NO DELUGE MYTH IN EGYPT 321 



the garden of the Hesperides, the lion slain by Gizdubar 

 to the lion of Nemea which Hercules slew ; and finally, 

 just as Gizdubar is ferried across the waters of the dead, 

 so Hercules is taken by Helios in the golden boat of the 

 sun across the ocean. 



As the Greeks have borrowed so much of the legend it 

 would be surprising if they had not taken the rest, includ- 

 ing the story of the deluge, and accordingly we find the 

 Greeks provided with a legend of the flood, or with more 

 than one, as they appear to have had more than one 

 Heracles ; but that which most closely accords with the 

 Chaldean is the flood of Deukalion. 



On the other hand, the Egyptians, who had sun- stories 

 of their own, did not borrow the legend of Gizdubar, and 

 are silent as to a deluge ; a fact of extreme importance 

 when we consider that the Egyptian civilisation was con- 

 temporaneous with the Chaldean, if not indeed older. 

 The Nile is gentler in its overflowing than the Tigris, so 

 that Egypt did not suffer under the scourge of unexpected 

 floods. 



If, finally, we turn to China, also possessed of very 

 ancient historic records, and liable to the destructive 

 deluges of the Yellow River, which have earned for it the 

 designation "The Scourge of China," we discover a deluge 

 story of great importance, to which Suess has already 

 called attention. In the third Schu of the Canon of Yao, 

 a monarch who reigned, it is supposed, somewhere about 

 2357 B.C., and therefore contemporaneous with Kham- 

 murabi, we read : The Ti said, " Prince of the Four 

 Mountains, destructive in their overflowings are the 

 waters of the flood. In their wide extension they enclose 

 the mountains and cover the great heights, threatening 

 the heaven with their floods, so that the lower people is 

 unruly and murmur. Where is a capable man whom I 

 can employ this evil to overcome? " Khwan was engaged, 



22 



