Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1873-06-10

but has since fallen upon its side for
want of support. These Cities of the
Plain are as completely buried beneath
waves of sand and clay as Sodom and
Gomorrah beneath the salt waters of
the Dead Sea. What commentary
upon Is. xiii. 1922 and xiv.I
After a refreshing bathe i'm the river.
and caution from the Arabs against
sharks, which make up in these riv-
ers for the absence of alligators, /
reached the town of Hillah, and
crossed the Euphrates on a bridge of
boats. A few hours sufficed to rest our
horses, and, before sunset, we were
again in the saddle, with our faces to-
wards Birs Nimrod (the town of MINI
rod [ had scarcely left Hillah. when
l saw it, at distance Ofseven or eight
miles rising from the plain, which
corresponded strikingly with ones
conception of the tower of Babel
We came to an Arab encampment.
and my escort proposed a halt. /
| knew there was another Arab camD
! further on, and l refused to yield till
we got nearer to the tower. An hour
more brought us to the sound of vol
ces and the barking of dogs, and tie
~. L
| received me with Oriental politeness,
and bade me welcome to all that he
| possessed. ] asked for little milk
on the ground, and soon eniOyed nv
cups of tea over book, which carried
me back to the days when men Jour
neyed from the East and found plain
in the land of Shinar. and said LET
us build us city and tower, whose
| top may reach unto heaven'n Mean
while. the fire light flickered upon the
| fine brOnzed features of ring of Arabs
| who sat muteiy watching me, and up
| on picketed horses and ruminating
camels, and low tents, with tall spears
stuck before them in the ground and
inside Arab women chatted and grind
| ing at the mill-zthe one turning the
| upper stone round and round, the 9TH
| pouring in the grain. | found that
the Arab dogs showed the same hOspi-
| tality as their master. No sooner was
[ an acknowledged guest than they
ceased barking, and commenced wag-
ging their tails. the largest and most
powerful of them took charge of me
| for the night, anu walked round and
round me as [ lay, with all the grave
| dignity of a sentinel at Buckingham
Palace. If any intruders, dog or man
| came near, one grCwl was enough he
knew that bark might disturb me,
| and refrained). OF course he got his
''baksheesh," in the shape of some
chicken bones, and our mutual friend
ship was firmly cemeDted.
rose at the earliest dawn, and soon
| reached the foot of Birs Nimrod. A
high mound is surmOunted by ruin
ed and unfinished tower of brick, the
summit of which is 235 feet above the
plain. An examination of the mound
shows that it is composed of the same
clemens as the mound of Babylon
masses of Brick and rubish, interpers-
ed with broken pottery. These are,
all of them. inscribed or one side with
cuneiform characters. The cuneiform
of the ancient Assyrian, and is sup
posed to be the oldest written Ian
guage in the world. TO look at it, it
seems as hopeless to decipher as
though one were to gaze upwards, in
q starry night. and try TO construct
sentences out of the stars There is
generally a touch of the ludicrOus
mixed with ones cOntemplatiOns of
the ancient and sublime.
Our countrymen are unfortunately
given to the habit of cOmmemOrating
| their travels and handing down their
insignificant names to pOsteritY, by
scraWling upon the rock or wall, and
thus defacing the hOarest monuments
of antiquity. | was searching for
specimens of cuneifOrm among the
chaos of bricks that strewed the
mound, when my Arab guide came
up to me and insisted that | was look
ing for inscriptions in the wrong place
he would show me some really good
ones. l followed him with some lit
tie incredulity, when he led me to the
tower itself, knowing that there were
none there. Look, here ~ he eX-
claimed triumphahtly, and pointed,
with the utmost gravity, to a series of
recent scratches, which spelt "Timo-
thy Snooks, 1856" and John Thomas,
1862" &c, &c. My laughter quite as
tonished him.
There is something truly mysterious
about this remarkable ruin. On one
side, where excavations have been
made, you may see walls of brick as
cending tier above tier with mastery
ambition. On another, all is convul-
sion and disturbance-hugl masses of
brIck-wOrk, rent aud overturned, yet
so solid in their ruin that it Is easier to
pulveriZe the brick than to separate it
from the mortar. One of these blocks
has rolled bodily to the foot of the
mound. Others are verified or fused
by process which can be none other
than electricity or fire. CuTiously
enough the Arabs have a tradition
that it has been destroyed by "fire
from heaven The sides of the mound
are pierced with holes and strewed
with bones, which plainly indicate
the lairs of wild beasts. The view
from the summit at sunrise is distant
and varied. The broad sheet of the
Euphrates winds for many a mile, till
lost in the distance in a ''sea-like
plain.h Looking along its bank to
the south you see the white minaret !
which marks Ezekiel's tomb. Modern |
critics appear like miniatures of the |
ancient Hilliah, Tramasia, MOhawill. |
In the foreground are the tents of
Kedar," and the flocks, with the |
patches of tall green corn, which the |
Arabs call "idtieva." 1t is difficult to |
resist the conviction that Birs Nimrod |
is the Tower of Babel, the Oldest ruin |
in the world. There are those who |
like Mr.. Rich) believe it to be the |
Tower of Belus, and regard it as part |
of the ruin of Babylon, but l prefer to |
hold the older tradition. And surely |
it is when standing on ground like |
this that the language of Scripture ac-
ouires a vividness and reality which |
rewards the toll of patient in
vestigation, and makes the privations
nf travel forgotten and a voice seems |
to breathe from the resting places of
the prophets besides those mighty |
rivers which is daily more heard and |
felt. rebuking the sneer of the scoffer |
and the sceptic. 81 have cut off the |
nation, their towers are desolate. l |
made their streets waste that none |
passeth by; their cities are destroyed, |
so thare is no man, that there is none
inbabitans. Therefore, wait ye upon |
the Lord, until the day that rise up
to the prey---For then will l
turn to the people pure language
~ . 9l,o.- ,,oox- oil COLL unOO Oaroa of