The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-08-24
THE ARK IN THE DELUGE.
Gustave Dores Striking Drawing
ls Further Aesed Babylonn

be sent to destroy the seed of mankind This
in the decision OF the assembly of the gods"
Unfortunately much of the rest of this &C
count is lost as 1t appears on the reverse side
or the tablet, but learn that Ziugidda
standing by the WALL heard the story and
derstood that the destruction Of mankind by
flood was at hand. Thus said the god
Enki, ITO destroy the seed of mankind is the
decision of the GODS" ETC., and what is missing
apparently is an injunction to King Ziugidda
TO escape.
The account begins again with a description
of windstorms which possess great power, the
transforms in their entirety went with them
and the storms were terrible After seven
days the ranstorm had stormed over the land
and carried away the huge boat Then the
sun god came forth shedding light over heaven
and earth. Ziugidda opened the (roof) of his
ship and the light OF the sun god was let into
the interior of the huge boat.
After the storm and the waters had dlsap-
peared, Ziugidda prayed to the gods Of heaven
with a loud voice and sacrificed an OK a sheen
and something with great horn" the name
of which is missing. Evidently the prayer was
answered and it would appear that Enki and
Nintu persuaded the gods not to continue their
wrath further. AS in all Oriental tales when
an erring one is forgiven he is loaded with
gods forgive the human beings and give them
Immortality, which before they did not pos
sess And as for Ziugidda (Noah), he Is hon
ored by being taken to an island in the Per
sian Gulf, where he lives in sort of Paradise
and many epfcs tell of how he was visited
by heroes in later years.
The fact that Nintu, the Creator. is named
as the equal of the gods points to very early
period Of civilization H. Babylonia when
woman was at first the superior and afterward
the full equal of man.
The tablet comes from Nippur, which has
long been known as one Of the most ancient
sites OF civilization in all Babylonia. in fact
IT was because of references to It's ancient
power found on tablets in Nineyeh and other
cities that the University OF Pennsylvania
selected this site.
The fate of the other tablets belonging to
this series, which would give lis the entire
TO expect some astonishing revelations when
the other tablets are found either in the
museum at the university more probably in
the museum at Constantirope to which by far
the largest number Of tablets had to be taken.
DR.. Poebel, discussing the tablet in the latest
number of the Museum Journal the official
publication Of the University OF Pennsylvania
says:
"A Babylonian story of the deluge has been
known to us for long time from a poem that
Is Embedded In the famous Gilgamesh epic.
ihere exist, also. several fragments of other
versions of the story, and the Museum pos
sesses small fragment of thirteen partially
preserved lines. which was published by Prof
HHprecnt some years ago. Our new text,
however, is an entirely different account as
name different from that found in the other
deluge stories. But what makes the new &C.
count especially important is that 1t Is not
IKE the other versions, written in the Semitic