# Herodotus and the Empires of the East/Introduction

INTRODUCTION.
The Greek Sources of the Assyro-Babylonian History.
The history of one of the oldest civilized nations—viz., the Assyro-Babylonian—was, until quite recently, known only in meager and fragmentary accounts. The extensive native literature of this people, of which scarcely any one had a suspicion, lay buried underneath rubbish and ashes until the middle of the present century. Even the location of the sites of civilization in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys—e. g., Ur, Larsam, Eridu, Erech, Ashur, Calah, Nineveh—was undetermined.
Before the discovery and decipherment of the cuneiform documents, the information respecting the Assyro-Babylonian history was derived from two sources, the Old Testament and several Greek authors. Chief among the writings of the Old Testament are: the second book of Kings, the books of Chronicles, the books of the prophets Isaiah, Nahum, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Of the writings of the Greek authors, the most important is the work (Βαβυλωνιακά) of the Chaldean priest Berossus, but only a few fragments of this remain. Berossus, who wrote about the end of the third century, B. C.—i. e., during the reign of Antiochus Soter—doubtless was acquainted with the native documents of the Babylonians, and consequently the extant fragments of his work are of great value. Another classical authority, which is likewise based on Babylonian documents, is the so-called Ptolemy canon; ​but this, unfortunately, begins with the history of the new Babylonian empire. Moreover there is preserved, though only in fragments, the work of a certain Abydenos (B. C. 260), which contains a section (Ἀσσυριακά) on Assyria. This work exists only in the quotations of Eusebius and other Christian writers.
Of the other Greek authors there are two who are specially worthy of mention— viz., Herodotus and Ctesias. They doubtless had opportunity to draw directly from the Babylonian—i. e., the Medo-Persian —sources. Ctesias, the later of the two, who lived in the first years of the reign of Artaxerxes Mnemon (405–358 B. C.) at the Persian court, wrote a work in opposition to Herodotus on the history of Persia (Περσικά), which he claimed was largely based on the original sources. Nevertheless his accounts are in the highest degree unreliable, and show inexcusable carelessness in the matter of names and dates. Herodotus, in his history, treats the question of the Medes and Persians quite exhaustively, but his accounts of the Assyro-Babylonian history are meager. He makes references to an intended work on Assyrian history, which is now lost, if indeed it ever existed. Herodotus had visited Western Asia, especially Babylonia; but since he must have been incapable of using the native documents of the Babylonians, he was compelled to rely on vouchers, who, it appears, were of Persian descent.
The Greek Writings in the Light of Assyriology.
In recent years the literature of the Babylonians and Assyrians has been made accessible through numerous explorations in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, and Assyriology has gained a certain accuracy of interpretation. Therefore scholars are now in a position to determine the worth of classical writers respecting the history of the East. Early investigations of Assyriologists show a strong tendency to undervalue the Greek writings. Whenever the Greek narrative was not confirmed by the cuneiform inscriptions, it was either summarily discarded as mere fable, or at least treated as unreliable. Thoughtful scholars in later times have condemned this treatment. A contribution from A. v. Gutschmid, which appeared in 1876, awakened special interest. To this Eberhard Schrader published a reply in 1818. Since that time, notwithstanding the multiplication of cuneiform documents, Assyriology has attained a well-deserved recognition through the arduous labors of scholars.
* ↑ Herod., I., 106 (ἐν ἑτέροισι λόγοισι); I., 184 (ἐν τοῖσιν Ἀσσυρίοισι λόγοισι).
* ↑ The paragraph II., 150, Indicates that he was in Babylon before he visited Egypt.
* ↑ Neue Beiträge zur Geschichte des alten Orients. Die Assyriologie in Deutschland.
* ↑ Keilinschriften und Geschichtsforschung.