Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-14
MAY LIVE IN. EDEN
Plan to Reclaim Mesopotamia,
Cradle of Human Race.
ENGINEERS HUGE PROJECT
Sir William Wilcox Estimates
Work Would Cost $40, 000,O 600.
ONCE GARDEN; NOW DESERT
Irrigation Works of the Ancients
Could Be Utilized-Turkey's
Backwardness an Obstacle.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

| chicago Record Herald.
| CONSTANTINOPLE, September 4. 1910.
| For genera tons the reclamation of
Mesopotamia has been proposed, but Alb
| dull Hamid would never permit il TO he
| attempted. He was a true reactionary
and opposed every form of progress. No
recommendation for the improvement
OF the condition of the people of the
| ottoman empire ever received his at
tention for more than a moment and
usually was promptly rejected
since the change of government how
ever, the project has been revived: a
small appropriation has been made for
surveys and estimates. and Sir William
Wlllcock, the most celebrated irrigation
engineer In Europe, was invited from
| Egypt to take charge of the work and
advise plan. Sir William has been
In charge Of irrigation projects i'm the
alley Of the Nile and in India for many
years as a consulting engineer and in
| spector for the British government He
built the dam to Assuan on the upper
Nile. and designed the vast project for
! the reclamation Of the upper section OF
that valley. The physical conditions Of
Mesopotama are similar to those Of
Egypt. and most Of the features Of the
problem were therefore familiar to him.
Reclaim Six Million Acres.
Mesopotamia is that portion Of Turkey
lying between the Euphrates and the
| ilgrfs r1vers-an area about 800 miles
long and varying from so to 200 miles
wide. Within the oval. according to the
estlmates OF the engineers, are about
| !@'WU.OO acres. of which 10000 arc
desert and 100000 fresh water swami
ana tney estimate that 100000 acres
can De reclaimed. There are several
large shallow lakes fed by the annual
overflow of the Euphrates and Tigris.
| Both are large rivers, having their
sources In the lakes and mountains Of
Armenia and emptying into the Persian
gulf. about fifty miles below the town
of kurna. where they join their waters
and become one
Between those rivers is the Oldest
habltation of men; the birthplace Of the
human race: the supposed site of the
| capitals and commercial cities Of a
| dozen extinct civilizations 1t is the most
interesting field for Psychologists on the
earth's surface. and exploring parties
French universities and scientific So
cieties have been constantly at work for
half century or more uncoverinx the
| remains OF the imperial magnif1cence Of
Babylon, Nineveh. Palmyra and other
| cities.
Sir William Wilcox has contributed
some interesting theories in connection
with biblical history and archaeology in
addition to his recommendations for an
irrigation system. He locates the Car
den OF Eden at Hairlah. a lovely and
flourishing oasis in a delta of the Eu-
pirates about two hundred miles north
| west of the city of Ba9dad. At this
| point the four rivers Of Eden, men,
toned in the Book Of Genesis, have
been identified by him. and otheer topo-
| graphical features which he believes to
be indisputable.
j Theory Concerning Deluge.
| Sir William also gives us an interest
ing theory concerning the deluge, which
he believes was merely the flooding of
the plain between the Euphrates and
the Tigris by the overflow of those
rivers which is caused by the sudden
melting of the SHOWS and the heavy rain
fall in the latter part of March and
early April. These floods occur an
nually, and on the particular occasion
referred to in the Book Of Genesis, Sir
William believes an unusual volume Of
water came down because of a sudden
spell Of hot weather and an unusually
heavy rain fall.
Sir William thinks Noah was inspired
to build the ark in anticipation Of such
a flood. and fioated around in it until
he ran aground-not on the mountain
!, of Ararat but near the town otNIr OF
the Chaldees, in the province OF Ararat
and a part of Armenia. He believes
that careful reading of the scripture
story OF the flood will justify this
theory, which. indeed. is not new. Many
biblical scholars reject the tradition
that the ark landed on q mountain, and
hold that the word "Ararat' in the
Book of Genesis refers to the province
and not the peaks of that name.
i He declares that if Noah had been a
hydraulic engineer he would have done
much better by cutting a channel for
the escape Of the waters through the
bed Of the river Pison, for he might
thus have saved the entire population.
The Pison is one of the four rivers of
Eden the Gihon, Hiddekel and Eu-
pirates being the others. All of them
are really branches Of the Euphrates.
forming delta. in which the Garden
of Eden is believed to have been sit
uated.
i Nearly the entire area of Mesopo-
Il tamia was once under irrigation, and
the first known dams and canals were
built by Nimrod of the Bible, who is
identified as the Hammurabi Of the in
lscriptions that are frequently found
among the ruins. Cyrus the Great and
alexander the Great saw Mesopotamia
in it's greatest prosperity.
Wrecked Dams and bitches.