582 



BOOK XII. 



A — Lower pot. B — Upper pot. C — Lid. 



salty, at Babylon, as Pliny writes, was taken from the weUs to the salt works 

 and heated by the great heat of the sun, and condensed partlj' into liquid 

 bitumen and partly into salt. The bitumen being hghter, floats on the top, 

 while the salt being heavier, sinks to the bottom. Liquid bitumen, if there 

 is much floating on springs, streams and rivers, is drawn up in buckets or 

 other vessels ; but, if there is little, it is collected with goose wings, pieces 



called petroleum." Bitumen was used by the Egyptians for embalming from prehistoric times, 

 i.e., prior to 5000 B.C., the term " mummy " arising from the Persian word for bitumen, mnmiai. 

 It is mentioned in the tribute from Babylonia to Thotmes rii., who lived about 1500 B.C. 

 (Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians i., p. 397). The Egyptians, however, did not need to go 

 further afield than the Sinai Peninsula for abundant supplies. Bitumen is often cited as the 

 real meaning of the " slime " mentioned in Genesis (xi., 3 ; xiv., 10), and used in building 

 the Tower of Babel. There is no particular reason for this assumption, except the general 

 association of Babel, Babylon, and Bitumen. However, the Hebrew word sijt for pitch or 

 bitumen does occur as the cement used for Moses's bulrush cradle (Exodus 11., 3), and Moses 

 is generally accounted about 1300 B.C. Other attempts to connect Biblical reference to 

 petroleum and bitumen revolve around Job xxix., 6, Deut. xxxn., 13, Maccabees 11., 

 I, 18, Matthew v., 13, but all require an unnecessary strain on the imagination. 



The plentiful occurrence of bitumen throughout Asia Minor, and particularly in the 

 Valley of the Euphrates and in Persia, is the subject of innumerable references by writers 

 from Herodotus (484-424 B.C.) down to the author of the company prospectus of recent 

 months. Herodotus (l., 179) and Diodorus Siculus (i) state that the walls of Babylon were 

 mortared with bitumen — a fact partially corroborated by modern investigation. The follow- 



