The bibliography is arranged in nine sections, the order adopted corresponding to the broad subdivisions of the book. The beginning is therefore made:

(1) With references to the most important or most useful publications, dealing with the excavations conducted in Babylonia and Assyria, the method of decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions, the general history of Babylonia and Assyria, and the general aspects of the Babylonian-Assyrian culture. This section corresponds to the first two chapters of the book.

(2) The second section is devoted to books, monographs, articles, and chapters in books, dealing with the general subject of the Babylonian-Assyrian religion.

In neither of these two sections have I aimed at being exhaustive, though the second will be found, I think, to include almost everything of any value.

The detailed bibliography begins with the following section. Corresponding again to the treatment of the subject in the book, I take up in succession:

(3) The Pantheon.

(4) Religious Texts.

(5) Cosmology.

(6) Gilgamesh Epic (including the Deluge episode).

(7) Beliefs and Customs (Views of Life after Death, Funeral Rites, Legends, Ethics, etc.).

(8) Temples and Cult.

(9) Bearings of the Babylonian-Assyrian Religion on the Old Testament, and General Influence Exerted by the Religion.

Of these seven sections, all but the last aim at being exhaustive. It was not always easy to decide into what division a particular reference belonged, but I have been generally guided by the needs of students for whom this portion of the bibliography is particularly intended.

The fifth and sixth sections should be taken together; and similarly the seventh and eighth, while the fourth section should of course be consulted in connection with the third, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth.

Under each section the authors named are arranged in alphabetical order. Occasionally, I have added some comments to the reference given, as a guide or a warning to students. In a subject like Assyriology, where new discoveries are constantly being made and progress in the interpretation of texts is steadily going on, it is inevitable that views and translations should be subject to modification—sometimes slight, but frequently significant. I have endeavored to avoid repetition of references. In a few cases this was unavoidable. In the second section portions of books are referred to, which by virtue of their character as very general works had to be assigned a place also in the first section. Two or three of the references in the fourth section had to be repeated elsewhere; and I should also add that there are a few references which I have been unable to verify.