p. 8 | Once the World’s Chief Center by W. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 5, 1911

Once the World’s Chief Center

By W. A. S.

THE prophecy of Jeremiah 51 foretelling the doom of Babylon, described the weary desolation that would follow the overthrow of the world’s great seat of empire. The region was to become “a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness.” Reporting to the United States government some time ago, Mr. Fred Simpick, consul at Bagdad, said of this region:—

So now this historic region, once the center of the world’s wealth, culture, and population, is reduced to a weary wilderness of sun, sand, and silence. Lean jackals yelp at night about the bones of kings, and the scorching simoon puffs its hot breath over miles of dust where once tall grain bent gracefully before the whispering breeze. The very climate has

changed. From May till September, from 120° to 125° F. is a common shade temperature, and the sun temperature is unspeakable. Barely 2,500,000 people are left in all Mesopotamia. Yet here is a land of proved fertility, waiting only water to make it an area of immense value.

The proud city of Babylon itself, whose utter overthrow was declared by the prophets, was long since lost under the sands of centuries; until there is even dispute as to its exact site. But the ancient valley of the Euphrates and the Tigris is touched by the new industrialism, and capital is seeking to do for it what has been done for Egypt, in the valley of the Nile. The consular report says:—

For the past year 4,000 Arabs have toiled like moles, digging a new channel for the ancient Euphrates; in the dry bottom of this new channel a giant dam of concrete and American steel is being built. When all is ready, the river will be turned into this artificial channel, and the dam will raise the water to the required level. The first steam locomotive ever seen in the old garden of Eden [?] is now puffing noisily back and forth, hauling material for use in this giant dam. The day it started, wild Bedouins came from miles around, riding in on camels and donkeys to see the “smoke-horse with fire in it.” About 6,000,000 acres will eventually be watered by a canal to be dug, taking off water from Lake Akkar-Coof. Then old cities like Nippur, in Chaldea, where the University of Pennsylvania expedition lately dug up so many priceless relics of antiquity, may be brought to life once more.

It is expected that irrigation will turn these regions of Mesopotamia into fruitful fields for grain and cotton. We see, in this opening up and development of the ancient land, the hand of Providence preparing the way for the gospel message to reach wandering tribes, hitherto almost unapproachable. W. A. S.