Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

DURING 19TB. CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 191
While unpacking the numerous boxes, and cleaning their
contents, his eye used to glance over the cuneiform characters,
as they gradually appeared under his brush upon
the surface of each tablet. To facilitate his later studies, he
divided the whole material into six divisions. Whenever
anything of interest attracted his attention, he laid the fragment
aside, endeavoring to find the other parts and trying
every piece that seemed to join or to throw some light on
the new subject. One day, in the fall of 1872, he picked
up a very large fragment of the " mythological division,"
which occupied his mind completely as soon as he commenced
to decipher. He read of a destructive flood and of
a great ship resting on the mountain of Nisir. A dove was
sent out to try if the water had subsided. A swallow came
next ; but it found no resting place, and returned likewise.
A raven followed, which noticed the receding waters, discovered
something to eat, flew away and did not return.
Smith had discovered the Babylonian account of the Deluge,
which in salient points agreed most strikingly with the
Biblical narrative. He immediately made a brief announcement
of what he had found. The general interest was
roused. With renewed zeal he began to search for the missing
pieces. After infinite toil he discovered portions of two
other copies and several minor parts of the first fragment,
at the same time recognizing that the Babylonian account
of the Deluge formed the eleventh chapter of a series of
probably twelve tablets containing the legends of the great
national hero Gilgamesh, commonly known by the name of
Izdubar from Smith's first provisional reading, and regarded
as identical with the Nimrod of the Bible (Gen. 10). On
December 3 of the same year Smith gave a public lecture
before a large meeting of the Society of Biblical Archaeology
at which Rawlinson presided, while Gladstone and other
prominent men took part in the discussion. He sketched
the principal contents of the Gilgamesh legends, accompa-