how much of this is true???

[stillerfan]

>IRAQ - VERY INTERESTING - DID YOU KNOW?
>1. The garden of Eden was in Iraq.
>2. Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, was the cradle of civilization!
>3. Noah built the ark in Iraq.
>4. The Tower of Babel was in Iraq.
>5. Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq!
>6. Isaac's wife Rebekah is from Nahor, which is in Iraq.
>7. Jacob met Rachel in Iraq.
>8. Jonah preached in Nineveh - which is in Iraq.
>9. Assyria, which is in Iraq, conquered the ten tribes of Israel.
>10. Amos cried out in Iraq!
>11. Babylon, which is in Iraq, destroyed Jerusalem.
>12. Daniel was in the lion's den in Iraq!
>13. The three Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq (Jesus had been in Iraq also as the fourth person in the fiery furnace!)
>14. Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the "writing on the wall" in Iraq.
>15. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.
>16. Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
>17. The wise men were from Iraq.
>18. Peter preached in Iraq.
>19. The "Empire of Man" described in Revelation is called Babylon,which was a city in Iraq!
>
>And you have probably seen this one. Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It is Iraq! However, that is not the name that is used in the Bible. The names used in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq, means country with deep roots.
>
>Indeed Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very significant country in the Bible.
>
>No other nation, except Israel, has more history and prophecy associated it than Iraq.
>
>And also.. This is something to think about! Since America is typically represented by an eagle. Saddam should have read up on his Muslim passages...
>
>The following verse is from the Koran, (the Islamic Bible)
>
>Koran (9:11) - For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah; and there was peace.
>
>(Note the verse number!) Hmmmmmmm?! God Bless you all Amen !

 

[gzt]

I don't know about Peter or the wise men, but otherwise it's all correct. But one shouldn't conflate the modern Iraq, a 20th century geographical creation, with Babylon and the nations around it. Yeah, Babylon and Mesopotamia are in the area now geographically called Iraq. Big deal.

 

[Matrona]

That "quote" from the Qur'an is 100% fabrication.

 

[Khaleas]

I know that the Koran verse (9:11) is not like that. It's an urban legend.


http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_quran_911.htm

So I'm guessing most of the rest is to be taken with a huge grain of salt too.

 

[Emmanuel-A]

I thought the garden of Eden was not in this world ?

And you can justify and/or explain everything you want with out-of-context quotations from ancient books.

 

[Rilian]

Re #1. Emmanuel-A covered that. I don’t think we know exactly where it was.
Re #2. Ancient Mesopotamia was certainly important, and many scholars think in particular that Assyro-Babylonian cosmology deeply influenced aspects of early Judaism. Cradle of civilization though? I bet some Egyptologists might argue with that.
Re #3. I don’t recall that.
Re #4. Don’t recall that either. I do know you could draw obvious parallels to the Tower of Babel and Ziggurats built by Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians.
Re #9. The Assyrian Empire covered a large geographical area.
Re #19. I believe the Empire in question there may be Rome, with Babylon as a veiled reference to it.

Something to keep in mind is that ancient Mesopotamia really bears nothing common with the modern state of Iraq. The Islamic conquest essentially wiped away what had been there before.

 

[Paisley]

I know a lot of ancient artifacts from the previous greatness of Babylon were stolen from the museums in Iraq. It was a great loss for history, and especially for Iraq. I have studied some archaeology, and saddened by the loss of the artifacts in Iraq because of the war. Babylon was a great civilization, and it is called the cradle of civilization because of a lot of things, such as math, writing, and architecture.

Here are some links:
Pictures of Iraq Antiquities
War Threatens Antiquities
The Mountains of Ararat

Hope these help... it's the best I could on short notice.

 

[Philip]

.
>18. Peter preached in Iraq.

I assume this is a reference to 1 Peter 5:13. However, it is generally accepted that here, Babylon refers to Rome.

 

[The Virginian]

It was an interesting news blurb, when long before the Gulf War, Sadaam Hussein proudly announced, he intended to rebuild the ancient city of Babylon. The influence of ansient history is cool, but remember, it's also a fact of history that Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins, died was buried, rose from the dead and ascened into heaven to sit at the Father's right hand. While not discounting the place of present day lands in the redeemption story, it's far more interesting to contemplate the finer points of the Incarnation.


"...whatsoever is just, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute; if there is any excellence , if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things and the God of peace will be with you..."

 

[Paisley]

It was an interesting news blurb, when long before the Gulf War, Sadaam Hussein proudly announced, he intended to rebuild the ancient city of Babylon. The influence of ansient history is cool, but remember, it's also a fact of history that Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins, died was buried, rose from the dead and ascened into heaven to sit at the Father's right hand. While not discounting the place of present day lands in the redeemption story, it's far more interesting to contemplate the finer points of the Incarnation.


"...whatsoever is just, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute; if there is any excellence , if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things and the God of peace will be with you..."

I certainly agree with you there. However, I do not study these things without the light of the Bible. I rejoice when archaeology and history prove the Bible true, especially after hearing some people say the Bible is "fiction, and written by man" ... love to point these things out to them.