babylonian History, which was published in 278 BCE, in the translation by G.P Verbrugghe and J.M. 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 [53] In the second book, Berossus records

    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, tablet of XI of the standard edition

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 [1] When the gods were man they did forced labor, they bore drudgery. Great indeed was the drudgery of the gods, the forced labor was heavy, the

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 the Chaldaeans. And when he was

  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 wisdom to man, and a Babylonian

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 viewed here. Old Testament GENESIS (traditionally written

It is likely that at least some of the histories recorded in the Bible were not documented at the time they occurred. For instance, the creation accounts in Genesis were almost certainly not recorded millions of years ago. Likely, the creation stories  transitioned to the Bible’s pages through oral tradition – the transfer of knowledge

This list contains tribes or other groups of people named in the Bible of minor notability, about whom either nothing or very little is known, aside from any family connections. A Ahumai - A clan within the Tribe of Judah. The name "Ahuman" appears only in one verse of the Hebrew Bible.  Greek Septuagint manuscripts read Acheimei,