The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-01-10
Nineveh Records of the Deluge


One of tho most important confrma>
tons ofthe truth of the Mosaic Scriptures
which it has ever been our privilege to
record. is that reaert'Y PRESENTED by ME
George Smith, of the British Museum, IN
a paper, full account Of which will be
found on another page. We briefly mems
toned i. fortnight ago, and since the
article in this weeks Observer was in
type, we have received direct from the
British Museum, through q friend. the
paper Of Mr. Smith, as it was read before
the London Archaeological Society The
paper is entitled ION Cuneiforni In
scriptiOn describing the Deluge"
Among the ancient remains brought
from Nineyeh several years since, was a
large quantity of fragments Of pottery,
several thousand in number, containing
inscriptions in the Cuneiform character
They were found in the Library of AS
surbanipal, at Nineveh In the attempts
to decipher them, it was found that they
contained references to the Deluge, and
with great patience, Mr.. Smith at length
succeeded in putting the fragments to-
gether so as to obtain, with some defci-
sncies, a full account of that event
Three copies of the same record were
deciphered, Identical in matter, and all
believed to have been made about the
| year geo before the Christian era. The
| original text, according Co the statement
/ on the tablets, which ara mere copies,
must have been made at a very early
period Mr.. Smith. in his paper, gives
many substantial rea sons for the great
antiquity of the text The three copies
| contain various readings, which must
have Crept in by the lapse Of time, and
there are several 'pecularities which date
| them back at very remote age. The
| following account of the means by which
the inscriptions have been deciphRred Ii
give by the London Daily Telegraph:
Twenty years ago, st Behistun, in
| Persia, there was found a sUulptureG
rock, bearing Inscriptions in three dis
! tinct Characters One of the characters
was the arrow headed, the others wcr
Persic and Median or Scythian respec,
lively; and, like the Rosetta Stone il
| Egypt, which divulged the hierogIy phics
this carved crag became lithog apheC
| lexicon for cuneolOgists. Guided by the
Persian writing, Sir H. Rawlinson con-
| structed a vocabulary for aTrow-headeC
| scripture and though the sound of th est
| Assyrian letters is no more know thar
that of heirOgyphical sign, their signif,
cation is now thereby easily and surely
| obtained For fourteen years has Sir
Smith toiled away amid his gems, cylind
ers, tablets, and bulls, making cut page
after page of forgotten mythology, con
quest, migration, and general ancien
human story. From time to time he CAV,
the world, along with one or two coad
tutors, first proofs from the Ninevit
| Library; but the world lred little fol
catalogues of deities and names of deaI
kings and queens Suddenly, however
he has lighted upon this editio prima O
the record from which Abraham learne,
his Chaldeau lore and handed it down tt
Moses. Now all the world listens open
cared. for this is the very nursery tale @
mankind's youth, told over anew to a1ul
humanity. Like the Nile itself-and il
the same generation, tOO-the springs O
our eartI's annals recede further and fuI
Their as we press antiquity closer for it
uttermast truth But, like the Nile, W
have now got antiquity fairly into cor
ner. We know whore to look almost t
foot for the rest of the Imperial Biblio
theca of King Nimrod's SUCCESSORS the
lie awaiting us under the sands nea
Mosul and Hillah, beneath the jackal
haunted mounts Of Warka and Hi
This record, tho great antiquity {
which is beyond question, Is all the NOR,
interesting and valuable in confrmatio
Of Scripture because it does not precise
ly tally with the Mosaic account Tn
discrepancies show that it came from a
!, Independent source, and its manifest hea
then origin relieves it of all appearance
of having been com posed even to preserv
the account OF the Deluge as written b
the hand of Moses. TWAS simply he;
then tradition.
The Biblical student will read this ar
; cient record with the deepest interss
and not without sharing in the hope eZ
pressed by MIR. Gladstone, that the gre;
: facts Of ancient history as recorded
the Bible are to be still further confirmt
. by future discoveries in the fields of al
tIquarian research which have only bee
entered upon. The old world, much
which, especially Of its cities, has BET
7 buried for thousands of years, has doub
less in preservation a flood Of informatit
; which is yet to be poured upon suhjec
o connected with Biblical science.
cannot fail to recognize the hand of O.
J., in these discoveries and in the preserv
! ton Of the testimonies to his truth |
|
= He has a time for everything, and
= waits for his own time without impat
Z ence. As in the case of prophecy, t
9 successive fulfllIDent of which is a C
u mulative proof Of the inspiration of Scri
u ture, so with the record of history as it
Y contained in his word it is all the VIII.
:, receiving fresh confirmation in the d
Il velopments of his providence. Now I'll
= the attention of the scientific as well
Il the Christian world is turned toward a
II tiquarian resC 4-ch, we feel assured til
y we are yet 10 have page after page
IL ancient history spread before u.s. A
Ie as in the past, so in the future, it "
more and more confirm the faith of /
levers in that record which was made
those weO were guided by divine inspi
n ton. Christians have no fear of any r,
,r testimony being brought out of the .;
i that shall be adverse to the Bible, but
&c awakens fresh joy in their hearts VIII
= its truth is illustrated afresh before t
e. world. Our correspondent, in forwar
G, ing to US a complete copy of Mr.. Smitl
ct paper, writes with an enthusiasm viii
at every Christian scholar will share: al
lsSl this in scri ptiOn-the first one known
n as as contemporaneous with Genesis
" thrills one And then the thought Il
ID this is the first raw of great flood
il light that Is to pour forth from old Oh
n dea, revealing to US the oldest civil
e. ton, and Illuminating and endearing c
III Bible to US more and more -
re To Be Hung
s. 4 New York dis .atch of the 9th il