THOSE who take an interest in Mesopotamian excavations, and in the building up of the history of the ancient empires which flourished in the land “between the two rivers” by means of almost undecipherable cuneiform documents, will welcome the appearance of Dr. Peters' volumes. We must, however, warn the reader that he is not to expect a thrilling narrative like that which the late Sir Henry Layard gave us in his “Nineveh and Babylon,” and “Nineveh and its Remains,” both of which works were published nearly forty-five years ago, and he is not to look put for vivid tales of the uncovering of the palaces of mighty kings in the presence of hundreds of wondering and enthusiastic natives, nor for anything of the kind.