Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-04-02
LEGENDS or THE DELuGE.

The oldest tablet heretofore known
containing AN account OF the delugc Of
Noah's day was the Layard tablet %
Is believed % date from $50 -. g., and
g. now ln the British museum.
u was a pagan story Of "a dciuge
brought about at council of the gods
who decided Co destroy mankind. one
or the gods was moved Co save his
protege-thc Noah Of the story-and
sent dream OF warning This god ok
cused his betrayal Of the secret 60 the
other dcities by the explanation that he
had not told he had only whispered
through the mat'-that is. through
the wall of the house ON the other side
OF which his protcge slept and Co
whom this dream was thus conveyed.
The uniformity of this story To- the
Biblical account Of the Hood is evident
at glance. while its recent origin. as
compared with the ancient date OF the
book Of Genesis. tended to detract fur
Their from IL interest. other tablets
OF doubtful date have been discovered
at B8bylouia.
Now. however. still another tablet
from that region has attracted the in
tercst 81 antiquarians This one was
found i'm 1899 i'm the lowest strata Of
the oldest part OF the ruins Of the Tenn
pie Library az Nippur In the same re-
gion. u is Of unbaked clay. and
measures "a, by 23s inches in area. Il
has Just been translated by Prof. Hll-
prccht Of the University Of Pcnnsyl-
vania. The translation is as follows:
a declare uuto) thee that the con-
fines OF heaven / will loosen, "a delugo
1 viii make and 10 shall sweep away an
men together; but thou Uhe Babylon
ian NOah) seek life before the doluEe
coWcth forth: for 10 an living beings.
as many as there are 1 will bring over
throw. destruction, humiliation .
Build a great ship and Total
height shall be It's structure. 10
shall be a houseboat carrying what
has been saved OF life with "a
strong deck cover IT, Tho ship which
thou shalt make. into 10 bring the
beasts OF the field. the birds ~ heaven
and the creeping things, two Of every
thing instead OF a number and
the family.
The Semitic dialect in the inscrlp-
ton and certain grammatical pecu-
larities Of the text show. according to
Prof. Hilpreeht. that il was written
between 2137 and 2OO5 r. G.. The ac-
ccpted date Of the flood is 24iS r. G..
II Is not at all remarkable that an
account Of the food should be found
among the records or the traditions
~ ancient nations. Most of them re-
semble the Mosaic account without
equaliing e I'm directness and sim
pllcity. This would Indicate that they
are adaptations or traditiunary echoes
OF the biblical account. Thus compar-
ing tho same parts of Genesis with the
Nippur tablet. and we get the follow
ing:
And God saw that the wickedness 90
man was great . And il repcnted
the Lord that he had made man on the
earth And the Lord said. I
viii destroy man whom [ have created:
both man and beast. and the creeping
thing and the fowls Of the air
And God said unto Noah . Make
thee an ark OF gopher wood: rooms
shalt thou make in the ark And
behold. I, oven 1. do bring a flood Of
waters upon the earth. 10 destroy an
flesh. But with thee will I eg-
tablish my covenant; and thou shalt
"ome into the ark, thou, and thy sons
and thy wife. and thy sons wives with
thee. And of every living thing Of all
flesh. two of every sort shalt thou
bring into the ark. 70 keep them alive
with thee they shall be- male and fe-
male. Genesis vi, j-19.