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CHALDEAN HISTORY OF THE DELUGE.

Last evening a large and distinguished company assembled in the rooms of the Society of Biblical Archæology, to hear from Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum, a paper upon a Cuneiform Inscription, containing the Chaldean account of the Deluge. General Sir Henry Rawlinson presided, and among those present were Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Childers, the Dean of Westminster and Lady Augusta Stanley, Mr. Roebuck, Mr. Giffard, Q.C., Professor Donaldson, Mr. S. Birch, the Rev. J. M. Rodwell, Mr. Deutsch, and many others.

Sir Henry Rawlinson, in introducing the lecturer, said the crowded state of the meeting evinced the great pubic interest which was taken in the subject to be brought forward that evening. Some 15 years ago, he explained, during the excavations of the site of the old palace of Ninevah, the débris of the Royal library was found. In ancient days books were merely inscribed on clay tablets, and a great many of these were discovered among the ruins in as perfect a state of preservation as they had been 2,500 years previously. They were deposited in the British Museum, and had since furnished a perfect mine of resource to all Assyrian scholars, of whom Mr. Smith was the first of the day. Sir Henry pledged his reputation and authority that the translation of the inscription which they would hear from Mr. Smith would be as generally perfect as could possibly be.

Mr. Smith, who was received with cheers, then read his paper. A short time back, he said, he discovered among the Assyrian tablets in the British Museum an account of the Flood. For convenience of working he had divided the collection of Assyrian tablets in the British Museum into sections according to the subject-matter of the inscriptions. He had recently been examining the division comprising the mythological and mythical tablets, and from that section he obtained a number of tablets giving a curious series of legends and including a copy of the story of the Flood. On discovering these documents, which were much mutilated, he searched over all the collections of fragments of inscriptions, consisting of several thousands of smaller pieces, and ultimately recovered 80 fragments of those legends; by the aid of which he was enabled to restore nearly all the text of the description of the Flood, and considerable portions of the other legends. These tablets were originally at least 12 in number, forming one story or set of legends, the account of the Flood being on the eleventh tablet. Of the inscription describing the Flood, there were fragments of three copies containing duplicate texts; these copies belong to the time of Assurbanipal, or about 660 years before the Christian era, and they were found in the library of that Monarch in the palace at Nineveh. The original text, according to the statements on the tablets, must have belonged to the city of Erech, and it appeared to have been either written in or translated into the Semitic Babylonian at a very early period. The date when that document was first written or translated was at present very difficult to decide, but the following were some of the evidences of its antiquity:—1, The three Assyrian copies presented a number of variant readings, which had crept into the text since the original documents were written; 2, the forms of the characters in the original documents were of an ancient type, and the Assyrian copyist did not always know their modern representatives, so he had left some of them in their original hieratic form; 3, there were a number of sentences which were originally glosses explanatory of the subjects. Before the Assyrian copies were made these glosses had been already incorporated in the text and their original use lost. On examining the composition of the text, some marked peculiarities are apparent which likewise show its high antiquity. One of these was the constant use of the personal pronoun nominative. In later times that was usually indicated by the verbal form, but not expressed. On comparing the Deluge text with dated texts from the time of Sargon I., it appeared to be older than these, and its original composition cannot be placed later than the 17th century before the Christian era, while it might be much older. The text itself professed to belong to the time of a Monarch whose name, written in monograms, he was unable to read phonetically, he therefore provisionally called him by the ordinary values of the signs of his name, Izdubar. Izdubar, from the description of his reign, evidently belonged to the mythical period; the legends given in these tablets—the offer of marriage made to him by the goddess Ishtar, the monsters living at the time, Izdubar's vision of the gods, his journey to the translated Sisit, with a curious account of a mythical conquest of Erech when the gods and spirits inhabiting that city changed themselves into animals to escape the fury of the conqueror: all these things and many others show the unhistorical nature of the epoch. From the heading of the tablets giving his history, he supposed that Izdubar lived in the epoch immediately following the Flood, and he thought likewise that he might have been the founder of the Babylonian Monarchy, perhaps the Nimrod of Scripture. That, however, was pure conjecture; so many fabulous stories were current in Babylonia respecting Izdubar, that his existence might even be doubted. The fragments of the history of Izdubar, so far as he had at present examined them, reminded him of the exploits and labours of Hercules, and, on the supposition that our present version of Berosus was correct as to dates, Izdubar might have been placed about 30,000 years before the Christian era. No document could belong to so remote an age. The legends of Izdubar and the account of the Flood must, however, belong to a very early period, for there were references to the story in the bilingual lists which were composed in Babylonia during the early Chaldean Empires. The question might be asked, “How is it that we find an early Chaldean document from Erech transported to Nineveh, copied, and placed in the Royal library there?” On this point it could be shown that it was a common custom for the Assyrians to obtain and copy Babylonian works, and a considerable portion of Assyrian literature consists of these copies of older standard writings. Mr. Smith then gave an account of the inscriptions on the ten preceding tablets. The eleventh tablet, the most important, opened with a speech of Izdubar, who now asks Sisit how he became converted and Sisit relates the story of the Flood. After describing the building of the Ark, he goes on as follows:—

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“I caused to go up into the ship all my male and female servants, the beasts of the field, the animals of the field, and the sons of the army—all of them, I caused to go up. A flood Shamas made, and he spake saying in the night, ‘I will cause it to rain from the heaven heavily; enter to the midst of the ship, and shut thy door.’ A flood he raised, and he spake saying in the night, ‘I will cause it to rain from heaven heavily,’ In the day that I celebrated his festival, the which he had appointed; fear I had, I entered to the midst of the ship, and shut my door; to guide the ship to Buzursadirabi the pilot, the palace I gave to his hand. The raging of a storm in the morning arose, from the horizon of heaven extending and wide Vul in the midst of it thundered, and Nebo and Saru went in front; the throne bearers went over mountains and plains; the destroyer Nergal overturned; Ninip went in front, and cast down; the spirits carried destruction; in their glory they swept the earth; of Vul the flood, reached to heaven; the bright earth to a waste was turned; the surface of the earth, like it swept; it destroyed all life, from the face of the earth the strong tempest over the people, reached to heaven. Brother saw not his brother, it did not spare the people. In heaven the gods feared the tempest, and sought refuge; they ascended to the heaven of Anu. The gods like dogs with tails hidden couched down. Spake Ishtar a discourse, uttered the great goddess her speech, ‘The world to sin has turned, and then I in the presence of the gods prophesied evil; when I prophesied in the presence of the gods the evil, to evil were devoted all my people, and I prophesied thus, “I have begotten man and let him not like the sons of the fishes fill the sea.” The gods concerning the spirits, were weeping with her; the gods in seats, seated in lamentation; covered were their lips for the coming evil. Six days and nights passed, the wind tempest and storm, overwhelmed, on the seventh day in its course, was calmed the storm, and all the tempest, which had destroyed like an earthquake, quieted. The sea he caused to dry, and the wind and tempest ended. I was carried through the sea. The doer of evil, and the whole of mankind who turned to sin, like reeds their corpses floated. I opened the window, and the light broke in, over my refuge it passed; I sat still and over my refuge came peace. I was carried over the shore, at the boundary of the sea, for 12 measures it ascended over the land. To the country of Nizir, went the ship; the Mountain of Nizir stopped the ship, and to pass over it, it was not able. The first day and the second day, the mountain of Nizir the same. The third day and the fourth day, the mountain of Nizir the same. On the seventh day in the course of it I sent forth a dove, and it left. The dove went and searched and a resting-place it did not find, and it returned. I sent forth a swallow, and it left. The swallow went and searched and a resting-place it did not find, and it returned. I sent a raven, and it left. The raven went, and the corpses on the waters it saw, and it did eat, it swam, and wandered away, and did not return. I sent the animals forth to the four winds I poured out a libation I built an altar on the peak of the mountain, by seven herbs I cut, at the bottom of them, I placed reeds, pines, and simgar. The gods collected at its burning, the gods collected at its good burning. The gods like sumbe over the sacrifice gathered, From of old also, the great God in his course, the great brightness of Anu had created; when the glory of these gods, as of Ukni stone, on my countenance I could not endure; in those days I prayed that for ever I might not endure. May the gods come to my altar; may Bel not come to my altar for he did not consider and had made a tempest and my people he had consigned to the deep from of old, also Bel in his course saw the ship, and went Bel with anger filled to the gods and spirits; let not any one come out alive, let not a man be saved from the deep. Ninip his mouth opened and spake, and said to the warrior Bel, ‘who then will be saved,’ Hea the words understood, and Hea knew all things, Hea his mouth opened and spake, and said to the warrior Bel, ‘Thou prince of the gods, warrior, when thou was angry a tempest thou makest, the doer of sin did his sin, the doer of evil did his evil, may the exalted not be broken, may the captive not be delivered; instead of thee making a tempest, may lions increase and men be reduced; instead of thee making a tempest, may leopards increase and men be reduced; instead of thee making a tempest, may a famine happen, and the country be destroyed; instead of thee making a tempest, may pestilence increase and men be destroyed.’ I did not peer into the wisdom of the gods,, reverent and attentive a dream they sent, and the wisdom of the gods he heard. When his judgment was accomplished, Bel went up to the midst of the ship, he took my hand and brought me out, me he brought out, he caused me to bring my wife to my side, he purified the country, he established in a covenant and took the people in the presence of Sisit and the people; when Sisit and his wife and the people to be like the gods were carried away, then dwelt Sisit in a remote place at the mouth of the rivers; they took me and in a remote place at the mouth of the rivers they seated me, when to thee whom the gods have chosen, thee and the life which thou has sought, after thou shalt gain this do for six days and seven nights like I say also, in bonds bind him the way like a storm shall be laid upon him. Sisit after this manner said to his wife I announce that the chief who grasps at life the way like a storm shall be laid upon him; his wife after this manner said to Sisit afar off, purify him and let the man be sent away the road that he came, may he return in peace, the great gate open, and may he return to his country. Sisit after this manner, said to his wife, the cry of a man alarms thee, this do, his scarlet cloth place on his head, and the day when he ascended the side of the ship, she did, his scarlet cloth she placed on his head, and the day when he ascended on the side of the ship.” Mr. Smith ended by minutely comparing this description with the Bible record and the Chaldean account given by Berosus, into which, however, we have no space to enter.