Across the Mesopotamian plain flows two great rivers the rise in the Armenian mountains. These two great streams flowing from different angles, finally unite and enter the Persian Gulf. Here we find a rich alluvial delta like that of the Nile. North of this flat area rises the Chaldean plain, on the Tigris side being called Assyria. It was in the rich lowlands near the confluence of the rivers that the civilization of Western Asia first developed. The Mesopotamian plain is about 250 miles in length. The numerous mounds show how thickly this region was once populated. Babylon like Egypt was a country of scarcity of rain and depended upon the floods from the snowcapped mountains of Armenia for moisture. The flat low country was subject to overflow and the Babylonians had to dyke their country. Like Egypt these landmarks swept away and the knowledge of geometry developed in replacing the ancient dividing lines. Engineering developed from the building of the large and small canals that covered the country like a network, furnishing means of communication and irrigation. The dams of the country were very ancient and the canals that covered the plains of Shinar must have required incredible skill and labor. They mortared stone, immense tanks as big as lakes, that stored water for irrigation. Under Turkish rule, the last vestiges of these ancient works have gone to ruin. 5000 B. C. Mesopotamia was filled with little city republics like those of Greece and Italy. So great was the fertility of the soil that according to Herodotus, grain commonly returned two hundred fold and occasionally three hundred fold. Pliny said that wheat was cut twice from one sowing and afterwards was good keep for sheep. Quintius Curtius declared that the country between the Tigris and the Euphrates was so rich that the cattle were driven from these pastures lest they be destroyed by satiety. Berosus spoke of wheat, barley, sesame, ochrys, palms and many kinds of shelled fruits that grew wild, for here These colors were laid on in various ways, some being burnt into the surface of the bricks, some painted and the fourth and seventh squares faced with thin layers of gold and silver and probably radiance diffused tier light around the gigantic pile, the awe-struck worshiper may have well imagined that Nebo himself was enshrined on the summit. (Ridpath's History of the World, Vol. 1, pp. 263, 264.) In these temples the Babylonians offered at stated seasons human sacrifice. In the lowest strata of the excavated temples were found vessels of copper and bronze. Some of clay were lacquered in red and black in designs seemingly of Greek origin. This peculiar ware was coeval with the products of Minoan culture which preceeded the historic Greek culture, in Hellas and was of itself Ethiopian. To sum up, Rawlinson supposed these Chaldeans to have resembled the other Ethiopians. He concludes that the Cushites that occupied the country south of Egypt sent their colonies along the shores of Arabia, whence they crept into the Persian Gulf occupying Chaldea, Susiana and the Indus. Baldwin continuing his argument says, "The Bible points toward Africa for the central seat of the Ethiopians. It derives Nimrod from Cush not Cush from Nimrod. The., monuments and traditions of Chaldea present some curious indications of East African origin. Much stress has been placed upon the theory that the Chaldeans were a mixed people but Berosus spoke of -no influx of a foreign people. He identifies the Genesis X, 7, as showing that Havelah son of Cush peopled the region where the Tigris and Euphrates unite. We know that the Hebrews while in captivity in Babylon secured the authentic genealogies of the first children of men. We would believe that the Babylonians could not have given them incorrect information as to their own origin. Diodorus Siculus said that the Chaldeans were a body of learned men resembling the priests of Egypt (both of the same race). Their whole time was spent in philosophic meditation. The learning of the Chaldeans was a family tradition. The Scriptures speak of them as the "Wise Men of the East." The son was taught by the father. Almanacs were to be found all over BabylonBABYLONIA THE LAND OF MARVELS.
