Excerpt from The Gentile Nations, or the History and Religion of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Greeks, and Romans: Collected From Ancient Authors and Holy Scripture, and Including the Recent Discoveries in Egyptian, Persian, and Assyrian Inscriptions; Forming a Complete Connexion of Sacred and Profane History, and Showing the Fulfilment of Sacred Prophecy In the first place, then, it is an undoubted fact, that the religion of Persia was reared on precisely the same founda tion as that of Assyria. That the palace-temples were built on the same general plan in both countries, is unquestionable, and has been proved beyond the possibility of a doubt by Mr. Fergusson in his very valuable work. And this is not a mere isolated circumstance, remotely connected with the subject, as might at first appear to us under the influence of our European habits and ideas: it stands in immediate relation to the ruling element of this great religious system. It involves the character of the whole structure of the religious fabric. As was shown in the case of Assyria, - the peculiar compound of divine and regal dignity sustained by the king was really the centre of the whole system of faith. He was emphatically, by divine right, the religious, as well as the political, head of the people. His person was sacred: his official residence united the characters of palace and temple. In fact, we have in this single circumstance a common principle which sub stantially identifies the great scheme of Persian religion with that of the more ancient kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon. Lest, however, it should be supposed that I build too much on a single circumstance, I will satisfy the reader by quoting a passage from Dr. Layard, which will be found conclusive. Although, observes that indefatigable ex plorer, we may not at present possess sufficient materials to illustrate the most ancient Sabaeanism of the Assyrians. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.