The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-08-23
NOAH, NOT ADAM, ATE OF THE.
FORBIDDEN FRUIT, ACCORDING
TO BABYLONIAM TABI ,F"T

by the same person who wrote the in
scription she is trying to complete.
Little by little the fragments are
fitted together and finally after days or
weeks Of unCeasing work the tablet is
completed. Even in such cases, how
ever, there will Ice breaks or holes such
as are shown in the Langdon tablet re-
produced in these pages. the Reason be-
Ing of course that some Of the clay
fragments are reduced to dust. But
when "A tablet is restored as far as pos
Sihlr Miss Connurtun proceeds to fas-
ten the fragment together with a special
kind of white glue laid ON the edges
with delicate strokes of the brush.
1t is necessary for the glue to be
If the same temperature as the clay.
and when laid away to dry and harden
the clay and the glue must be treated
under carefully calculated degrees Of
moisture Air that is a little too dry
Nould cause the whole thing to crum-
bile: air little too wet would defeat
equally the object sought. So as soon
as the fragments are glued together
they are placed in n simple but in
gcnious oven constructed in the labura-
tory and there remain under regulated
heat for a certain length of time.
When taken out the restored tablet Is
ready for examination 10y the scholar.
Not long before I.angdon made his
discovery another remarkable find was
reported by Arno pochel. a professor i'm
the University of Berlin who was edu-
Gated as young man at the University
of Pennsylvania, where he won his
fellowship in Assyrioogy and then
went back to Germany as n member
Of the faculty ~ Berlin poebel spent
two years at the Philadelphia Museum
working over Nippur tablets and found
one partially complete which takes us
at least in the belief of the Baby
lonians-back to the very beginnings
III history, not only to the time of the
Deluge but to the time of the creation
Itself. only THE lower part of this
tablet has been found. and the Uni
Nersity Museum Also permits THE SIN
DAY Sun to reproduce photograph
of II. Pocbel declares the tablet to he "A
priceless possession.
The Berlin professor found that the
preserved portion of the first column
Of the tablet begins with instructions
concerning the building OF cities. which.
II seems. were given by the gods to the
first men, whose creation must have
been related in the now missing lines.
still" continues poehel, 1--WE are
fortunate enough to read at the end
OF the first column at least the fol-
lowing reference to their creation.
After EMIL, Enki and Ninharsagga
had created the blackheaded Ithus the
l'abylonians designated Humankind
they called into being in a fine fashion
the animals, the four legged of the
field
Up to the present time there has
been among Assyrioogists as well as
among biblical scholars considerable
speculation as to whom the Babylonians
in the Older times credited with having
created the human race. Here We are
told that Il was the two gods EMIL and
the goddess Ninharsagga.
prom Greek writer's we know of
very queer late Babylonian account
Of the creation of man which was
transmitted To them by the ,abylo-
Man priest l'rrOssus, "A younger con-
temporary of Alexander the Great
According to him the god Bel that is.
Marduk Of babylon, cut off his head
and the other gods mixed the blood
that nowed from his head with the
earth ana fashioned man, who thus
became rational being.
This story has not come To MS
directly from Berossus; It first passed
Into book by the Greek scholar Alex