Babylonian Story of the Deluge

Babylonian Story of the Deluge

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Babylonian Story of the Deluge
as Told by Assyrian Tablets from Nineveh, by E. A. Wallis Budge
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Title: The Babylonian Story of the Deluge as Told by Assyrian Tablets
from Nineveh
Author: E. A. Wallis Budge
Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7096] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on March 9,

2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE DELUGE ***

Produced by Jeroen Hellingman

The Babylonian Story of the Deluge as Told by Assyrian Tablets from
Nineveh.
By E. A. Wallis Budge.
The Discovery of the Tablets at Nineveh by Layard, Rassam and
Smith.
In 1845-47 and again in 1849-51 Mr. (later Sir) A. H. Layard carried
out a series of excavations among the ruins of the ancient city of
Nineveh, "that great city, wherein are more than sixteen thousand
persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left; and
also much cattle" (Jonah iv, II). Its ruins lie on the left or east bank of
the Tigris, exactly opposite the town of Al-Mawsil, or Môsul, which
was founded by the Sassanians and marks the site of Western Nineveh.
At first Layard thought that these ruins were not those of Nineveh,
which he placed at Nimrûd, about 20 miles downstream, but of one of
the other cities that were builded by Asshur (see Gen. x, 11, 12).
Thanks, however, to Christian, Roman and Muhammadan tradition,
there is no room for doubt about it, and the site of Nineveh has always
been known. The fortress which the Arabs built there in the seventh
century was known as "Kal'at-Nînawî, i.e., "Nineveh Castle," for many
centuries, and all the Arab geographers agree in saying that tile mounds
opposite Môsul contain the ruins of the palaces and walls of Nineveh.
And few of them fail to mention that close by them is "Tall Nabi
Yûnis," i.e., the Hill from which the Prophet Jonah preached repentance

to the inhabitants of Nineveh, that "exceeding great city of three days'
journey" (Jonah iii, 3). Local tradition also declares that the prophet
was buried in the Hill, and his supposed tomb is shown there to this
day.
The Walls and Palaces of Nineveh.
The situation of the ruins of the palaces of Nineveh is well shown by
the accompanying reproduction of the plan of the city made by
Commander Felix Jones, I.N. The remains of the older palaces built by
Sargon II (B.C. 721-705), Sennacherib (B.C. 705-681), and Esarhaddon
(B.C. 681-668) lie under the hill called Nabi Yûnis, and those of the
palaces and other buildings of Ashur-bani-pal (B.C. 681-626) under the
mound which is known locally as "Tall al-'Armûshîyah," i.e., "The Hill
of 'Armûsh," and "Kuyûnjik." The latter name is said to be derived
from two Turkish words meaning "many sheep," in allusion to the large
flocks of sheep that find their pasture on and about the mound in the
early spring. These two great mounds lie close to the remains of the
great west wall of Nineveh, which in the time of the last Assyrian
Empire was washed by the waters of the river Tigris. At some unknown
period the course of the river changed, and it is now more than a mile
distant from the city wall. The river Khausur, or Khoser, divides the
area of Nineveh into two parts, and passing close to the southern end of
Kuyûnjik empties itself into the Tigris. The ruins of the wails of
Nineveh show that the east wall was 16,000 feet long, the north wall
7,000 feet long, the west wall 13,600 feet, and the south wall 3,000 feet;
its circuit was about 13,200 yards or 7 1/2 miles.
Discovery of the Library of the Temple of Nebo at Nineveh.
In the spring of 1852 Layard, assisted by