416 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 
Postscript, May 28, 1910——Since delivering the lecture in Novem- 
ber, 1909, I have spent the winter in Mesopotamia, and should like to 
add the following as a postscript: 
That the region to the south of Ur of the Chaldees is probably the 
spot where the ark rested is further confirmed by these two facts: 
(1) A vessel drifting down the Euphrates with the current and 
wind from the north and northwest would at Ur of the Chaldees 
meet the strong current of the ancient Tigris coursing down from the 
north, and would be driven ashore somewhere near the junction of the 
two rivers. 
(2) When at Ur of the Chaldees the other day we found that the 
Arabs called the mounds to the south of Ur “ Niiawés.” Now, “ Nu” 
is Arabic for “ Noah.” 
That those primitive and early peoples whose records we possess 
in Genesis were certainly under the impression that the whole world 
was drowned out with the Tigris-Euphrates Delta is proved by the 
only explanation they could find for the great influx of people into 
the valley from the surrounding countries once order began again to 
be established. They could attribute the multiplicity of languages 
which began to be spoken “all at once to nothing but divine anger at 
their extraordinary high hopes and ambitions. 
The tradition of the flaming sword of the Cherubim at the Eastern 
gate of Paradise near Hit may have been connected with the bitumen 
and naphtha springs which abound in that locality. The region to- 
day is called “ El Nafitha” by the Arabs.—W. Winucocks. 
