Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Map of Mesopotamia showing the modern shoreline and the position of the shoreline in ancient Sumeria when Ur and
Shuruppak were in the coastal estuary.
With no field archaeology training, and after digging through the ruins for just eight days
in May 1873, Smith found a fragment that completed the first column of the tablet under
reconstruction at the British Museum. It filled in the part of the story that included the com-
mand to build a ship and load it with animals. Near the end of his trip, Smith also found
fragments of additional tablets describing the creation of the world in six days as well as
man's temptation and fall.
In unearthing multiple copies of the same stories, Smith discovered how the Genesis stor-
ies grew out of much older texts. The Assyrian king was apparently a bibliophile whose
agents sought out inscribed tablets for his literary treasure house. Multiple tablets with dif-
ferent versions reflected the evolution of the flood story. Some versions dated from long be-
