A SOLDIER OF THE SULTAN, MEMBER OF ONE OF OUR ARMENIAN REGIMENTS.
Visit to the Site of Ancient Babylon
LOOKING up inquirers and scattered believers in the Euphrates valley, Brother W. C. Ising, of our Levant Mission, writes of visits to Bagdad, Mosul, doubtless on the site of a suburb of ancient Nineveh, and to the ruins of Babylon of old. Speaking of the good work of the Church Missionary Society Hospital, at Bagdad, where one of our own members is assisting, Brother Ising says:—
“This certainly is most commendable work, and the surest way of breaking down prejudice among the Moslems. On the whole, however, there seems to be little interest in religious topics. I have found even the Jews of this region to be quite generally freethinkers or unbelievers. This is due, I believe, to the influence of French literature, French being generally taught next to the Arabic.
“From Bagdad I visited a family at the Hindia Barrage, who take an interest in our work, two of the children having already united with us, one of whom is in our missionary college in Watford, England, preparing for a part in the Lord’s work. At Hindia Barrage an English company has just completed a great dam across the Euphrates for irrigation purposes, at a cost to the Turkish government of more than two and one-half million dollars.
“Thence I proceeded to Babylon, two days’ journey from Bagdad. Here a German enterprise is carrying forward the work of excavating on a gigantic scale. By invitation of Professor Koldewey, leader of the work, I spent a few days going over the works. Between three and four hundred men have been working at the task, at an expense of about $20,000 annually. The results have been published by Dr. Koldewey. It is certainly interesting to see how the laying bare of these ancient foundations corroborates the facts of the Bible story. Everywhere are the marks of the great work done by King Nebuchadnezzar, who, as the Bible writer says, declared in his pride, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?’
NEBI JUNAS, THE BURIAL PLACE OF JONAH, OPPOSITE MOSUL, NEAR THE SITE OF ANCIENT NINEVEH. THE MINARET OF THE MOSQUE MARKS THE PLACE. — W. C. ISING.
“Involuntarily one is reminded also of the prophecies of Isaiah 13, and of other scriptures which in the course of time have certainly been fulfilled to the letter. No living soul is abiding on the site of ancient Babylon. Whatever Arabs do stop there temporarily, chiefly helpers in the excavation, have built their mud huts in the bed of the ancient river, which at the present time is shifted half a mile farther west.”
