The Babylonian Legends of the Creation and the Fight between Bel and the Dragon are stories translated from the Assyrian tablets found in Nineveh by Tigris in today’s Iraq. The tablets were initially discovered by A. H. Layard, Honnuzd Rassam and George Smith, Assistant in the Department of Oriental Antiquities in the British Museum. They were found among the ruins of the Palace and Library of Ashur-bani-pal (B.C. 668-626) at ~uyunji~ (Nineveh),between the years I848 and 1876. Between I866 and 1870, the great “find” of tablets and fragments, some 20,000 in number, which Rassam made in 1852. was worked through by George Smith, who identified many of the historical inscriptions of Shalmaneser II, Tiglath-Pileser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and other kings mentioned in the Bible, and several literary compositions of a legendary character, fables, etc. This fine book by the British Museum, printed in 1921 tells the story of the discovery of the tablets and presents the great myths about the creation of the world and the epic fight between Bel and the Dragon.

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