The book contains several plates in colour of illustrations by the famous Ernest Wallcousins which depict different scenes of Babylonian and Assyrian religion, such as The temptation of Ea-Bani, The Shepherd fins the babe Semiramis, and The Babylonian Deluge. Other monochrome plates are also included, and these mostly depict illustrations or photographs of figures such as the Winged Human-Headed Cow, a small stone sculpture that depicts the Assyrian god Lamassu.[3]
Similar to Lewis Spence's book on the topic, it covers mythology, history, culture and even race[4] of ancient Mesopotamia, including some translations of ancient hymns to gods and goddesses. In the introduction, Mackenzie talks about early European archaeological expeditions to Mesopotamia, and the broad archaeological history of the region since the 18th century. The theme of race is heavily touched on in the book, such as the 16th chapter titled "Race Movements that Shattered Empires" which goes in-depth about how the migration of different peoples affected Mesopotamian history and human history as a whole.
