The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-08-09


- oogy at the University OF Oxford.
has made discovery that is believed 10 have
a most radical bearing on the origin ana
authority OF our Bible
DR.. langdon has found inscription In the
oldest Babl lonian language in which Noah. the
hero OF the Flood. Is described as having been
tempted by his wife. and having eaten OF the
forbidden fruit. This means, In simple
- la nguagc, that it was Noah and not Adam who
ate the apple. AS matter of fact, it was the
cassia tree and not the apple tree that figures
In the Babyionan story. but that does not
change the essential facts. The inscription
also shows that the fall OF man happened after
the Flood in the original legend. This Oldest
language Of the Babyonans was called
Sumcrian. The Sumerians were early
hon-Senitic race. who inhabited Babylonia
DR. Langdon is Of the few scholars
hho can read Sumerian He says that
the Sunierian records centuries older
han the Hebrew Bible, and probably most
fcholars agree with him that point.
Frhe Babylonians were an ancient civilized
bower long before the Hebrews were recog-
hizcd distinct nation. Therefore DR.. Lang.
lon concludes the Hebrews must have copied
creation The fall and the Flood, from the older
Babylonan versions. and In doing so they con.
FUSED Noah with Adam and erroneously al.
&r!buted the temptation and the fall TO the
latter and his wife.
The argument has been made before.
based on Babyion!an inscriptions but entirely
new force Is given TO the arsnment BY p, Dr.;
IS clearly referred TO in this Sumeran In.
fcription and that the account OF his tempta'
ion and fall is evidently the episode that
IN nc Bible is credited 10 Adam and Eve.
The new inscriptions contained in
pr fifty tablets that were unearthed at Nppur
Tor the University Of Pennsylvania. The origi.
f1als are now there, but DR.. Lansdon, who has
- he task Of trans!ating them. took copies OF
hem. and IS doing his work at Oxford
The principal inscription. the one showing
hat Noah bit when tempted, describes
enuon between Ninharsag, the greatness OF
= mankind and EMIL The beginning of the
story OF the fall is broken off. What remains
uns follows:
Of tire cassia he took he
te the plant which determined their
ate there she came upon Ninharsas in the
Until he dies r7ay nc see" The spirits Of
he nethc rworia IN the Dust sat down. Ansriy
nto Ell she spoke al. Ninharsag, oesa'
EMIL the father angrily replied, Thou,
Ninharsa9. hast bcsotten children. There
ore in,ry-cisy tive. huma nswIli-makefor.thee
shall thy ranc be called The renowned, his
head as q prototype she had moulded, his
cot as prototype she had designed, his eyes
hs prototype she had made luminous"
The cassia is the most important OF all
medicinal plants OF antiquity and hence may
have arisen the notion OF the cassia as a tree
giving eternal life. The conception OF the
rec as the tree OF knowledge" is peculiar to
he Hebrew
In some Baby lonIan texts the cassla is called
the tree OF the serpent. and it is possible that
he broken section which begins the tablet
narrative may have contained the OF the
ptation
EMIL. whom Ninharsag addresses in this I'm.
perfect passage. is apparently her husband.
Noah. with his name changed. because he has
been made demgod. AL any rate there is
nterna! evidence to show that the he" who
Ete the plant is Noah. the hero OF the Flood.
Whose adventures described at length On
ne other side Of the tablet. Here then in this
imperfect inscription Is the most striking evil
hence that 1t was Noah and not Adam who
%as tempted and fell.
CORE; pendent Of this newspaper went
o Oxford 10 DR. Langdon and obtain his
comments on the above quoted inscription and
he other interesting discoveries he has made