The Chaldean account of Genesis : $b Containing the description of the creation, the fall of man, the deluge, the tower of Babel, the times of the patriarchsSmith, George
Religion
The Chaldean account of Genesis : $b Containing the description of the creation, the fall of man, the deluge, the tower of Babel, the times of the patriarchs
mountain of the ark in totally different positions, and there is not
positive proof as to which is the earlier traditionary spot. The word
Ararat is connected with a word _Urdhu_, meaning “highland,” and might
be a general term for any part of the hilly country to the north-east
of Assyria.
It is interesting to find references in the Jehovistic account to
the sacred Babylonian number seven and the seven-day week. Just as
Xisuthrus set vessels by sevens on the altar of sacrifice, so Noah
offered clean beasts and fowls which had been taken by sevens into
the ark. And the narrative of the sending-out of the birds contains a
clear reference to the seven-day week, which was known from very early
times to the Accadians, who had named each day after one of the seven
planets. The Sabbath also, which occurred on the 7th, 14th, 19th, 21st
and 28th days of the lunar month, was rigorously observed by them.
They called it “a day of completion of labours,” or “a day unlawful
to work upon,” and a sort of saints’ calendar for the month of the
intercalatory Elul says that upon it “the shepherd of many peoples
may not eat the flesh of _birds_ (?) or cooked fruit. The garments of
his body he must not change. White robes he may not put on. Sacrifice
he may not offer. The king in his chariot may not ride. He may not
legislate in royal fashion. A place of garrison the general by word
of mouth may not appoint. Medicine for the sickness of the body one
may not apply.” The very word _Sabattu_ or Sabbath was used by the
Assyrians, and a bilingual tablet explains it as “a day of rest for the
heart.”
One striking difference between the descriptions of the Deluge given
in the Old Testament and in the Epic of Izdubar is due to the fact
that the Hebrews were an inland people, whereas the Accadians were a
maritime, or rather fluviatile one. Hence it is that while the ark
is called in the Babylonian version “a ship,” it is called _têbâh_,
that is, “a coffer” in Genesis. In Genesis, too, nothing is said about
launching the ark, testing its seaworthiness, or entrusting it to a
pilot. However, the narrative in Genesis preserves a recollection of
the bitumen for which the Babylonian plain was famous, and like the
cuneiform narrative states that the ark was pitched.
Some of the other differences observable in the two accounts are
evidently due to the opposite religious systems of the two countries,
but there is again a curious point in connection with the close of the
Chaldean legend: this is the translation of the hero of the Flood.
In the Book of Genesis it is not Noah but the seventh patriarch Enoch
who is translated, three generations before the Flood.
There appears to have been some connection or confusion between Enoch
and Noah in ancient tradition; both are holy men, and Enoch is said,
like Noah, to have predicted the Flood.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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