THE 630th ordinary GENERAL MEETING, 



HELD IN COMMITTEE ROOM B, THE CENTRAL HALL, 

 WESTMINSTER, S.W., ON MONDAY, APRIL 18th, 1921, 



AT 4.30 P.M. 



Major-General Sir George K. Scott-Moncrieff, K.C.B., 



IN the Chair. 



The Minutes of the previous meeting were read, confirmed and signed, 

 and the Hon. Secretary announced the Election of the following : — T. B. 

 Hunter, Esq., O.B.E., W. H. Pibel, Esq., F.S.A., as Members, and Col. 

 H. Biddulph, R.E., C.M.G., D.S.O., as an Associate. 



The Chairman then called on the Rev. Canon J. T. Parfit, M.A., to 

 read his paper on " Religion in Mesopotamia, and its Relation to the 

 Prospects of Eastern Christendom," which was profusely illustrated by 

 lantern slides. 



RELIGION IN MESOPOTAMIA. By the Rev. Canon 

 J. T. Parfit, M.A. 



MESOPOTAMIA is a land of origins, and mankind is indebted 

 to this cradle of the human race for many of its funda- 

 mental religious beliefs. To the earliest inhabitants of 

 Babylonia the world was a mountainous island surrounded by 

 the great " Deep." Below were the vaults of the seven zones 

 of Hades, and above was the firmament which supported the 

 waters of the heavenly ocean above, which was the dwelling of the 

 great gods. 



The stars were fixed in the firmament in such a way as to 

 convey messages to men of their destinies, which messages could 

 only be read by discreet astrologers. 



The sun, they believed, came forth from a door of heaven in 

 the east and entered, at even, the door in the west. The sun 

 and the heavenly bodies were naturally worshipped by such 

 believers. 



The discoveries of Dr. Pinches and Mr. G. Smith brought to 

 light the Babylonian stories of the Creation, the Fall and the 

 great Flood, whose counterparts exist not only in the sacred 

 Scriptures, but in the religious traditions of other nations in 

 East and West. 



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