Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-07
DIR. JASTROW DENIES
NIPPUR TABLETS TELL
DIR. LANGDON'S STORY
Professor Asserts He Failed to
Find Account of Creation,
Deluge and Fall of Man
" in Relics
OXFORD MAN TO REPLY

The truth will out-some day, perhaps
| In this case IL has been matter of 5O0C
| years or more In the act Of coming out
and the matter has not been settled as
| yet DR.. Stephen Langdon. OF oxford
| University cabled to this country today
| that his original Interpretation Of the
famous Sumerlan tablets at the Univer-
| slty Of Pennsylvania, describing the crea-
| tion, the deluge and the fall OF man, still
holds despite the paper to the contrary
read by Dr. Morris Jastrow. Jr., Of the
University OF Pennsylvania, before the
annual meeting OF the Society OF Biblical
Literature last week in New York Fur
thermorc, Doctor Langdon said In his
ditpatch that he would settle the mat
ter once and for all by lrrefutable argu-
ments to support his case.
Doctor Jastrow seemed entirely salts
fled today when told that a reply would
shortly be made by Doctor Langdon in
London and intmated that he would then
drag forth his heaviest artillery to com
pletely shatter the theories of the Eng
lish scholar
SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND
Doctor Langdon was looking evidently
for an account of the creation of man,
lilF uFlNbf bllN AiA' N'iiib''hb'iA ~ '''
tablets and when a man looks for thing
he often finds IT, you know" said Doc
tor Jastrow.
The whole discussion hinges around the
translation by Docton Langdon of the
Nnppur tablets now in the University of
Pennsylvania Museum. In which, he said,
he found a story of the creation, deluge
and fall of man that antedated the writ
ing of the Book of Genesis by more than
100 years According TO this translation
of the Nippur tablets, often called Sumo
rian tablets, 1t was Noah that ate the
apple instead of Adam. and the fall of
the Adam of the Bible. the Noah of
the tablet. occurred after the flood. As
n result Of eating the apple "NOah"
wasn't put out of the Garden OF Eden,
but was curscd-"the face of life until
thou die not shall thou see" Doctor
Jastrow says the tablet does not show
any such thing ana that the whole tablet
is only a mythical picture of conditions
at the beginning of time when the earth
already existed, but before there was any
life on the globe.
"The reason | know there wasn't any
life on the globe ut the time indicated In
the tablets, is that there WASH any water
to drink or rain to fertilize the fields IL
says so right there" said the professor,
pointing to column I Of the tablet
TONER nodding wisely as he looked at the
tablet. II looked like n petrihed shredded
wheat biscuit But a closer look showed
II more in the light of war map, or a
battle scene which was mostly free-for-
all fight in which each member of tho
opposing armies carried little flag. Some
of the fighters stood on their ears. others
We're evidently dead, while the rest were
engaged in beating each other over the
heads with the pennants.
ITS AS PLAIN AS DAY"
IT'S as plain as day" continued Pro-
fessor Jastrow. 1T describes the place
where water was not. Not even canal
Read II for yourself. The god and god
dess contemplate Il new city where water
will tlow Enl<i is the god Of water He
has body like fish and feet like II
man, huge tusks for teeth and Is hairy.
Nintu. the goddess, is n lovely creature,
with the features of queen divine. The
abundant rains that Doctor Langdon says
were the deluge were the abundant rains
that came to the new city. The bitter
waters of the ocean turnd to sweet waters
as the result of the marital bond between
the god and goddess Everybody knows
such a conception is exceedingly COM
mon among the ancient myths.
THE beginning of fertility and vegeta-
tion was universally pictured as result
of a marriage between god and goddess.
Therefore there is no deluge described in
this tablet, as Doctor Langdon says, nor
any survivor who eats forbidden fruit
The tablet furnishes here in Column 3, as
YOU see" continued Doctor Jastrow,
pointing TO the nicked and battered tab
let, "a long series OF plants and fruits
that can be plucked and eaten and in this
| see an account of the instruction given
to man by the god Enki through mes
senger whose name Is Usmu. to the
use of certain plants.