QUESTIONS. 1. Which quarter of the globe was first inhabited? Which quarter was next inhabited? Which next? Which quarter was inhabited last? -2. How long is it since the world was created? Tell the story of the creation, as related in the first chapter of Genesis.- -3. Where did Adam and Eve live? Where is the river Euphrates ?- -5. Where did the descendants of Adam and Eve dwell? What did they do?—6. What did God determine to do? Why did God determine to destroy mankind ?-7. What of Noah ? 8. Describe the deluge.- -9. What was the effect of the deluge? When did the deluge take place? CHAPTER VIII. ASIA continued.- -How Noah and his Family came out of the Ark. How the People settled in the Land of Shinar. About Babel. 1. THE people who lived before the Flood are called antediluvians, and the only history of them is that in the Bible. It is probable that they extended over but a small part of Asia, and that no human beings dwelt either in Africa, Europe, or America, before the Flood. 2. The Deluge is supposed to have commenced in November, and the rain is thought to have ceased in March. After a while the waters subsided, and Noah's ark rested upon the top of a tall mountain in Armenia, called Ararat, which is still to be seen. 3. Noah's family and the animals now came forth out of the ark, and from them the world was again peopled and replenished. The animals spread themselves abroad, and in due time they were extended into various countries. 4. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These, with their families, proceeded to the country of Shinar, which lies to the south of Mount Ararat. Here they settled themselves on the borders of the river Euphrates, probably the same country that had been inhabited by the antediluvians. It is in this region that the first nations were formed. 5. The people increased rapidly, and at the end of a hundred years from the Deluge were very numerous. Most of Noah's family were at this time alive, and they told their descendants how the world had been overflowed with water, which destroyed all living creatures, except those that were in the ark. 6. All who remembered the Deluge, or had heard of it, were afraid that the wickedness of mankind might again be punished in a similar way. They therefore madly resolved to build a lofty tower, so high, that, by mounting upon it, they could get beyond the reach of rising waters, and thereby save themselves from a similar destruction. 7. Accordingly they laid the foundation of a huge edifice, on the eastern bank of the river Euphrates. In the vanity of their hearts they even talked of rearing the tower so high that its top should reach up to heaven itself. 8. Their building materials were bricks baked in the sun, and instead of mortar, they cemented the bricks together with slime. They laboured diligently, and piled one layer of bricks upon another, till the earth was at a considerable distance beneath them. But the blue sky, and the sun, and the stars, were as far off as when they first began. 9. Now this presumptuous work was displeasing to God, and he would not permit it to proceed. He resolved, therefore, to introduce a confusion of tongues among them, and to make the people speak various languages. Up to that time there had been but one language spoken by all the people of the earth. 10. One day, therefore, while these foolish people were at their labour, a very wonderful thing took place. They were talking together as usual, but, all of a sudden, they found it impossible to understand what each other said. This caused such confusion that they could not go on building the tower. They therefore gave up the idea of climbing to heaven, and resolved to wander to different parts of the earth. 11. It is likely that they formed themselves into several parties, consisting of such as could talk intelligibly together. They set forth on their journey in various directions, and as each company departed, they probably threw a sad glance behind them at the tower of Babel. The sun was, perhaps, shining on its lofty summit, as it seemed to rise up into the very sky; and we may believe that the event was long remembered by these exiles. 12. The descendants of Shem are supposed to have distributed themselves over the country near to the Euphrates. The descendants of Ham took a westerly direction, and proceeded to Africa; they settled in Egypt, and laid the foundation of a great nation there. The descendants of Japheth proceeded to Greece, and thus laid the foundation of several European nations. 13. Some travellers, in modern times, have discovered on the shore of the Euphrates a large hillock, composed of sun-burnt bricks cemented together. This hillock is supposed to be the ruins of the tower of Babel, which was built more than four thousand years ago. QUESTIONS. 1. What of those who lived before the flood?2. When did the deluge begin and end? What of Mount Ararat ? -3. What of the people and animals that came out of the ark? -4. What did the descendants of Noah do ?- -5. Where was the land of Shinar?-6. What of the people ?- -7. Why did they resolve to build the tower of Babel ?- -8. Describe the building of the tower.-10. The confusion of languages.was the consequence of this confusion of languages? the descendants of Shem? Of Ham? Of Japheth ?traces of Babel have travellers discovered? -11. What -12. What of -13. What CHAPTER IX. ASIA continued.About the great Assyrian Empire, and Reign of Queen Semiramis. 1. WHEN the rest of mankind were scattered into different parts of the earth, there were a number of people who still remained near the tower of Babel. These continued to inhabit the land of Shinar, which was a warm country, and very fertile. In course of time they extended over a much larger tract of country, and built towns and cities. 2. This region received the name of Assyria, and it was the first of the great nations of the earth. Its boundaries varied at different times, but its place on the map may be seen in the vicinity of the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, northward of the Persian Gulf. 3. Ashur, the grandson of Noah, was the first ruler of Assyria. In the year 2229 before Christ he built the city of Nineveh, and surrounded it with walls a hundred feet high. It was likewise defended by fifteen hundred towers, each two hundred feet in height. The city was so large, that, merely in walking round it, a person must travel a hundred miles. 4. But the city of Babylon, which was built a short time afterwards, was superior to Nineveh both in size and beauty. It was situated on the river Euphrates. The walls were so very thick that six chariots drawn by horses could be driven abreast upon the top, without danger of falling off on either side. In ancient times walls were necessary to protect the people from their enemies. 5. In this city there were magnificent gardens, belonging to the royal palace, constructed in such a manner that they appeared to be hanging in the air without resting on the earth. They contained large trees, and numerous kinds of fruits and flowers. There was also a splendid temple dedicated to Belus, or Baal, the chief idol of the Assyrians. This temple was six hundred and sixty feet high, and it contained a golden image of Belus forty feet in height. 6. The city of Babylon, which I have been describing, was first built by Nimrod, that mighty hunter of whom the Bible tells us. But the person who made all the beautiful gardens and palaces, and who set up the golden image of Belus, was a woman named Semiramis. She had |