[491] “But the devils believed not, they taught men sorcery and that which was sent down to the two angels at Babel, Harut and Marut.” The Koran, Sura II, 96.
[492] Chap. XIII, vv. 19–21. In lieu of the word “satyrs” the Vulgate has pilosi—the hairy ones—which is more in keeping with the original Hebrew text.
[493] Genesis xi: 4.
[494] Ερημία μεγάλη ἐστιν ἡ μεγάλη πόλις, Bk. XVI, I, 5.
[495] The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation, Vol. X, Part I, p. 63 (collected by Richard Hakluyt, Edinburgh, 1889).
[496] “The inhabitants of these parts are as fond of attributing every vestige of antiquity to Nimrod as those of Egypt are to Pharaoh.” Rich, Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon (London, 1818).
[497] Op. cit., Tom. I, p. 382 et seq.
[498] That Della Valle had no doubt that the mound of Babil was really the ruin of the Tower of Babel is quite evident from the positive statement which he makes to this effect: “che sia quella Babel antica è la torre di Nembrotto, non c’è dubbio, secondo me, perche oltre che il sito lo dimostra, da’ paesani ancora oggidi è conisciuta per tale, ed in Arabico è chiamata volgarmente Babel.” Op. cit., p. 384.
[499] Koldewey, op. cit., p. 11, et seq.
[500] Op. cit., p. 101.