The Catholic encyclopedia (Volume 2); an international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline and history of the Catholic Church . 00 years before Christ. It has been sug-gested that the story of the Flood may be connectedwith mans recollection of the waters extending farnorth of Babylon, or of some great natural event re-lating to the formation of the soil; but with our pres- ent imperfect knowledge it can only be the merestsuggestion. It may, however, well be observed thatthe astounding system of canals which existed in an-cient Babylonia even from the remotest historica
The Catholic encyclopedia (Volume 2); an international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline and history of the Catholic Church . 00 years before Christ. It has been sug-gested that the story of the Flood may be connectedwith mans recollection of the waters extending farnorth of Babylon, or of some great natural event re-lating to the formation of the soil; but with our pres- ent imperfect knowledge it can only be the merestsuggestion. It may, however, well be observed thatthe astounding system of canals which existed in an-cient Babylonia even from the remotest historicaltimes, though largely due to mans careful industryand patient toil,was not entirelythe work of thespade, but of na-ture once lead-ing the waters ofEuphrates andTigris in a hun-dred rivulets tothe sea, forminga delta like thatof the Nile. The fertility ofthis rich alluvialplain was in an-cient times pro-verbial ; it pro-duced a wealthof wheat, barley,sesame, dates,and other fruitsand cornfields ofBabylonia weremostly in thesouth, whereLarsa, Lagash,Erech, and Cal-neh were thecentres of anopulent agricul-tural palm tree. Statue of Royal Personage (Non-Semitic) Who Reigned at Lagash was cultivated with assiduous care and, besides fur-nishing all sorts of food and beverage, was usedfor a thousand domestic needs. Birds and water-fowls, herds and flocks, and rivers teeming withfish supplied the inhabitants with a rural plentywhich surprises the modern reader of the cadastralsurveys and tithe-accounts of the ancient country is completely destitute of mineral wealth,and possesses no stone or metal, although stone wasalready being imported from the Lebanon and theAmmanus as early as 3000 B. c; and much earlier,about 4500 B. c, Ur-Nina King of Shirpurla sent toMagan, i. e. the Sinaitic Peninsula, for hard stone andhard wood; while the copper mines of Sinai were prob-ably being worked by Babylonians shortly after 3750,when Snefru, first king of the
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