Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions by T. W. Doane

Researches in Ancient History, pp. 130, 131. [34:5] Jewish Antiquities, book 1, ch. iv. p. 30. [35:1] "Diodorus states that the great tower of the temple of Belus was used by the Chaldeans as an _observatory_." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, art. "Babel.") [35:2] The Hindoos had a sacred _Mount Meru_, the abode of the gods. This mountain was supposed to consist of _seven stages_, increasing in sanctity as they ascended. Many of the Hindoo temples, or rather altars, were "studied transcripts of the sacred Mount Meru;" that is, they were built, like the tower of Babel, in _seven stages_. Within the upper dwelt Brahm. (See Squire's Serpent Symbol, p. 107.) Herodotus tells us that the upper stage of the tower of Babel was the abode of the god Belus. [35:3] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 269. See also Bunsen: The Angel Messiah, p. 106. [35:4] Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 484. [35:5] Legends of the Patriarchs, pp. 148, 149. [36:1] Ibid. p. 148. The ancient _Scandinavians_ had a legend of a somewhat similar tree. "The Mundane Tree," called _Yggdrasill_, was in the centre of the earth; its branches covered over the surface of the earth, and its top reached to the highest heaven. (See Mallet's Northern Antiquities.) [36:2] Encyclopædia Britannica, art. "Babel." [36:3] _Esthonia_ is one of the three Baltic, or so-called, provinces of Russia. [36:4] Encyclopædia Britannica, art. "Babel." [36:5] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 27. [36:6] Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 204. [36:7] Humboldt: American Researches, vol. i. p. 96. [36:8] Ibid. [36:9] Ibid., and Brinton: Myths of the New World, p. 204. [36:10] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 272. [37:1] Quoted by Bishop Colenso: The Pentateuch Examined, vol. iv. p. 272. [37:2] Humboldt: American Researches, vol. i. p. 97. Lord Kingsborough: Mexican Antiquities. [37:3] Com. on Old Test. vol. i. p. 196.