The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-04-14

wrs blue. Mercury's color, ana each Of IL
sides measured 70 feet cube OF IL feet
form'G the seventh story. and was covered
with plates Of silver. In honor Of the moon.
Marduk was the god Of Light In the
beginning OF things he battled with the
dragon Of Chaos: and. to effect the capture
OF thai frightful creature he fastened
gigantic ct to the four corners Of creation
north, south, east and west Then he
pierced the heart OF the dragon with his
lance aud cut the beast In two: OF one
half he iade the roof of Heaven. and OF
the other half made the earth. Heaven he
tnlatd with the sun, moon and stars. and
the Earth he covered with plants and AMI
mails. Finally, he made the first man and
woman out Of clay and celestial blood.
The BabylonianS divided history into two
great pc iods-before the Flood and after.
Theirs was land OF noods--low and bor-
dertng on greet rivers flowing into the sea.
Just what happened to 1t on the occasion
OF the stored DeluE. may be known pretty
we'll by cent occurrence Of the same
kind. 30 short time ago a. tho year 1879.
In that year tornado gathered In the
Bay OF BENGAL and, amid the crash Of thun-
der and violence so terrific AZ to dismass
shi. distant nearly 200 miles, approached
the delta Of the Ganges. met the ebbing
tide and. engulhng 1t In its own huge tidal
wave. hurled an ocean OF water over IA
square leagues to depth OF forty-nve feet
drowning $4,000 human beings, and losing
Its strength only when It broke against the
foothills OF the mountains far beyond.
book found In the library Of Sardanap-
alus. at Nneyeh. written on clay tablets.
about 1000 B. c.. gives description OF the
Dcluge which closely corresponds to the
above. The sea plays the principal part In
1t. and the Ark Is cast back upon q spur OF
mountain
Noah in this case Is called xisuthros.
and Is stated to have received from the rod
OF the watery deep command to build .
ship OF certain pattern and dimensions,
to coat 1t with pitch. and to put his family
aboard. WITH the seeds OF all living
things" He enters the vessel. closes the
door. ar. the craft goes adrift on the
waves. On seventh day he releases q
dove. which, flying thi'her and yon aud
finding no resting place. returns. Then .
swallow IL sent forth. with like result. and
finally raven. which does not come back.
Xisuthrc thereupon ahandons the weasel
and ONE. sacrifices on the summit Of the
mountain.
1t 10 easy to understand that this story
must have travelled to Canaan long before
the 1sr' -ites settled in that country.
Canaan was Babylonian domain: and W
find Hezekiah the Jewish King paying
tribute to the Assyrian monarch Sennach-
crib III Kings xviii. 40, at q town called
enough. sculptured bas-relief on Sargon's
palace In Nineveh. which has been dug up.
shows Hezekiah In the act. OF doine this
very thing. Sennacherib being enthronsd
before tent. An accompanying inscrip-
ton in uniform characters Identifies the
nersonages concerned.
The question still remains. from what
source did the prehistoric Mayas OF Yucca
tan obtain their ideas for the const-u ,tion
Of temple-crowned pyramids? InasmucA
as these people certainly did not originate
In America. they must have brought their
notions OF architecture from somewhere
else. Their ara manv well known reasons
for believing they were Asiatic By orisfn.
Snch being the case this close similarity
Of their pvramids to those OF ancient Hahy.
Ion would seem obviously to indicate A.
SYRIA as the earlier home OF their raca
rs'-the-~ore. thew bad. and their dascenA.
ants to-day still roesess. traditions Of :
neluge and a Tower OF Bahel-the story q
= $500 Na'r~ substantially the same A
that which has come down to us In the
Bible.
I'm at T~ot;huacsn. Mexico, Shows
ing 1ts Extraordinary Resem.
blance 10 the Tn,Ser Of BABEL
and Other Similar Buildings
in Babvlonia. As Reconstructed
from Their Ruins.