| The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate | |
 Dust-jacket illustration for The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate | |
| Author | L. Sprague deCamp |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Charles McCurry |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Publication date | 1961 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 429 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate is an historical novel by L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1961, and in paperback by Lancer Books in 1968. Lyon Sprague de Camp, ( November 27 1907 – November 6 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy author The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States An historical novel is a Novel in which the story is set among historical events or more generally in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the Author Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view The Doubleday Publishing Group is the fifth largest Book Publishing company in the world Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth An historical novel is a Novel in which the story is set among historical events or more generally in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the Author Lyon Sprague de Camp, ( November 27 1907 – November 6 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy author The Doubleday Publishing Group is the fifth largest Book Publishing company in the world Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Lancer Books was a line of paperback books published in the 1960s and 1970s by Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It is the third of his historical novels in order of writing, and earliest chronologically. It is set in the last years of the reign of King Xerxes I of Persia, and begins in 466 BC. Xerxes I of Persia was a King of Persia (reigned 485–465 BC of the Achaemenid dynasty. The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia
The novel concerns the quest of Bessas of Zarispa, a young officer of the Immortals regiment, for the ingredients of a potion that the King has been told will give him immortality---the blood of a dragon and the ear of a king. Immortality (or eternal life) is the concept of living in physical or spiritual form for an Infinite length of Time. Unbeknownst to Bessas, the third ingredient is the heart of a hero; the King has been told by his sorcerous advisor that if Bessas can bring back the first two ingredients, the third ingredient will be right there for the taking.
Relying on information given him by the priests of Marduk in Babylon that a reptile depicted in reliefs on their temple, the sirrush, is a real dragon and lives at the headwaters of the Nile, Bessas sets out for the source of the Nile, accompanied by his former tutor, Myron of Miletos, who is bored with his life of teaching and wants to make a name for himself in the field of philosophy. Marduk ( Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMARUTU 𒀫 𒌓 "solar calf" perhaps from MERI Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq The sirrush (or mushhushshu) is a creature depicted on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, originally dating to the 6th century B
References
- Laughlin, Charlotte; Daniel J. H. Levack (1983). De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller, 50.
| Preceded by None | Historical novels of L. Sprague de Camp The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate | Succeeded by The Arrows of Hercules |
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