Researches in Ancient History, pp. 130, 131.
[34:5] Jewish Antiquities, book 1, ch. iv. p. 30.
[35:1] "Diodorus states that the great tower of the temple of Belus was
used by the Chaldeans as an _observatory_." (Smith's Bible Dictionary,
art. "Babel.")
[35:2] The Hindoos had a sacred _Mount Meru_, the abode of the gods.
This mountain was supposed to consist of _seven stages_, increasing in
sanctity as they ascended. Many of the Hindoo temples, or rather altars,
were "studied transcripts of the sacred Mount Meru;" that is, they were
built, like the tower of Babel, in _seven stages_. Within the upper
dwelt Brahm. (See Squire's Serpent Symbol, p. 107.) Herodotus tells us
that the upper stage of the tower of Babel was the abode of the god
Belus.
[35:3] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 269. See also Bunsen: The
Angel Messiah, p. 106.
[35:4] Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 484.
[35:5] Legends of the Patriarchs, pp. 148, 149.
[36:1] Ibid. p. 148. The ancient _Scandinavians_ had a legend of a
somewhat similar tree. "The Mundane Tree," called _Yggdrasill_, was in
the centre of the earth; its branches covered over the surface of the
earth, and its top reached to the highest heaven. (See Mallet's Northern
Antiquities.)
[36:2] Encyclopædia Britannica, art. "Babel."
[36:3] _Esthonia_ is one of the three Baltic, or so-called, provinces of
Russia.
[36:4] Encyclopædia Britannica, art. "Babel."
[36:5] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 27.
[36:6] Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 204.
[36:7] Humboldt: American Researches, vol. i. p. 96.
[36:8] Ibid.
[36:9] Ibid., and Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 204.
[36:10] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 272.
[37:1] Quoted by Bishop Colenso: The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p.
272.
[37:2] Humboldt: American Researches, vol. i. p. 97. Lord Kingsborough:
Mexican Antiquities.
[37:3] Com. on Old Test. vol. i. p. 196.