In this volume, which deals mainly with the intellectual life of the
Mesopotamian peoples, a historical narrative has been provided as an
appropriate setting for the myths and legends. In this connection the
reader must be reminded that the chronology of the early period is
still uncertain. The approximate dates which are given, however, are
those now generally adopted by most European and American authorities.
Early Babylonian history of the Sumerian period begins some time prior
to 3000 B.C; Sargon of Akkad flourished about 2650 B.C., and Hammurabi
not long before or after 2000 B.C. The inflated system of dating which
places Mena of Egypt as far back as 5500 B.C. and Sargon at about 3800
B.C. has been abandoned by the majority of prominent archaeologists,
the exceptions including Professor Flinders Petrie. Recent discoveries
appear to support the new chronological system. "There is a growing
conviction", writes Mr. Hawes, "that Cretan evidence, especially in
the eastern part of the island, favours the minimum (Berlin) system of
Egyptian chronology, according to which the Sixth (Egyptian) Dynasty
began at _c_. 2540 B.C. and the Twelfth at _c_. 2000 B.C.[8] Petrie
dates the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty at _c_. 3400 B.C.

To students of comparative folklore and mythology the myths and
legends of Babylonia present many features of engrossing interest.
They are of great antiquity, yet not a few seem curiously familiar. We
must not conclude, however, that because a European legend may bear
resemblances to one translated from a cuneiform tablet it is
necessarily of Babylonian origin. Certain beliefs, and the myths which
were based upon them, are older than even the civilization of the
Tigro-Euphrates valley. They belong, it would appear, to a stock of
common inheritance from an uncertain cultural centre of immense
antiquity. The problem involved has been referred to by Professor
Frazer in the _Golden Bough_. Commenting on the similarities presented