e
head of a man, which are sometimes placed in the Assyrian sculptures on
either side of the tree of life. They stood at the entrance of a
Babylonian palace, and were supposed to prevent the evil spirits from
entering within. The word comes from a root which means "to approach" or
"be near," and perhaps originally signified one who was near to God.

Like _cherub_, _Adam_ also was a Babylonian word. It has the general sense
of "man," and is used in this sense both in Hebrew and in Assyrian. But as
in Hebrew it has come to be the proper name of the first man, so, too, in
the old Babylonian legends, the "Adamites" were "the white race" of
Semitic descent, who stood in marked contrast to "the black heads" or
Accadians of primitive Babylonia. Originally, however, it was this dark
race itself that claimed to have been "the men" whom the god Merodach
created; and it was not until after the Semitic conquest of Chaldea that
the children of Adamu or Adam were supposed to denote the white Semitic
population. Hence it is that the dark race continued to the last to be
called the Adamatu or "red-skins," which a popular etymology connected
with _Adamu_ "man." Sir H. Rawlinson has suggested a parallel between the
dark and white races of Babylonia and the "sons of God" and "daughters of
men" of Genesis. Adam, we are told, was "the son of God" (Luke iii. 38).
But nothing similar to what we read in the sixth chapter of Genesis has as
yet been met with among the cuneiform records, and though these speak of
giant heroes, like Ner and Etanna, who lived before the Flood, we know
nothing as yet as to their parentage.

The Babylonians, however, were well aware that the Deluge had been caused
by the wickedness of the human race. It has often been remarked that
though traditions of a universal or a partial deluge are found all over
the world, it is only in the Old Testament that the cause assigned for it
is a moral one. The Chaldean account of the Deluge, discovered by Mr.
George Smith, offers an exception to this rule. Here, as in Genesis,
Sisuthros, the Accadian Noah, is saved from destruction on account of his
piety, the rest of mankind being drowned as a punishment for their sins.

The story of the Deluge formed the subject of more than one poem among the
Accadians. Two of these were amalgamated together by the author of a great
epic in twelve books, which described the adventures of a solar hero whose
name cannot be read with certainty, but