Mythology Book

*Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light...**This article is about The Dark Pictures Anthology's third installment,* ***House of Ashes***
***.***

## Mythology Book

* Cover
* Page 1 and 2
* Page 3 and 4

## Secrets Guide

**Mythology Book** is the second secret of *House of Ashes*. It can be found by Salim in his home. This secret appears in The Raid.

## Overview

A book on Mesopotamian mythology. Some words are underlined.

## In-Game Description

This book describes the Sumerian underworld, which is referred to as the 'House of Ashes'.

## Transcript

(on front)

*Ancient Mesopotamian Mythology*

*Dr. Shawqi Amanat*

(page 1 and 2)

*The heavens were no place for mortals. The Sumerians believed that the sky was formed of a configuration of domes, each hewn from a different precious stone. The outermost dome embodied An, the god of the sky. The middle dome was the home to the gods of heaven, and the lowermost dome was the abode of the stars. The number of domes varied between three and seven. The number seven itself had magical properties and recurs frequently throughout Mesopotamian myth: seven demons, seven thrones, seven spirits, and the seven gates of the underworld.*

*To the Sumerians, the starts and planets each had their own deities: Utu was the sun, Nanna (later altered to Suen or Sin) was the moon, Nergal was ascribed to Mars, Nabu to Mercury, Marduk to Jupiter, Inanna to Venus, and Ninurta to Saturn. The heavens were truly the abode of the divine and the earth below was given to humans. No soul could travel upwards in this world view; instead, they were confined to their earthly domain, even in death.*

*It is no wonder that the Sumerians were among the world's first astronomers. They charted the positions of the starts, identified planets, and plotted the movement of constellations. Although surviving records from the period are incomplete, it is now widely believed that the discoveries of Mesopotamian astronomy were passed on to the western world and formed the basis of the classical Grecian sky maps.*

(page 3 and 4)

*CHAPTER SIX*

*THE ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN UNDERWORLD*

*In ancient belief, the world was made of earth, sea and sky, and enclosed in a box of imperishable tin. The underworld, known as Kur, or the House of Ashes, was where people went when they died.*

*Souls were led to a cavern deep underground where they endured a shadowed existence. Here, the only drink was dust and the only food was clay. There was no light, only darkness. There were no rewards or punishment for feeds done in life. Instead, a soul's comfort was determined by their burial.*

*As the dead were often buried under or near the home, daily sacrifices of food and drink were made to the spirits of the departed. Family members who poured wine on a dead person's grave would quench their thirst in the House of Ashes. The message to the living was to live well, be buried richly, and have many descendants, who would supply food and drink in the afterlife for years to come.*

*The dead could return to the earth as ghosts to punish those descendants who did not leave offerings of food and drink to them. Vengeful ghosts could inflict misfortune and sickness on the living, and maladies such as headaches, stomach pains, fever and mental disorders could be attributed to ghosts. Mesopotamian healers ascribed many illnesses to the action of ghosts, while others were caused by gods or demons.*

## Location

It can be found on the desk in Zain's room.

## Trivia

* If Salim finds this book, he can relay its content to Nick in The Truce.