Cave of Treasures

Historical source scan page 64

Ur, where, in recent years, excavations have been carried out by the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania. (See my Babylonian Life and History, London, 1925, and the account of the excavations given at the end of the present work, page 275.)] And in the one hundredth year of the life of Nahér, when God saw that the children of men were sacrificing their Sons to devils [Fol. 24a, col. 1], and worshipping idols, He opened the storehouses of the wind, and the gate of the whirlwind, and a blast of wind went forth in all the earth. And it uprooted the images, and the places where offerings were made to devils, and it swept together the idols, and the images, and the pillared buildings in a heap, and piled up great mounds [of earth] over them; [and they are there] to this day. Now to this blast of wind learned men have given the name of "Wind- Flood"; but certain who have erred have said, "These mounds existed [already] in the days of the Flood [of waters].” Now those who have said these things have erred greatly from the truth; for before the Flood [of waters] there were no idols in the earth, and it was not because of idols that the Flood came, but because of the fornication of the daughters of Cain. And, moreover, at that time there were no men on this earth, which was a waste and a desert. And our fathers were cast forth in days of old, as it were, into exile, because they were not worthy to be [Fol. 24a, col. 2] neighbours of Paradise. And through the Ark they were driven forth to the mountains of Kard6, and from there they were scattered about throughout all the earth. For these mounds came into being because of idols, and in them are buried all the idols of that time, and all the devils also who dwell in them are in these mounds, and there is no mound which hath not devils in it. Nimrod the fire-worshipper, and Yôntôn, son of Noah And in the days of Nimrod, the mighty man (or giant), a fire appeared which ascended from the earth, and Nimrod went down, and looked at it, and worshipped it, and he established priests to minister there, and to cast incense into it. From that day the Persians began to worship fire, [and they do so] to this day. And Sisan, the king, found a spring of water in Dréghin, and he made a white horse and set it over it, and those who bathed in the water used to worship the horse [Fol. 24b, col. 1]. And from that time the Persians began to worship that (sic) horse. [Note: According to the Book of Adam (iii. 25), the horse was made of gold.] And Nimrod went to Yékdéra of Nôdh, and when he arrived at the Lake (or Sea) of Atrâs, he found there Yôntôn, the son of Noah. [A marginal note in the Syriac MS. adds, "Noah begot this Yôntôn after the Flood, and he honoured him in many things, and sent him to the east to dwell there."| And Nimrod went down and bathed in the Lake, and he came to Yôntôn and did homage unto him. And Yôntôn said, "Thou art a king; doest thou 64 of 130