Underwood S: Underwood 



A PICTURESQUE SCENE ON THE EUPHRATES BELOW BABYLON 



Babylonia is a great delta like that of the Nile — a flat alluvial plain which has been 

 entirely formed by the silt brought down by the great Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The 

 process of land-making is still going on, and the waters of the Persian Gulf are being 

 pushed back at the rate of about 72 feet per annum. What this slow process may achieve 

 in many centuries is evidenced by the fact that we know that the ancient town of Eridu was 

 still, at about 3000 B. C, an important seaport on the Persian Gulf. It is now 125 miles 

 from the sea (see page 129). 



131 



