"Certainly the bible is the source of my religion," stated a modern-day professing Christian. "however, we all realize that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are MYTH." This outlook immediately presents a problem: if the first part of the bible is questionable — so the rest would also be.
Bible True From Very First Verse
The bible's answer to this modern concept is clearly stated in Psalm 119:160, Jewish translation: "the BEGINNING of thy word is TRUTH." God knew the opening portion of the bible would bring forth the most controversy. Therefore he has backed up its absolute validity IN PLAIN LANGUAGE. The BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. If man cannot know where and how he began, he cannot know where he is going. But, if he has the correct start, the rest of the way becomes clear. The bible, and the bible alone, gives man the correct start in understanding the origins of all elements of his universe, world, and society. Without that correct start, man can never arrive at the true answers to his questions and problems. He will simply continue to grope aimlessly — "... ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Modern "scientific" man, having dispensed with god as superstition, IS groping around in his intellectual vanity! In his vain search for Godless explanations of origins and beginnings, while clinging to the idol known as Science, he has come up with two basic science fiction ideas: Evolution and a phantom called "PREHISTORY." Leaving evolution for the time being, consider the concept of prehistory. "Prehistoric time" supposedly refers to man's earliest experience WHICH IS NOWHERE RECORDED IN WRITTEN RECORDS. This concept, incidentally, has become popular only within the last century. But is prehistoric time" an actual fact? Let the Bible answer: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." TIME is coeval with creation because time is measured by the created heavenly bodies. The Bible then, provides a record that reaches back to the very beginning of time! The idea of "prehistory" or "prehistoric time" cannot be reconciled with scripture for there is NO PERIOD OF TIME THE BIBLE DOES NOT COVER! The bible begins AT THE VERY BEGINNING — the original creation of the physical earth and universe. Actually, however, to make the record complete it should be noted that the Bible, in other portions, actually provides a glimpse of event even PRIOR TO its opening verse! Realizing an important point about God's character helps us to understand what occurred in the spiritual realm before the time of the original physical creation. Jesus, in John 5:17, said that he and his father work. It is a certainty then, that God the father, and the logos or spokesman, the one who became Jesus Christ — the two members of the God family — thought out and carefully planned everything they intended to bring into existence. In the long reaches of eternity before time began, the God family was actively and dynamically thinking, planning, working — devising the perfect plan to reproduce themselves. Since the bible makes plain that God has an eternal throne (Psalm 45:6) and that he dwells in a holy temple (Psalm 11:4) located in a heavenly city (Psalm 48:1-2). This must have been the place he and his son were working before anything else was brought into existence. And then at a certain point in their program, the God family created — instantaneously — THE FIRST BEINGS. They were ANGELS. Thus, the first creation of all consisted of eternal spirit beings who were to serve God and help him carry out his plan to completion. This creation of the vast ANGEL KINGDOM was a gigantic project. It included bringing into existence the cherubim (Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer are the three the bible mentions) and the seraphim, the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders who are God's wise and intelligent counsellors, and the millions of other angels that serve God in controlling the vast universe (Rev. 5:6, 8, 11). Finally the time arrived to bring the material universe into existence. And this is where the first verse of the bible takes up the account.
The Original Creation of The Universe
The first verse of scripture is packed with meaning. An expanded paraphrase helps to make plain its FULL SIGNIFICANCE.
"In an original beginning time, an untold number of years ago, the — god family (elohiym is the Hebrew UNIPLURAL word translated 'God') created out of invisible energy (Heb 11:3), in perfect order and harmony and beauty, (the Hebrew word for 'created' — barah — carries this meaning) the physical earth and universe."
The bible records that the original vast operation was so overwhelmingly beautiful that the angels shouted for sheer joy when they beheld it for the first time. (Job 38:7). Many of them were going to dwell on the perfect planet that was earth — and they were overjoyed at the prospect. Scientists have analyzed the minerals of both the earth and outer space and have guessed at their age. "hundreds of millions of years" is the claim. (see pages 409-415 of "The Bible as History" by Werner Keller). The universe is VERY ANCIENT. It is not hard to understand, then, why God the father is called the "ANCIENT OF DAYS" (Dan 7:9). The universe is very ancient. Yet all segments were brought into existence by God at the same time. Radioactive elements prove matter is not eternal (see the booklet "Does God Exist?" And lesson 11 of the old correspondence course). All material things were brought into existence at a definite time in the past. Scientific findings prove conclusively that the universe is a CREATED entity. Notice also, in this very first verse of the bible, that THE EARTH is given equal importance with the rest of the entire universe. (the King James translation has "the heaven" but this is in the plural and should be rendered. "the heavens.") In other words, God is an EARTH CENTERED creator — he is geocentric. God is so vitally concerned about this planet because THIS IS WHERE HE IS REPRODUCING HIMSELF. This is the only world to be inhabited by humans thus far in all the history of the universe. Christ, God's ONLY-begotten son came to redeem the inhabitants of THIS EARTH. And not any other planet or planets. This has been the only inhabited world so far requiring a savior. And not only that, but this is where the throne of Christ will be in the world tomorrow (Zech 14:9) and where THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE (Rev 21:2, 10) will ultimately be located.
The Earth's First Catastrophe
Many bible translators (Goodspeed and Moffatt are two examples) COMBINE the first two verses of the bible as if they were speaking of the same period of time. This is a common misconception that has caused millions to misunderstand the very beginning of the bible. It is vital to understand this: THE FIRST TWO VERSES OF THE BIBLE ARE SPEAKING OF TWO SEPARATE AND DISTINCT EVENTS. They ARE WIDELY SEPARATED IN TIME — by an untold number of years. The true meaning of the second verse of the bible is as follows:
Now (Jewish translation, implying a later period of time ) the earth HAD BECOME (the correct rendering of the verse, not "was") chaotic and undistinguishable ruin, and darkness was upon the face of the muddy ocean depths.
The first verse of the bible pictures a perfectly beautiful and harmonious creation. The second verse of the bible shows an earth that has become a chaotic wreck. A PERFECT CREATION AND A COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OCCUR WITHIN THE FIRST TWO VERSES OF GENESIS. This is what the bible reveals. What brought about this destruction? The bible does not tell the cause of this chaos at its opening because God, at this stage of the story, does not want to divert our minds from the concept of CREATION — the tremendously important realization that there was a BEGINNING and a BEGINNER. Other parts of the story are reserved till later. Bearing this in mind, we may, to fill in the story, bring in other parts of the bible which reveal what occurred before the earth was re-created for human habitation. Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14, Hebrews 2:5, and II Peter 2:4 show that the original earth was inhabited — not by men but by angels — and the chief spirit being was "Lucifer" (a Latin translation of the Hebrew word "Helel," which means "lightbringer" — see page 24 of the February, 1965 "Plain Truth - The Bible Answers Short Questions From Our Readers").
A Rebellion of Spirit Beings
It is unnecessary to rehearse the entire story of Lucifer's rebellion here since this has been amply covered in Mr. Armstrong's booklet. "Did God Create a Devil?" As well as lesson 11 of the old correspondence course. It is enough to note here that Lucifer did change his character to that of Satan — "destroyer" — by becoming a REBEL, an INSUBORDINATE, and an AGGRESSOR. He actually planned and attempted to wrest God's throne, office, and authority from him by attacking his throne with a force of one-third of the angels composing the angelic kingdom. (Rev 12:4, and Isa. 14:13). A colossal battle of the spirit beings took place — the angels of God versus the forces of Lucifer, now the devil. The earth and all the universe was involved; tremendous catastrophes resulted. The earth was made a chaotic wreck. Plants and animals were buried in great tidal waves and floods. To use a geologist's expression, it was "a time of great dying." Look at other members of our solar system. Even the nearest planets — especially our own moon — bear scars of this fantastic space battle! Astronomers report that some of the huge craters on the moon are more than a hundred miles across. That means astral bodies weighing countless thousands of tons must have smashed into the surface of the moon. The planet mars shows the same kind of destruction. Spectacular photographs taken by the mariner 4 scientific spacecraft revealed gigantic craters there, just as on the moon. Scientists estimated that more than 10,000 meteorite craters may pit the Martian surface. (Notice, however, that this kind of a catastrophe is not continuing today. There are no new craters of such immense size being formed on the moon or any of the planets observable through powerful telescopes. This disproves an important principle of evolutionary theory, namely that the past can be interpreted in terms of what is going on in the present.)
Evidence From Outer Space
In short, the sins of rebellious angels reached into the heavens and wrought chaos on the earth. What scientists see in their observations is not an evolving universe, but the wreckage of a titanic battle waged by spirits in all parts of the universe — a battle fought before man's creation. There is an interesting point about this battle. It concerns actual astronomical evidence of Satan's initial attack against the creator. The throne of God is situated in the northern heavens (Isa. 14:13). There is an empty space between our earth and God's heavenly city. This space, as mentioned in Job 26:7, is also toward the north. The Washington Observatory has discovered a VAST EXPANSE IN THE NORTHERN HEAVENS WHICH DOES NOT CONTAIN A SINGLE STAR. The rebellious Lucifer and his force of angels, rising in a northerly direction, were met and defeated by the forces of God (II Pet 2:4). It is God's custom to destroy areas in which sin — rebellion against him — has occurred. Before Lucifer (Helel) rebelled and became Satan, he had dominion over the earth, which was inhabited by millions of other angels over whom he had charge. What were Satan and all his angels doing here before the first man was ever created? In Ezekiel 28:13 we read of Satan's "workmanship." He and his assistants actually had the job of preparing this earth for human habitation. If Lucifer and his angels had carried out God's will, they would have had satisfaction and rewards far beyond even their expectations — but they were not content with the role God had assigned them.
A Picture of Lucifer's World From Geology
The world before Adam was inhabited by spirit beings. But there were also physical plants and animals at this time. Geologists have discovered fossils in the strata of the earth which show what one could have seen in the pre-Adamic creation. It would have been an amazing sight to behold. It was a world characterized by giant dinosaurs that weighed as much as forty tons. Some roamed the land, some were sea creatures, and others actually could fly. In addition to these gargantuan reptiles, there were giant insects that filled the air. Huge plants covered the ground comprising vast and dense forests which far surpassed even our densest jungles of today. To put it in geologic terms, these were the creatures and plants of the Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras. This portion of the Mesozoic era is termed early Cretaceous. It contains the last deposits of the pre-Adamic world. (Cretaceous, then, contains material of Adam's time and there after.) Geologists assign long periods of time to these so-called eras because they believe the animals in them evolved over a long time span. But actually, these layers show the order in which these creatures were BURIED when the earth was wrecked in Satan's war of rebellion. The larger creatures were in the higher strata because they tended to be buried later than the smaller creatures. In other words, the fossil remains in the earth do not show the process of evolution but the relative order of burying in a great catastrophe which occurred before any men existed. Man and mammals appeared later in the geological picture in the Cenozoic era, not because it took them a long time to evolve, but BECAUSE THEY WERE CREATED LATER! (see the chart on page 26 in the November, 1963 "Plain Truth - Dinosaurs Before Adam?").
Disproving Evolution — With Fossils
The geologist Dunbar has provided us with a startling admission: "... fossils provide the only historical, documentary evidence that life has evolved from simple to more and more complex forms." ("Historical Geology", page 47) now bear this in mind: evolution teaches that the strata of the earth were laid down slowly and in perfectly smooth and uniform fashion by the land areas slowly rising above and sinking below the ocean waters. This is the theory known as "uniformitarianism." And during these long ages which covered millions of years, plants and animals were supposedly evolving from the original single living cell which once had miraculously appeared down by the sea shore. But here is the catch. If such a process did go on in the distant undeterminable past, no fossils could have been buried. Why? Because fossils, in order to be preserved, must be buried SUDDENLY — and packed tightly in sediment where no air can ever reach them. A sudden burying must take place otherwise the plant or animal will decay. If the evolutionary concept is true, all fossils would have decayed and none would exist. So the unanswerable question for the evolutionist is: if evolution were an extremely gradual process, but fossils can be formed only by sudden burying, HOW CAN FOSSILS PROVE EVOLUTION? (see article, "Proof of the Flood," December. 1963. Plain Truth.) As a result, then, of Lucifer's rebellion, great catastrophe struck this earth and all the strange creatures of the pre-Adamic age were buried and geologists themselves call this the first "time of great dying," but they cannot explain why all these life forms suddenly became extinct. If they had analyzed the bible to see what it really did say, they would have had to understand the full significance of only the very first two verses. A number of fundamentalist church denominations believe the bible account of Noah's flood. But these groups do not understand the great catastrophe which occurred after Gen. 1:1. Consequently, they try to interpret all the geological evidence of destruction and stratification evident in the layers of the earth's crust ON THE BASIS OF ONLY ONE DELUGE. The unbelieving, geologists realize this explanation is entirely illogical and out of harmony with evidence. Therefore, they reject the bible account because they believe it says the same thing, the fundamentalist interpreters think it says. If the agnostic geologist would lay aside the assumptions he has inherited from others and read the bible with an open mind, he would discover that the scripture is SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE.
Satan's Character
Lucifer, then, changed his character from that of light bringer to that of destroyer. He had developed a philosophy just the opposite of God's — he wanted to get instead of serve, help, and give. Lucifer's job was to prepare this earth for human habitation. He knew this was to be the place where God was going to carry out his great spiritual creation of forming members of his very own family. He knew that God was planning to raise man to the level of the God kind — the God kingdom — a position higher than the angel kingdom. This was a thought Lucifer or Satan, finally could no longer take. He did not want to see man reach a level ABOVE HIS, SO HE DETERMINED TO TAKE GOD'S THRONE away from him and run things HIS way. He failed miserably. He was cast out of heaven with his angels, now become demons. (Luke 10:18, Rev 7-9). His bright light became dull, dim, eerie, perverted. His whole nature had been miserably transformed. This, of course, was not the end of Satan's influence on earth or in the universe. In fact, it is even possible to know what Satan tried to do to hinder God after he was cast out after the original rebellion and before man was created. Satan's next scheme was to TRY TO DIVIDE THE GOD FAMILY. He thought if he couldn't conquer God by spiritual warfare he would do it by craft. He tried it with a very clever lie. Now it is true that Satan had been cast out of heaven, but the bible reveals that at times he is still permitted to return and appear in God's presence (Job 1 and Rev 12). And this was true even before man was created. The first recorded lie is what Satan told Eve in Gen. 3. But that was not the first lie. There is an ancient source, known to the pagans which indicates what it was: "Prometheus still continued to defy Zeus and declared that there was a decree of fate according to which Zeus was destined to be dethroned by his own son" as can easily be deduced from this, "Zeus" is God and "Prometheus" is the devil. And Satan was saying that the time would come WHEN GOD THE FATHER WOULD BE DETHRONED BY HIS OWN SON. Satan's idea and aim is always to DIVIDE people and set them against each other. And this is what he tried to do to the God family. He told God the father, "you watch, your SON will try to take your throne away from you. He'll try to DOUBLE-CROSS you. You'd better not trust him." The bible shows clearly that this is Satan's nature. It is precisely what he would try to do. Satan is the ACCUSER and he was now accusing Christ of what he himself had tried to do and still wanted to achieve. Did God Create a Devil? No, Satan "created" himself through his evil philosophy, thoughts, and actions. His warped character changed the entire universe in past ages and still influences our chaotic world to the present moment.
PART 5 — ADDED MATERIAL
CHAPTER 1 - Added Material (See Table of Contents)
Assyrian Empire Smashed in 1938 — Few Facts for the Period 1938-1657 — The Year 1824 — The First Dynasty of Ur
This summary covers the history of Babylonia from the death of Amraphel in 1938 to the fall of the Babylonian Empire at the hands of the Persian and Median armies in the year 539. This material is based on Volume I of Dr. Hoeh's Compendium of World History and his lectures on this portion of ancient history from the Ambassador College World History classes in November, 1963. It is not widely realized — but Abraham had a great impact on the history of Mesopotamia in the year 1938 B.C.! In 1938 Shinar or Sumeria, in southern Mesopotamia, was dominated by the city of Erech or Uruk — the famous First Dynasty of Erech. This dynasty had boasted such world-famous rulers as Cush, Nimrod, and Horus! Following the death of Horus or Gilgamesh in 1968, his son Amraphel took over for 30 years. But Amraphel's reign was cut short in 1938!
Assyrian Empire Smashed in 1938
The story is in Genesis 14. The opening verse reveals a great Assyrian Empire in the days of Abraham under four great rulers — Amraphel, Arioch, Chedorlaomer, and Tidal. Each of the four was in control of a certain segment of this great realm. Amraphel, as already stated, was the successor of his father, Horus or Gilgamesh, the son of Semiramis. He controlled southern Mesopotamia or Shinar from the city of Erech. The years of his reign are 1968-38. Shinar was his portion of the Assyrian realm. Arioch is mentioned next in Genesis 14:1. He ruled from the city of Ellasar. Ellasar is the city of Asar or Asshur! So this king was in control of northern Mesopotamia. His period of rule is also the 30 years from 1968-38. Chedorlaomer is the third king listed. He was king of Elam in this period. Elam was the area east of Shinar. The exact dates of his reign are not known. Tidal is the last king mentioned. He ruled over the area now called Asia Minor or Anatolia! Notice in Genesis 14:1 that Tidal is called "king of nations." The Hebrew word for "nations" is "gowy, go'ee". This is a reference to Asia Minor because this area of the Near East, in that day, was composed of a variety of peoples. The history of ancient Asia Minor is the story of continuos attempts to unite the warring nations of the region into a loose confederacy. In the period up to 1938 Tidal was the ruler of this confederacy. He was an Assyrian king and general ruling over several different nations and peoples. Notice then! The Assyrian realm in the time of Abraham stretched from Elam and Shinar through northern Mesopotamia and in to Asia Minor! But even beyond that, it extended into Europe because Assyrians had migrated there as early as 2142! How vast the ancient Assyrian Empire actually was has never been fully realized! Now read the story in Genesis 14. The Assyrians had held the Canaanite rulers in subjection for 12 (verse 4) — the period 1952 to 1940. But in 1939 the Canaanites rebelled and in 1938 the four Assyrian leaders and their armies came into the region to put down this rebellion (verse 5). They were successful in defeating the five Canaanite kings — but they made the mistake of kidnapping Lot, Abraham's nephew! Actually God wanted this to happen because Abraham was to be His intrument in halting the proud Assyrians! The story is told in verse 12 through 16. Abraham, with 318 trained retainers, pursued the Assyrians, caught up with them at Dan and slew them in the region between Dan and Damascus! The four greatest Assyrian rulers of Assyria in that day were all slaughtered in one night! The Assyrian army was, of course, much larger than Abraham's group of 318! Abraham could not have accomplished this astounding success without the help of God. The whole picture of this time implies that the Assyrians were imposing one government and one religion which would have stamped out all knowledge of God in the world! And they would have — but, God, through the instrumentality of His servant, Abraham, put an end to it! The Assyrians of that day were gaining too much power. God used Abraham to cut them down to size! There is a parallel in our day: God has used Britain and America, in the First and Second World Wars, to put a stop to what otherwise would have resulted in complete control of the world by Fascism, the Assyrian Empire in modern times! Assyria, then, met crushing disaster in 1938. It took over a century to restore the Assyrian realm to the status of a major power again. The story of both ancient and modern Assyria is one of crashing defeats and seemingly miraculous returns to power — and its greatest triumph and final collapse lies just a few years ahead!
Few Facts for the Period 1938 to 1657
To return to the story of Babylonia. After the defeat of Assyria in 1938 the history of Babylonia or southern Mesopotamia is practically unknown till the time of Lugal-Zaggisi (1657-1632). for a period of almost three centuries no important historical events have come to light for this part of the ancient world. The ancient records have been lost. If important events had taken place which had an impact on those with whom God was working, more would have been preserved. But since this period has no actual relationship to a greater understanding of the Bible it is not necessary to know the details. In terms of chronology, all the necessary facts about the starting and ending dates of dynasties are available. The dynasty of Hamazi is a typical example in this period. It began at a very early time in the year 2137. This is the year that Semiramis returned to Egypt 30 years after the death of Nimrod. Though she returned to Egypt her reappearance there also had an influence in Mesopotamia and Shinar. Her fame covered the entire civilized world. The implication is that, in Egypt, there was a gradual return to power during the 30 years by these who supported her. Then, by 2137, she decided that she would have sufficient support that she could dare to appear in public once more in Egypt. Thus the Dynasty of Hamazi had a connection with the return to power of Semiramis or Ishtar in Egypt. This dynasty, as well as Erech II which followed it, were dated according to "the Era of Ishtar." It was commonplace to date reigns in the "Era of Ishtar." (See pages 255-6 of Volume I of the Compendium.) Hamazi continued till 1777 — a total of 360 years. Chronologically the total duration of this lengthy dynasty is known. But internally — within this dynasty — no lengths of reign are known. They have not been preserved. The name of only one king is still extant — Hadanish — but the duration of his reign is unknown. What is more, the location of the city of Hamazi itself has never been found! The point is this: Here is an apparently great dynasty which lasts for nearly four centuries — but practically nothing is known about it! This is a prime illustration, then, of how meager records are for this time in Babylonian history. Archaeologically speaking, Egypt presented far less difficulty than Mesopotamia. The story of Egypt's past is not buried as it has been in Mesopotamia. In Egypt the tombs and pyramids of the pharaohs have protected the relics of the past and these artifacts are readily available to the archaeologist. But Mesopotamia is different. In this region there are literally hundreds and hundreds of mounds (called tells) beneath which are to be found the remains of town and cities. In order to find what is under these mounds the archaeologist must excavate them. This excavation is an extensive and expensive project often entailing hundreds of workers, years of time, and thousands of dollars! Thus no individual person can afford to dig up the past in these areas. Archaeological excavation requires the financing of a large university or similar institution which can put up the necessary funds. Consequently, because of the expense involved, relatively little is known about Mesopotamia as a whole. Fortunately the work of such men as Layard (Nineveh), Wooley (Ur), and Langdon (Kish) has proved very profitable. But how many secrets still lie below the soil of the Near East is anybody's guess! However, it should be emphasized that enough facts have been preserved or uncovered which make it possible to restore the chronology of ancient times since the Flood. all needed facts are available. But many names, events, and other details are still unknown.
The Year 1828
To repeat: There are very few facts known in the history of Babylonia for the period 1938 to 1657. However, a little is known about the year 1828. In 1828 "the Assyrian kings succeeded in the Babylonian Empire, and thenceforth Babylonia and Chaldea became a part of the Assyrian Empire" — page 237 of "Jackson's Chronological Antiquities". From this it is seen that the Assyrians came to some prominence again 110 years after their defeat in Palestine at the hands of God and Abraham. But no further details are known. The year 1828 also witnessed the defeat of the city and Dynasty of Erech by the city of Ur. In other words, the First Dynasty of Erech was greatly weakened by the death of Amraphel in 1938. Nevertheless it continued under six additional relatively unimportant and little known kings till the year 1828. But at that juncture the dynasty completely ceased and was succeeded by the kingship of Ur.
The First Dynasty of Ur
The First Dynasty of Ur consisted of four kings and spanned the years from 1828 to 1657. (The year 1657 marks the rise of Lugal-Zaggisi). These rulers were Mes-Anne-padda (1828-1748), Mes-kiag-Nunna (1748-1718), Elulu (1718-1693), and Balulu (1693-1657). The last two names are pronounced A-loo-loo and Bah-loo-loo! All four of these are Sumerian names but the last two strike one as heavily African! This king list is illustrative of the fact that the early Sumerians were Hamitic and Cushite peoples who have since migrated to Africa! The language termed "Sumerian" by scholars was actually the language of the family of Ham living in this part of the world at this time. A German Catholic scholar did a study in the 1930's showing that Sumerian has a direct relationship to the Bantu language of the Cushites of East Africa! This writer pointed out that many words in modern Bantu have plainly been derived from the ancient Sumerian. An additional proof of this is that the Assyrians commonly spoke of people who lived in Sumeria as "black heads." This expression was not exclusively a description of their hair but it implied that they were black men! Though Erech's domination passed to Ur in a local sense in 1828 there were other kings on the scene in Shinar. Little is known about their activities but their existence should be noted. There were kings about their activities but their existence should be noted. There were kings from the city of Kish — Dynasty II of Kish — though names of individual kings and their reigns have not been preserved. There was also a line of Chaldean kings. At this early time the Chaldeans were a tribal rather than a city folk and so are not designated as reigning from any particular city. Finally there was the Dynasty of Hamazi which has already been discussed. Just exactly what peoples lived in Shinar at this time is not known. However it is possible to gain a partial picture at least. Obviously the cities or larger towns must have been composed of many kinds of people: There were certainly Hamitic folk of more than one family, there were Elamites, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Armenian (Aramaic) businessmen, and others. In short, the cities were a mass of confused population — which would be fitting, typical of Babylon, the originating point of chaos! The big cities in the United States today are a prime example of this. New York is not a typical American city! If the Irish, the Germans, the Jews, the Poles, the Greeks, the Negroes, and the Puerto Ricans were removed, there would be no New York! One-third of the population of our greatest city is Jewish — and the remainder is mainly a variety of Gentiles! Washington D.C., the nation's capital, has far more Negroes living within it percentage-wise than in any other major American city. The case of Chicago is similar. The foreign element tends to gather in the cities. Such is the case today and it was the same in ancient Babylonia.
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