The Storehouses of the King

rovision against the approaching famine that he predicted would take place, the building of the City and Tower of Babel by Nimrod the son of Cush, the son of Ham, the so

of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And

e. In Shinar there was no stone, so brick was used in its stead. This plain was fertile and produced much corn. The settlers anticipated another Deluge, and on that account they provided themselves with the means of subsistence when that calamity might recur on the earth. The precaution they to

And he addressed his army, saying, 'Be not dismayed, and banish fear from your hearts. Our enemies shall surely be your booty, and ye shall do with them as ye please.' Nimrod was victorious, and the opposing armies became his subjects. And when he and his soldiers returned home rejoicing, the people gathered around and made him king, and placed a crown upon his head. And he appointed counsellors, judges, chiefs, generals, and captains. He established a national government, and he made Therach, the son of Nahor, his chief officer. When Nimrod had thus established his power he

stronghold, a tower the top of which shall reach even to the heavens. Then shall we truly make for ourselves a great and mighty name, before which all our enemies shall tremble. None will then be able to harm us, and no wars may dispers

im. They divided into three parties. The first party said, 'We will ascend to heaven and place there our gods and worship them.' The second party said, '

he building and were killed, none took account of the life thus lost. Thus they continued for a space of years, till God said, 'We will confuse their language.' Then the people forgot their language, and they spoke to one another

hird was burned down, but the remaining third was standing until the time of the destructio

into heaven against God. To accomplish this object or design they built the city an

braham left the country with his wife and nephew, and settled in the land of Canaan. When Joseph was a child he must have heard from his father the story of tho

ies or Pyramids began in the Delta, which was most fertile and yielded the largest amount of corn. The Pyramids here are the finest as well as the largest; the rest are erected along the western shore of the Nile as far as Ethiopia, which was

suit of their science, but, very unfortunately, thei

writers, who knew nothing about the events that took place before Egyp

re this time the outer or the Gentile world was in utter ignorance regarding the history of Egypt, as well as that of the Jews. The authors held in veneration by Egyptologists are Manetho and Herodotus. Manetho's ignorance as to the history of his own country is shown by Flavius Josephus; and Herodot

s been studied instead, Egyptologists would have learnt the truth, and nothing but the truth, and their time and labour would have been re

e of granaries in Babylon, and the indisputable fact that the Pyramid

iderable extent, and the country traversed by canals in every direction. The soil round it is sandy. Close to the Birs, or at

t they are partly converted into a solid vitrified mass. The layers are in many parts perfectly distinguishable; but the whole of these lumps seem to have undergone the action of fire. Several lumps of the same matter have rolled down, and remain partly on the side of the mound and partly in the plain. The large wall on the southern face of the summit is built of burnt bricks, with writing on them, and so close together th

similar in appearance and construction to the wall on the top, with the holes or apertures which are mentioned in the description of that. At foot of all is, seemingly, a flat base of greater extent, but very little raised above the level of the plain. The whole sides of the mound are covered with pieces of brick, both burnt and unburnt, bitumen, pebbles, spar, black stone, the same sand or limestone which covers the canal at the Kasr, and even fragments of white marble. No reeds were to be seen in any part of the building, th

doubt that it was much higher. The form is more oblong than square. I found the longest side to be 248 of my paces. Fortunately for the preservation of the ruin, it is too far fro

that of Belus, because, according to his v

undoubtedly the face of another stage, is 37 feet high. In the side of the pile, a little below its summit, is very clearly to be seen part of another brick wall, precis

tructed in receding stages, and faced with kiln-burnt bricks having inscriptions on them, laid in a very thin layer of lime cement; and that it was reduced by violence to its present ruinous condition. The upper stones have been forcibly broken

ham, is of opinion that the traces of

ssertation to prove that the Pyramids are the work of human hands as of dwelling upon this point. The Birs-i-Nimrúd,' he adds, 'is, in all likelihood, at present nearly in the state in which Alexander saw it, if we give any credi

destruction. The rubbish about its base was probably in much greater quantities, the weather having dissipated much of it in the cou