The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1910-08-04
noah LANDED
IN THE OLDEST
EARTH

NAKHIKHEVAN, (Armenia) If
that entertaining old story teller call
ed tradition can be relied upon, this
is the oldest town in existence-lhe
first human settlement settled after
the deluge. And here began the re-
Nuisance of Noah on world that
had been washed clear Of sin and III
EQUITY after a thorough soaking of
forty days. Nakhikhevan is where
Noah and his family settled down
when they came out of the ark, and
he made his home here, according TO
the legends, until his death. We do
not know exactly were he lived be-
fore the deluge, or where the ark was
built, but at any rate he did not go
back there, and from this place the
family scattered to obey the divine
demand to replenish the earth. And
that reminds me of good story.
Several years ago, in Mississippi,
/ attended services at a Methodist
church and heard philosophical SER
mon delivered by gigantic colored
man who worked at the carpenters
trade during the week and preached
twice to an admiring audience on Sun
day. He was a practical preacher,
and his subject on the occasion l al
lude to was '"Patience"-the virtues
of patience, forbearance and tolera-
tion-and it was most excellent dis
course. During the course of his re-
marks he alluded to the common te-
lief that Job is the Ideal of patience,
but declared that in his own humble
opinion Noah was the most patient
man mentioned in the Bible
''The Lord" said he, told Noah to
build an ark and admonished him not
to tell anybody what he was doing.
The great flood that was to wash the
earth clean and new was a secret
and nobody but God and Noah knew
what was going to happen. 1t was
the most tremendous secret ever told
to human man and Noah had to
keep it all alone to himself for forty
years. He could not tell his wife and
he could not tell his sons, who were
helping him to build the boat, and all
he could say to them was that they
must suppress their curiosity and ask
no questions But he could not keep
the neighbors away, and for forty
years everybody in the town was COM
ing around every day or two asking
Noah what he was making and fool
ing with his tools"
None but a carpenter could realize
what that meant and it was the good
preachers conviction that Noah, in
stead of Job, was entitled to the hon
or and credit of being called the most
patient man mentioned in the Bible.
There are various ways of spelling
the name of this town, as is the case
with nearly all the towns in this
part of the world. The Russians have
it Nakitchevansky, but the. map max
ers generally accept the Armenian
version, for it is an Armenian word
and means Gle descended here" re-
ferring, of course, to the landing of
the ark.
It's worth the trip from Erivan, and
even from Tidis, if only to say that
you have been here. It's distinction
to have visited the oldest city in the
world, and Noah would feel very
much set up if he could know that
people came all the way from America
to do his town such an honor. Unfor-
tunately there are no records to back
up the pretensions of the sleepy little
place; there is no history of those
eventful days; the Oldest inhabitants
are all dead, and the only foundation
for the tradition are a few vague
words in the Bible.
The only piece of the ark in exis-
tence, as told you yesterday. is pre-
served in the Treasury of the Monas-
terry of Etchmiadzin with the other
sacred relics Noah is buried near
Damascus, where his grave is forty
feet long and the people will tell you
that he was a very tall man. His wife
is buried at the village of Marand,
at the base of Ararat, where she died
a few years after the landing. The
poor woman was not allowed to live
to see the glory of her descendants.
The local traditions also place the
Garden of Eden in this vicinity, in
the valley of the Araxes, at the base
of Ararat, through which runs the
great highway from Erivan into Per-
STA, which has been Travelled for six