ons of level. His new theory applies only to the other two
traditions. For in them no historical kernel is presupposed, though
gradual erosion by water is not excluded as a cause of the surface
features which may have suggested the myths.

This valuable theory thus opens up a third possibility for our analysis.
It may also, of course, be used in combination, if in any particular
instance we have reason to believe that transmission, in some vague
form, may already have taken place. And it would with all deference
suggest the possibility that, in view of other evidence, this may have
occurred in the case of the Greek traditions. With regard to the theory
itself we may confidently expect that further examples will be found in
its illustration and support. Meanwhile in the new Sumerian Version I
think we may conclude that we have recovered beyond any doubt the
origin of the Babylonian and Hebrew traditions and of the large group of
stories to which they in their turn have given rise.

LECTURE III -- CREATION AND THE DRAGON MYTH; AND THE PROBLEM OF
BABYLONIAN PARALLELS IN HEBREW TRADITION

In our discussion of the new Sumerian version of the Deluge story we
came to the conclusion that it gave no support to any theory which
would trace all such tales to a single origin, whether in Egypt or in
Babylonia. In spite of strong astrological elements in both the Egyptian
and Babylonian religious systems, we saw grounds for regarding the
astrological tinge of much ancient mythology as a later embellishment
and not as primitive material. And so far as our new version of the
Deluge story was concerned, it resolved itself into a legend, which had
a basis of historical fact in the Euphrates Valley. It will be obvious
that the same class of explanation cannot be applied to narratives of
the Creation of the World. For there we are dealing, not with legends,
but with myths, that is, stories exclusively about the gods. But where
an examination of their earlier forms is possible, it would seem to
show that many of these tales also, in their origin, are not to be
interpreted as nature myths, and that none arose as mere reflections of
the solar system. In their more primitive and simpler aspects they
seem in many cases to have been suggested by very human and terrestrial
experience. To-day we will examine the Egyptian, Sumerian, and
Babylonian myths of Creation, and, after we have noted the more striking
features of our new material, we