First Edition. A compendium examining the intersections of astronomy, religion, and ancient civilizations. Maurice (1754–1824), Assistant-Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum and author of Indian Antiquities (1793–1800), integrates comparative study of the ancient Near East and the Indian subcontinent. The work includes a title with engraved vignette and four engraved plates depicting the supposed ruins of the Tower of Babel, inscriptions on the walls of Persepolis, the Great Pagoda of Tanjore, and a Mexican temple to the Sun and Moon. List of subscribers and advertisement leaf at end; roughly cut pages; small closed tear on ffep, minor repair and inscription to page following title page; foxing and edge discoloration concentrated in one small spot; a few pencil annotations. It reflects early 19th-century antiquarian scholarship, combining travel observation with philological and historical analysis. [4], viii, 164 pp., [5]