Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-11-29
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

scientists unearthed a great storehouse
built of bricks without straw or other
fiber. 1t was customary in those days
to use straw as binder of the clay.
Recently. at point not far from Ur
of the Chaldees chariot with four
wheels, and with oxen still hitched to
1t, was dug up from depth Of IS feet;
it Is believed to be 5000 years old A
four wheeled chariot was unknown be-
fore.
Now an explorer. DR.. F. Futterer.
president of the American Jerusalem
Bible Institute, has begun to organize
an expedition to explore Mount Nebo,
in search for the Ark of the Covenant.
which led the Israelites out OF Esypt
So why not hunt for the anchorage of
Noahs Ark too?
The starting point in such a hunt
would be flrst to discover the right
Ararat for Science declares that 1t is
not the great mountain popularity cred
tied with being the landing.
Here are the opening words of lee
ture by Sir William Willcocks, K. c. M.
g.. OF England, delivered before the
Royal Geographical Society, November
Is, 1909;
OuJ Oh EQen came a river which
watered garden, and from thence Ii
was parted and became four heads.
Plans and levels In hand, starting from
the spot where Jewish tradition placed
the Gates of Paradise I have followed
the traces OF the four rivers of the early
chapters of Genesis. Appointed by the
new Turkish government to engage en-
gineers. and survey and level the rivers
and canals Of the Euphrates- Tieris
delta, and devise projects for the re-
nabil1tation of the country first set
myself the task Of mastering the ancient
systems OF irrigation. improving on
them when could. and adopting them
when I could find no better substitute
started with the Garden OF Eden"
just what was the origin of the story
OF Noah's flood. this scientist does rot
pause to explain; it is known that the
Babylonians and other peoples, had
traditions like that told In Genesis,
which antedated Noah He describes
the struggles Of the people in early
days who lived in the valley of the
Tigris, and their efforts to control the
mood waters OF the great river. He says:
Judging from the levels, / should
was that of Hiddekel (river) or the
modern Saklawia. Until this was closed,
nothing could be done with the upper
half OF the delta. The struggle be.
tween the different communities and
the terrible consequences which might
result 1ntimidated the more thoughtful
members OF the community, OF whom
Noah was one, and he prepared for the
worst. He built an ERIK of the poplar
wood so common in the Euphrates VAL
ley, and pitched it inside and out with
bitumen from Hib. just as the boats
and coracles Of the Euphrates Valley
are pitched today, A settler, probably
In the lower part of the delta south
OF Kerbela, where the deserts moreover
are strangely degraded and low. he felt
the full force Of the inundation.
"A massive earthen dyke was thrown
across the head of the Saklawia, the
flood discharge of the EuphrateS was
doubled, and instead of the waters ris-
ing Is feet as In an ordinary inunda-
ton, they rose. Is cubits. or "a feet. and
not only wa the cultivated land under
water. but the deserts themselves were
submerged.
ITO men living in the Euphrates
Valley and in the Valley of the Nile.
the word jebel' does not represent a
hill, but desert. In the English
translation the word mountain repre-
sents something those people never saw,
In the Arabic translation 1t Is properly
called a 'jebel' A rise of water Is
cubits could put no hill, leave alone a
mountain, under water Float
ing off, in all probability from near
Kerbela, where one of the shrines of
the patriarch noah very properly
stands today. and driven by the cur
rent and the wind, both steady from
the north, the Ark drifted southwark
and wandered long In Chaldean
marshes. Finally 1t touched land
somewhere near Ur of the Chaldees.
on the edge of the desert. / say Ur
Of the Chaldees because 1t Is here that
we find Terah, tie father Of Abraham
and the representative Of the patri-