Awake!, August 8, 1969
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Unselfishness-a Key to Successful Marriage
PAGE 3
Protecting Young Children Against Accidents
PAGE 8
Aluminum—from Curiosity to Versatility
PAGE 17
Make It a Photo Story
PAGE 21
AUGUST 8.1969
THE REASON FOR THIS MAGAZINE
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interest. "Awake!" has no fathers. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ties; it is unhampered by traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
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CONTENTS
Uselfishness—a Key to Successful Marriage 3
Protecting Young Children Against Accidents 8
A Bible Student Visits the Louvre 12
Aluminum—from Curiosity to Versatility 17
How Fast Are You Traveling? 20
Make It a Photo Story 21
The Root of the Matter 24
Puerto Rico Rejoices 25
The Fall of Ancient Babylon 26
"Your Word Is Truth"
Where Did God Come From? 27
Watching the World 29
UNSELFISHNESS
-A Key to Successful Marriage
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WHAT is a successful marriage? It is one in which there is peace, joy, contentment, understanding and affection. It is one in which each mate is largely able to meet the basic needs of the other and is truly concerned about doing so.
Marriage, according to God's Word, is monogamy, one man for one woman: "The two will be one flesh." (Matt. 19:5) Concerning it, Dr. Popenoe, one of America's leading marriage counselors, once said: "Monogamy is so well adapted to human nature . . . that it doesn't require supermen and superwomen to succeed. Success can be obtained by almost anyone." He also noted: "A successful marriage is a growing thing, nurtured by the give and take that continually goes on between two people who love each other and who are moved by that love to want to live together for the rest of their lives."
In a similar vein Dr. David Mace, Chairman of the International Commission on Marriage Guidance, writes: "Marriage is, after all, the basic adult human relationship. At its best it brings together, reconciles, and unites in fruitful harmony the two different kinds of human being, male
and female . . . It knits two people together in an enduring comradeship."
And the very possibilities of happiness in marriage testify to man's having been created by God, even as lawyer Linton notes:
"The kindness and the infinite skill of the God who declared it was not good for a man to be a bachelor, in putting into man's heart the love of woman and in woman's heart the love of man, in making them mentally, physically and emotionally so alike as to be companionable and yet so unlike as to supplement and be intriguing to each other, has always stirred my gratitude and my admiration as an unequivocal evidence of creative design."
—A Lawyer Examines the Bible.
Here we have three learned men, obviously speaking from much experience and observation, highly praising the marital relationship. From their testimony it would appear that success in marriage is within the reach of most persons. Yet, what do we find?
Polls show that some United States cities have one divorce for every two marriages, the national average being one out of four ending in divorce.
Then again, statistics show that some two million married couples are living apart because of not being able to get along with each other, although not divorced. Certainly all such marriages have not been successful. From other United States polls it appears that less than one-half of marriages can be considered successful. And one woman's magazine recently stated: "Most marriages are chronic complaint societies." Ladies' Home Journal, October 1968.
Why should these things be? No doubt one reason is that problems arise due to human imperfection and selfishness. One veteran marriage counselor put it this way: "We have never encountered or even
heard of a problem-free marriage." It takes maturity and, in particular, unselfishness to deal with the problems that arise in marriage. According to psychiatrist Dr. Brill, the biggest factor in divorce is not liquor, not money, not in-laws, and so forth, but immaturity at the time of marriage. Immature persons view a marriage license as a
guarantee of wedded bliss; but it merely gives one the legal right to work at it.
Dealing with Problems
Among the basic keys that will help couples to cope with the problems of marriage is honesty in dealing with each other. Aptly making this point is educator F. Alexander Magoun: "It takes effort to make a success of marriage. All success comes at a price. The more worthwhile the achievement, the more one usually has to pay for it in effort." Speaking from long observation, Dr. Paul Popence notes: "If each partner truly wants to come to a better understanding of the other, and isn't just interested in proving he or she is right, the situation isn't hopeless . . .
What is necessary is that each respects the other one's feelings, likes and dislikes."
Modern conditions have made it more difficult than ever for couples to be honest with each other. Many are the temptations to cheat in the matter of sex interest, in money matters and in how one uses one's time. Dishonesty has a way of catching up with one and can well result in making the marriage a failure instead of a success. Well does God's Word remind us: "There is nothing covered over that will not become uncovered, and secret that will not become known." "God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap." Jesus' words might therefore fittingly be paraphrased: 'Also, just as you want your mate to do to you, do the same way to your mate.'—Matt. 10: 26; Gal. 6:7; Luke 6:31.
Unselfishness a Necessity
If honesty might be said to be the foundation for a successful marriage, unselfishness might be said to be the building itself, the superstructure. The lives of marriage partners are just too closely knitted or bound to each other for selfishness to succeed—except temporarily. Magoun exposes this folly: "The idea that it is possible to get more and more for one's self merely by taking it from someone else has been a form of psychological stupidity and emotional illness with the human race ever since the days of Cain and Abel."
Selfishness is bound to be self-defeating because it goes against God's principles. But unselfishness is bound to be rewarding, even as God's Word shows: "Practice giving, and people will give to you.
They will pour into your laps a fine measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing. For with the measure that you are measuring out, they will measure out to you in return." We cannot escape it. Like begets like. Generosity begets generosity. "The generous soul will itself be made fat, and the one freely watering others will himself also be freely watered." How much good counsel along this line is
your own husbands; be chaste in your conduct, with deep respect; let your adornment be that of the heart clothed with a mild and quiet disposition.'—1 Pet. 3:1-6.
Discerningly, author Klemer notes: "Successful marriages are those in which the self-needs of each partner continue to be subordinated to the self-needs of the other. . . . The real excitement in marriage comes from your own joyful anticipation of the pleasure your partner will get from
found in God's Word! And all of it applies with peculiar force to those in the marital relationship because of the intimacy that goes with it.----Luke 6:38; Prov. 11:25.
Thus the apostle Paul makes the same point in his counsel to husbands: "Husbands, continue
loving your wives, just as the Christ also loved the congregation and delivered up his life.
what you have to give—sexually, emotionally, spiritually. In putting your own needs aside to meet the other's there is satisfaction and there is love." All of which might be said to underscore the words of Jesus Christ: "There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving." Those words apply not only on the congregational level but also in the family.-Acts 20:35.
How Unselfishness Works
himself for it husbands ought to be loving their wives as their own bodies. He
who loves his wife loves himself, for no man ever hated his own flesh; but he feeds and cherishes it." —Eph. 5:25-29.
Inherent in all such counsel is that, for marriage to succeed, more than justice is required. It cannot be governed by a fifty-fifty arrangement. Each must be willing to go more than halfway whenever the
Showing unsensitness is, by and large, a matter of being considerate in little things, and it can be quite rewarding. Thus a group of travelers paused at the
edge of Bryce Canyon in southern Utah. It was well along in the afternoon and the husband was concerned about getting to their destination at Zion National Park before it was too late. The wife, however, wanted to do a little exploring. When her husband noticed that this seemed to mean quite a lot to her he violated and so injured
to go more than halfway whenever the situation calls for it, even as the inspired apostle counsels when he intimates that husbands should be willing to lay down their lives for their wives, following the example of Jesus. That is going all the way!
And what about wives? They show their unselfishness by heeding the counsel of the apostle Peter: 'Wives, be in subjection to AUGUST 8, 1969
quite a lot to her, he yelled and so joined her and the others as they went down a trail. Before long they came upon one of the most beautiful sights they saw on their entire seven-thousand-mile trip. The late afternoon sun reflected its glory on the fantastically shaped, brightly colored peaks, presenting a sight almost unbelievably beautiful. How glad the husband was that he had not missed it!
Another true-life example is furnished by a ministerial couple living in the heart of a large city.
The wife saw several good reasons why an auto would be of practical value. While the husband felt they had been getting along quite well without an auto, out of consideration for his wife they bought a car. After they began using it the husband proved to be even more enthusiastic about its advantages than his wife. He found that it saved them much time, enabling them to accomplish more in their ministry. Besides, with the car they were able to be of help to others who did not have one. And at the same time it gave them a sense of security, as they were far less likely to be mugged or robbed when driving than when walking along the dark streets of the bad neighborhood that was the scene of their ministerial labors. Not, however, that the wish of a wife to have an auto is always judicious. A wife may fail to consider all the expense that the upkeep of an auto involves—taxes, license, insurance, repairs, gasoline and oil, not to say anything of work in the way of washing it, polishing it, changing tires, and so forth. Such factors often cause a husband to hesitate when it comes to buying an auto, and rightly so.
Of course, wives should not conclude from these incidents that every time they have a preference their husbands should yield. On the contrary, they should be realistic and appreciate the fact that by unselfishly yielding at times to the preference of their husbands they themselves may well be similarly rewarded. Yes, a word of caution is in order, lest sentimental husbands let strong-willed wives dominate them. It seems to be a feminine foible at times, especially on the part of wives who are childless, to put their own luxuries ahead of their husband's necessities. Logic should be mixed with sentiment, but not replaced entirely by it. Knowing when to
be firm and when to be kind and yielding is an art!
Unselfishness in Health Matters
Husbands and wives also have an obligation toward each other in the matter of health. A devoted and conscientious husband may well kill himself with overwork if he has a wife who is ambitious or even just thoughtlessly selfish. Better it is for her to content herself with fewer material things and a healthy living husband, than to have an abundance to enjoy as a widow.
Concern for her family's health should also make the wife interested in seeing that her family gets a balanced diet, sufficient vitamins, minerals, and so forth. What follows when a wife does measure up in this regard the following true-life experience illustrates. The doctor recommended that the husband eat plenty of rolled oats, but the husband simply did not like oatmeal porridge. So what did his wife do? Give up, saying, "What's the use!?" No, but she used feminine ingenuity. She made oatmeal cookies with raisins, and so forth, of which he was very fond. When making Salisbury steak she used rolled oats instead of bread crumbs, and when making thickening for vegetables, she used oatmeal instead of white flour. This was but one of the ways in which she has unselfishly cared for her husband's health. With what result? Her husband, though upward of sixty years of age, is still in excellent health.
From this experience it also is seen that unselfishness must be practical. Most good cooks like to feed their husbands plenty of rich foods, but is this always wise? Says one doctor: "Every man is in mortal danger whose wife considers herself a good cook. These good cooks equate health with obesity. In their eyes if you're not fat you're not healthy. . . . Early in marriage most men must learn to resist the mad desire of every woman to fatten up her husband."
Another area for unselfish concern in the matter of health is sleep. At times a wife or a husband may complain about not being able to sleep well at night. Often the other mate sleeps well. But should not the failure of the one to sleep well give genuine concern to the other? Both need to be alert to the problem and work at solving it. Recently Awake! carried an article giving suggestions for those faced with this problem. One couple found that giving each other a massage from head to toes helped solve the problem for the one troubled with sleeplessness. Both worked at it!
But at times the remedy may not be so simple. If the suffering one is a childless wife, the cause may well be psychosomatic. Couples who, voluntarily or due to a circumstance beyond their control, are childless must compensate for this. Usually the husband has little difficulty since the paternal instinct is not a specially strong one. But the wife may well need more affection, solicitude, attention and more of her husband's presence if she is to thrive in spite of being denied fruition of her maternal instincts. The words of the apostle Peter are appropriate here: "You husbands, continue dwelling in like manner with [your wives] according to knowledge, assigning them honor as to a weaker vessel, the feminine one, since you are also heirs with them of the undeserved favor of life, in order for your prayers not to be hindered. Finally, all of you be like-minded, showing fellow feeling, exercising brotherly love, tenderly affectionate, humble in mind."—1 Pet. 3:7, 8.
Rewarding Selflessness
In marriage each one must be alert to compensate for the weak points of the
other. Yes, here too the apostle's words apply: "We, though, who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those not strong, and not to be pleasing ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor in what is good for his upbuilding." (Rom. 15:1, 2) To the extent that the one errs, the other may have to be the more freely forgiving. Is one's mate prone to be a little more selfish? Then for the sake of peace and harmony one must learn to be more unselfish, at the same time tactfully endeavoring to show the other "a surpassing way," that of unselfish love.—1 Cor. 12:31-13:8.
On the other hand, is the wife extremely dutiful, conscientious, unselfish, a model calling to mind the ideal wife described at Proverbs 31:10-31? Then it may well be that she may neglect her own health if not also her appearance and her spiritual needs. A loving husband will not be content to let her continue in this course just because it is to his advantage. Rather, he will show loving concern by sharing her burdens and seeing to it that she gets the needed rest, that she presents an appearance that is complimentary to him and that her spiritual needs are properly met. The same principle applies, of course, if the husband is letting himself be overburdened.
A good wife of a Christian minister is also keenly interested in his discourses and shows this both by not interfering with his preparing of discourses and by giving good attention when he delivers them. But the husband should be just as interested in his wife's more humble efforts, ready to give helpful suggestions and needed encouragement. After all, each receives joy when the other does well.
No question about it, unselfishness is an important key to successful marriage. As one marriage counselor put it: "A successful marriage is not a gift; it's an achievement." Those who view marriage selfishly, concerned only with what they can get out of it, will most likely be doomed to frustration and failure.
But those who go into marriage with the idea of contributing to another's happiness and
well-being, as well as benefiting themselves therefrom, may well be rewarded with success, for we cannot escape it: "There IS more happiness in giving than there is in receiving."—Acts 20:35.
PROTECTING
YOUNG CHILDREN
"PAUL was in his ninth week when it happened. I had put him down on our bed when I remembered something I had to do in the kitchen. No sooner had I reached there, when I heard a thud.
AGAINST ACCIDENTS
"I was struck with fear until his screams seconds later told me that he was alive. When I reached the bedroom, there he was on the floor. He had rolled over to the edge of the bed and fallen off—something I never dreamed he could do on that big double bed. And he was only two months old!
"As I examined him, I was relieved to find no bones broken. Except for a small lump that developed on the side of his head, he was quite normal a short time later. Nevertheless, I put in a call to the doctor and was told he would probably be all right but should be watched for any signs of internal injuries. The next few days, I might add, were the longest of my life.
"Fortunately, Paul had no lasting ill effects from the fall. But I still shudder to think how tragically it could have ended. And it had all happened so fast! I had left him for less than a minute. Now I realize that this is all it takes for a serious accident to happen."
This experience is only one of many that affect millions of children daily and kill more than 10,000 every year in the United States alone. In fact, more children die from accidents than from cancer, pneumonia and congenital malformation combined. Yet, child-safety experts estimate that as many as nine out of ten accidents to children could be prevented.
When and Why Accidents Occur
Accidents do not just happen. Each one is caused by something. They can occur anywhere and anytime. When someone has been careless, an accident can happen. The question is: What can be done to avert most of them?
It is helpful to know that many accidents to children occur between the hours of 4 and 8 p.m. during the week. Then mothers are usually busy preparing meals and distracted with other duties. So children may not be as closely supervised as at other times. On the weekends, the early morning hours are danger periods. Many parents sleep later on those days and the children may be free to explore and get into trouble. Parents who are aware of these trends can arrange to channel their children's energies into constructive activities at such times.
Another aid is knowing why most accidents occur. Many wonder why some children avoid them and others are repeatedly affected by them. It has been found that the accident-prone child is usually overactive, restless, impulsive and insecure. The nonaccident child is generally more timid, submissive and usually comes from a more closely united family group. It also seems that "simple" everyday events and troubles trigger most accidents: a minor illness of a family member; an overtired, anxious or distracted parent; a worried, tense or very hungry youngster. These and other incidents set the stage for many accidents.
Hazards to Infants
During infancy, the child is in the home most of the time, so naturally that is where accidents will occur to him. Later, as he ventures out of doors, new hazards confront him. There will be streets, cars, traffic and school. Parents who can anticipate these new dangers as the child develops will be more equipped to counteract them.
First, though, let us concentrate on what can be done to protect infants in particular, since they are completely dependent on adults.
FALLS: Millions of young children are injured yearly by falls in and around the house. From the experience related above, you can appreciate how necessary it is to make sure an infant is never left unattended on any high place from which he could fall. Falls from adult beds account for a high percentage of serious injuries to infants, with boys being more susceptible than girls. Even cribs, although regarded as the safest place for babies, can contain hidden hazards. Does yours? Are the sides always up so that the baby cannot fall out?
Are the bars to the crib rubberized to avoid head injuries, and are they spaced so that his head cannot become wedged in?
BURNS AND DROWNINGS: Mothers first test the temperature of the baby's bath before bathing him, and his milk before feeding him. They realize the danger of anything being too hot externally or internally. Yet some mothers, while avoiding burning their babies, expose them to drowning. Many babies are left unattended in the tub, and at an early age. There would seem to be no valid reason for leaving a baby unattended in water, even for a minute. As one mother said: "No phone call is important enough for me to leave the baby for an instant in the tub or any unsafe place. If it's really important, they'll call back." To avoid any such incidents, many mothers carry their babies with them whenever they have to answer the phone or doorbell.
SUFFOCATION AND SWALLOWING FOREIGN OBJECTS: Care should be taken to avoid the baby's being suffocated in the crib by bedclothes, plastic bags or pillows. Also, one of the first and primary functions of a baby—that of swallowing—could be dangerous. Tiny objects such as pins, beads, buttons and sharp instruments should always be kept out of the baby's reach. No rattle or other toy should ever be smaller than his mouth. Once a baby gets his little hands on something, the next thing he will do is suck it and then swallow it if he can. Have you not put your finger toward an infant only to have him firmly grasp it and promptly draw it toward his mouth? Now, just imagine your finger being some harmful object. For good reason have infants been referred to as "human vacuum cleaners"!
Hazards to Toddlers
By the time a child is about two years old, he will have reached the explorative age.
He is no longer confined solely to his crib and playpen. Now he pokes his little nose into other areas of the house, and he has to be watched even more carefully than before.
Of course, he is still subject to burns and falls, but from different aspects. Now he can reach above his head and pull hot things down on himself. Or with the newfound springs in his little legs, he may be able to climb up on chairs and other furniture to lean out windows or inspect cupboards, medicine chests, closets, and a host of other things. Harmful products have to be stored and locked away from his prying eyes and hands.
Little delicate knickknacks, sprinkled throughout the house for decoration, now have to be reappraised as potential dangers and some removed for his safety. He is now at an awkward age—no longer helpless and completely dependent on you, nor old enough for you to really reason with him. Yes, this is the stage when you must keep a step ahead of him for his safety.
Harmful products need to be stored and locked away from prying little hands
Now that he is able to follow you around from room to room, the kitchen becomes more dangerous than the bedroom. He may be sitting on the floor in the kitchen, innocently playing with pots and pans and yet be surrounded by danger. A two-year-old does not know the difference between a harmless box of dry cereal and a box that contains detergent. So while the area under the sink may seem like a good place to store strong detergents, alkalies, polish, and the like, it is NOT if you have small
children. A child will swallow almost anything, even things that smell or taste bad. His inborn curiosity often gets the best of him, because exploring the unknown is one way he learns. Parents who understand this natural tendency to experiment can head off trouble before it happens.
Injury from burns is another threat. The misuse of fire, and matches in particular, head the list of accidents to the three-to five-year-old group. Who has not read with horror various newspaper accounts of small children who were badly burned and even killed because they played with matches? Adults know that fires can be most destructive. But to small children, the flames are fascinating to watch. And they will want to play with matches even when forbidden to do so. It is up to you—the parent—to make them aware of the dangers on a level they can understand. But even this may not be enough, so keep flammable materials, including matches, where children cannot get at them.
Over one million children are treated annually in the United States for accidental poisoning. Every accidental poisoning represents a human error. It means that some adult has been careless, with the child as the victim. In the United States there are over 500 Poison Control Centers, and they receive many urgent calls every day. These centers can supply parents quickly with vital information over the phone when children have taken some poison. They can tell you just what action to take, or what antidote, for almost any kind of poison that has been swallowed.
Parents should analyze how many poisons their homes contain. Do you think yours is comparatively safe? Consider this: it is estimated that there are about 25,000 potential poisons available at the stores! They do not have to be labeled poisonous to be such. Of the wide variety, aspirin is among the most common, accounting for about 25 percent of deaths by poisoning. Other common poisons are insecticides, bleaches, detergents and furniture polish. These are safe items when used by adults, but can be likened to TNT when handled by a child.
Children's candy-type medicines have created new hazards. Children are told at times that such medicines are "candy." Hence, when a child wants more "candy" he will naturally search for the bottle. Although the dosage for children is reduced in each pill, the results can be disastrous if a child takes too many.
Of course, no mother deliberately means to be careless with polsons. Many resolve to clear out the medicine cabinet or the kitchen cupboard, but they keep putting it off. When was the last time you threw out all your old medicines, paint cans and cleaning fluids? Are you content with just throwing them in the garbage pail? A toddler will think nothing of exploring the garbage pail or even the toilet bowl when you are not looking. Medicines and liquids should be poured down the drain and flushed. Cans should be smashed if possible and disposed of quickly.
Discipline—Tool for Safety
Discipline is a strong and effective tool that parents possess for protecting their children. When a child is taught to pick up his toys, he is learning the first essentials of child safety.
Another aspect of discipline is the language you use and the communication you have with your children. At times your words must be instantly obeyed for them to be fully protected. Do your children obey you? Do you find you have to yell and scream before your words are acted upon? Perhaps you find yourself saying "no" most of the time. If "no" is used too often, it can lose its effectiveness in real emergencies. For example, when you tell your daughter not to touch the stove because it is hot and will burn her, does she touch it anyway? She should not have to learn this solely from experience. Complete obedience is necessary at times even if the child does not fully understand why at the time.
To achieve this goal, many parents find it helpful to avoid giving commands all the time when they can request something of the child. "Please pick up your toys" is often obeyed quicker than a harsh command. Then you can build up a command vocabulary to be used when real danger threatens. But if commands are given for every trivial thing, they may not be obeyed in dangerous situations.
Whenever it is necessary to give a command, your manner should be calm but firm. The tone of your voice should unmistakably signal "DANGER," calling for obedience, and right now! Then your actions, coupled with your words, will gain the needed attention. This may take much training, and even spankings, but in time the commands you may have to give will be more quickly obeyed.
We have discussed a few of the things parents can be conscious of in their role as protectors. However, we have only scratched the surface, since we have dealt primarily with infants and toddlers. Accidents also happen to preschool and school-age children. This will be discussed in a succeeding issue of Awake! magazine.
A Bible Student
LOUVRE
THERE is something thrilling in seeing
THERE is something turning in seeing a monument or an object that existed in Bible times. This is especially so when one realizes that people mentioned in the Scriptures may have gazed at the monument or used articles similar to the object before one's eyes.
This desire to see things that really existed in Bible times prompts many sincere Christians to take advantage of a stay in one of this world's large cities to visit a big history museum. Those visiting Paris will find much to interest them in the Louvre.
lection of well over 2,000 oil paintings. In 1682, Louis XIV left the Louvre for his new palace in Versailles. During the reign of Louis XVI (1774-92), the suggestion was made that the Louvre be transformed into a public museum, but it took the Revolution (1789) for this to become law.
The Louvre became a museum officially on May 6, 1791, and it was opened to the
From Fortress to Palace to Museum
The Louvre, situated at the geometrical center of Paris, on the Right Bank of the Seine, started its long career as a fortress. It was built in the early thirteenth century by King Philip II. Charles V (1364-80) converted this military fortress into a royal residence. The Louvre was not yet a royal palace. Francis I (1515-47) was to promote it to this rank. He had most of the old fortress demolished, but died before the palace was built. Succeeding kings
on may 19, 1793. The Revolution brought many treasures to the Louvre, after the seizure of much property belonging to the nobles who had fled the country. The Napoleonic wars further enriched the new museum, although much of this booty was recovered by its owners in 1815, after Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. Nevertheless, private donations and the rapid growth of archaeology during the nineteenth century kept up the flow of art treasures into the Louvre. Today, with its
finished this first palace, which later rulers eventually replaced by larger buildings, King Louis XIV building the main portions. The Louvre became the biggest palace in the world, a distinction it holds up to the present day.
During the reign of Louis XIV (1643- 1715), the Louvre already contained a col-
priceless collections of paintings (including Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa"), its 80,000 Eastern antiquities, its 35,000 Egyptian antiquities and its 35,000 Greek and Roman antiquities, it has become one of the richest museums in the world. Some 1,500,000 visitors go through its stately galleries every year.
The Louvre is open every day except Tuesday, from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Bags and cases have to be left at the cloakroom, so it is suggested that you visit the museum with just this magazine or a guidebook, a pocket Bible and a small notebook for jotting down interesting items. Visiting museums can be a tiring business if you do not understand what you are looking at or what to look for. So the following information will help to make your visit to the Louvre interesting and instructive.
The Caryatid Room
Of the six big departments in the Louvre, the one that is of the most immediate interest to the Bible student is undoubtedly the Département des Antiquités Orientales (which, incidentally, closes each day from 12:45 to 2 p.m.). But to get to this department, you will need to pass by several items of interest.
If you start your visit at the Denon entrance and turn to the left, you will quickly find yourself at the foot of a wide marble staircase, at the top of which is a very beautiful winged statue called "Victory". This statue was found on Samothrace, a Greek island where the apostle Paul made an overnight stop during his second missionary journey. (Acts 16:11) Turn to the left at the foot of this staircase, walk down a long corridor, toward a white marble statue, the famous Venus of Milo. During your visit, you will constantly meet up with this mother goddess under varying forms (the Mesopotamian Ishtar, the Phoenician and Canaanite Astarte or Ashtoreth, and so forth).
Retracing your steps about halfway back along this corridor, you will see a gallery leading off to the right, called the Caryatid Room. When you are about two-thirds of the way through this room, you will notice against the wall on the left a statue marked "542 MARSYAS." This is
a third-century B.C.E. pagan statue. But it is of interest to the Bible student insofar as it illustrates the true sense in which the words stauros and xylon are used in the Greek Scriptures referring to Christ's execution, for Marsyas is represented as being flayed alive by Apollo on a straight tree trunk, not on a cross.
Palestinian Antiquities
After leaving Marsyas, continue on down to the end of the Caryatid Room, through the door and down some steps to the left, into a dimly lit underground corridor with small galleries leading off to the right. This is called the Sully Crypt. The first gallery contains, on the right, a glass case showing, among other artifacts, two of the famous Tel el-Amarna tablets. These are cuneiform letters, written in Akkadian, the diplomatic language used by vassal governors in Egyptian-dominated Palestine when corresponding with the ruling pharaoh. Letter 7096 (Louvre numbering) was written by one Shuwardata, a local ruler who mentions three Bible place names: Acco (Judg. 1:31), Achshaph (Josh. 11:1) and Jerusalem. Letter 7098, written by Biridiya, governor of Megiddo, mentions the Bible town of Shunem (Josh. 19:18), the hometown of the lovely Shulamite girl of Solomon's superlative song.—Song of Sol. 6:13.
In the next gallery, three items of interest can be seen against the right-hand wall. First, there are two plaster casts. One is of the Hebrew inscription discovered on the wall of a water tunnel or conduit, evidently one cut by Hezekiah to bring water to the Upper Pool of Siloam, in Jerusalem. Written in cursive early Hebrew characters, it describes the excavation work. This inscription thus seems to relate to 2 Kings 20:20.
Next to this, you will find another cast, reproducing a Greek inscription from Herod's temple.
This is one of the "Gentiles Keep Out" notices built into the low wall (Soreg) separating the Court of the Gentiles from the inner temple area. Knowledge of the existence of this balustrade gives greater meaning to Ephesians 2:14. And these notices, threatening death to offenders, explain the pretext used by the Jews for mobbing Paul in 56 C.E.—Acts 21:27-31.
To the left of these two casts is one of the most valuable monuments preserved in the Louvre. It is the reconstructed original of the Moabite Stone (in French, La stèle de Mesa). The inscription on this black basalt stele contains an account of the wars and building program of Mesha, king of Moab. Not only is this one of the oldest inscriptions found in old Hebrew-Phoenician (late tenth or early ninth century B.C.E.), but it is the only pagan text that mentions Jehovah. The Tetragrammaton can clearly be seen on the original stone at the extreme right of the eighteenth line. In addition, this account mentions fourteen place names found in the Bible, and coincides with 2 Kings 1:1 and 3:4, 5.
Before leaving the Sully Crypt, you will be interested in seeing a clay jar similar to the ones in which the Dead Sea scrolls were found. These are in a glass case in front of the Moabite Stone.
Mesopotamian Antiquities
Leave the Sully Crypt by a stairway leading into a series of over twenty rooms making up the Oriental Antiquities Department. Upon entering Room I (103, according to the new numbering), you will see to the right the famous Stele of the Vultures, found on the site of the ancient Sumerian city of Lagash (or Telloh). On it, King E-anna-tum commemorates his victory over the nearby city-state of Uma. One side, on which a god is depicted
holding a net filled with enemies, well illustrates the language used in Habakkuk 1:14-17, referring to the ravaging Chaldeans. The other side, showing King Eanna-tum and his troops with their hair let down for war, exemplifies the words of Judges 5:2, letting the hair hang loose for war.'
Room IV (106) contains another of the Louvre's most treasured monuments: an eight-foot-high stele of black diorite, known as the Code of Hammurabi. The upper part of the column shows Hammurabi, king of Babylon, standing before the sun-god Shamash. Then follow, in some 8,000 beautifully carved cuneiform words, first a prologue, then 282 laws and finally a long epilogue. Because this code is conjecturally dated by archaeologists as from the early part of the second millennium B.C.E., some have claimed that Moses borrowed from Hammurabi. But this claim is rejected by serious scholars, there being no comparison between the purely civil and commercial Babylonian code, and the morally higher, essentially religious code of Israel. Any similarity indicates rather that Hammurabi codified laws and customs dating from the patriarchal system developed after the Flood by Noah and Shem, who worshiped, not Hammurabi's pagan god Shamash, but Moses' God, Jehovah.
On the wall to the right of this stele you will see a glazed brick panel showing a ferocious-looking lion. This is one of the some 120 lions that decorated the Processional Way leading to the Great Ishtar Gate in Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon. Such lion figures were doubtless seen by the Jewish captives, who probably remembered Jeremiah's prophecies comparing Babylon to a lion.—Jer. 4:5-7; 50:17.
The first wall case to the right when entering Room IV contains a cuneiform document, called the Esagil Tablet (3rd century B.C.E.).
This gives the only detailed description yet discovered of the ziggurat in Babylon (one of several such towers) that was rebuilt by Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar.
Before leaving Room IV, a glance at the other wall cases, exhibiting little terracotta and alabaster statues of the lewd priestesses of Babylon, will convince you that this ancient city is an appropriate symbol of the "mother of the harlots," Babylon the Great.—Rev. 17:3-5.
Shushan the Castle
You will now pass into a series of rooms that re-create the decor that Mordecai and Esther knew at Susa or Shushan the castle, one of the capital cities of Persia. (Esther 1.2) Room V (107) has large glass cases in the middle of the floor, containing painted pottery from Shushan. Many pots and dishes are inscribed with crosses and even swastika designs, proving that these symbols were in use among the pagans thousands of years before Christendom and Nazism adopted them. On the walls of this room are brick panels from the palace of Shushan, depicting winged bulls and lions.
In Room VI (108), a glass case set on a stand to the right contains a bronze model of a high place dating from the twelfth century B.C.E., and called the Sit Shamshi (Sunrise). Although found in Shushan, this model is considered to be the most complete representation yet found of the type of pagan high place that existed in Canaan at the time of the Israelites. It shows two naked worshipers among sacred pillars, sacred poles, altars and other pagan representations. It well illustrates Deuteronomy 12:2, 3 and 1 Kings 14:23.
In Room VII (109), you will see a massive column-capital from the palace of
Darius I the Persian, the father of Xerxes or Ahasuerus, Esther's husband. The following rooms contain a remarkable collection of enameled brick panels in green, turquoise, orange and yellow, showing processions of archer-spearmen, winged and horned lions, bulls and griffins, all of which decorated the palace where Esther risked her life to serve her God, Jehovah, and save her people. Also of interest are the collections of stamp and cylinder seals with their impressions on clay. These remind the Bible student of Esther 8:2, 10-12.
Leaving the world of Shushan, you will go down a staircase into the Marengo Crypt. In the second alcove to the left, you will see a large black basalt coffin-shaped stone, called the Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar, king of Sidon. It bears an inscription of 22 lines of cuneiform writing dating from the late fourth or early third century B.C.E. This is the longest old Phoenician text, after the Moabite Stone.
Baals and Astartes
Going up the steps leading out of the Marengo Crypt, you will find yourself confronted with images and statues of pagan gods and goddesses, such as those mentioned in Judges 10:6. Standing against the wall of Room XVI (116), to the right as you leave the staircase, is the Amrit Stele, with a low relief of Melkart, the Baal of Tyre. You will notice that he is being carried by a lion. In the glass case just to the right of this stele, there is a statuette of a naked goddess, also being carried, this time by two lions.
Room XVIII (117) exhibits a large collection of Baals and Astartes found at Ras Shamra, the site of the ancient Phoenician city of Ugarit. While looking at the images of Baal and Astarte or Ashtoreth in the glass cases set up in the middle of this room, you will notice how the emphasis was placed on fertility or sex worship and on violence.
Seeing these things will help you to understand the wisdom and necessity of the Bible's condemnation of idolatry, and one of the reasons why Jehovah called these gods 'disgusting things.' —2 Ki. 23:13-15.
In a flat glass case to the left are some clay tablets found in Ras Shamra. They are believed to date from the fourteenth
and thirteenth centuries B.C.E., and are of interest because they represent early examples of alphabetic cuneiform writing (as distinguished from syllabic writing) and contain a detailed description of the perverted religion of Canaan.
Your visit to the Louvre will end amid the ornaments decorating King Sargon II's palace at Khorsabad, northeast of Nineveh. All these artifacts are particularly interesting to the Bible student, because for years the Bible was the only known historical document that mentioned this Assyrian emperor. (Isa. 20:1) You will see, to the left, immense stone panels depicting trunks of Lebanon cedars being floated up the Phoenician coast.
ARTICLES IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Take the Wise View of Pleasures.
True Worship—the Same Everywhere.
Mammals in Motion.
5 Alternatives to Blood Transfusion.
To the left of the right-hand door leading to Room XIX (118) is a large stone stele representing Baal as the storm-god. In Room XX (120), you can see the Syrian storm-god called Hadad. His stele is to the left of this corridor-like room, and he is depicted as being carried along by a bull. Next to him is the stele of Ishtar, the Babylonian mother goddess, also being carried on an animal, a lion.
Leaving the Baals and Astartes, you will next find yourself plunged into the atmosphere of the Assyrian Empire, the second world power of Bible history. In Room XXI (121) you will see, to the left, two flat glass cases containing pieces of ivory work found at the Assyrian outpost of Arslan Tash. The first one exhibits ivory work from the bed of Hazael, king of Syria, and the second shows a piece of ivory actually inscribed with the name of Hazael in Aramaean. This name "Hazael" reminds the Bible student of the account at 2 Kings chapters 8-10, 12, 13.
Sargon II was the father of Sennacherib, who was assassinated after he was miraculously thwarted in his attempt to take Jerusalem. Sennacherib was succeeded by his son Esar-haddon, mentioned in 2 Kings 19:37. You can see this latter king depicted on a bronze plaque, followed by his mother Naqi'a-Zakutu. This is in a glass case to the right in Room XXI (121).
Passing through into Room XXII (122), you will be impressed by the colossal winged bulls with human heads that decorated Sargon's palace. Seeing these Assyrian antiquities helps one to understand why the Bible spoke of "the king of Assyria and all his glory" and prophesied to unfaithful Judah that the "outspreading of his wings must occur to fill the breadth of your land."—Isa. 8:7, 8.
Of course, there is much more to be seen in the Louvre. The above selection represents approximately a two-hour visit. There is an exit from the museum immediately behind the stairway leading out of the nearby St. Germain l'Auxerrois Crypt. You will find yourself just opposite the Catholic church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, the bells of which gave the signal for the horrible St. Bartholomew's night massacre of French Protestants in 1572. But that is another story.
IN 1821, near the French community of Les Baux, a chemist picked up a hard claylike mineral, reddish in color. Named bauxite after the village, it proved to have an alumina content of 52 percent. But, you may ask, what is alumina? It is aluminum combined with oxygen, or aluminum oxide. For years this very hard substance resisted all efforts to reduce it to its components. Not until 1827 were the first tiny drops of the metal extracted by a very difficult and expensive chemical process. No wonder, then, a hundred years ago, aluminum was merely a curiosity, even though it is the third most abundant element in the earth's crust.
At the Paris Exposition in 1855, the first solid bar of the silvery-white metal was displayed. On this occasion aluminum, or aluminium as it is known in England and European lands, emerged from the realm of metallurgical research to be recognized by the general public as a useful metal. But, oh!—its cost! At more than $34 an ounce it was indeed a precious metal, so much so it even outranked gold in the household of Napoleon III, Emperor of France. Notwithstanding his pleasure in the costliness of aluminum at that time, being a practical man he envisioned its use in lightweight equipment for his soldier, Consequently, the king subsidized a French scientist to search for ways to
Progress in Cost Reduction
produce it in large quantities at low cost.
His work was rewarded by reducing the cost to a little over one dollar per ounce. However, this was still too expensive to make a commercial venture possible. Later an American chemist worked out a process that brought it down to fifty cents. That was still too much, so the search persisted for a more economical method of processing the raw material.
In 1886 two young scientists, one in France and the other in the United States, working entirely unknown to each other, discovered the key to releasing the metal from its oxide on a large scale. The cost now fell to 12.5 cents. Immediately the door opened to extensive exploitation of bauxite deposits. As the years passed, further improvements in technique lowered processing costs to less than twenty cents per pound by the middle of the twentieth century.
The Raw Materials
Although bauxite is the primary material for aluminum production, yet other minerals and substances are also required. But first we will observe how bauxite is reduced to pure alumina. Open-pit mining operations using huge power shovels scoop the ore out from where it has rested for thousands of years. Two tons of ore are needed to extract one ton of alumina.
Thus the ore goes through an intermediate reducing process before going to the smelters.
The bauxite is treated with a hot solution of caustic soda from combined soda ash and lime. This causes the alumina to go into solution while the impurities such as silica, iron oxide and titania settle out as red mud. The filtered liquid is allowed to settle in large precipitation tanks where the alumina, chemically combined with water, crystallizes. These crystals are passed through large rotating kilns heated to 1,100\circ C. to drive off the water molecules, leaving the powdery white alumina ready for shipment. From storage bins or long piles on the ground, conveyor belts move the alumina to the holds of waiting ships for transport to the smelters.
At the smelters the alumina is combined with another raw material—cryolite. This mineral, bluish white in color, the powder of which is practically invisible in water, is mined in Greenland, where the Eskimos speak of it as "the ice that will not melt in summer." It is also produced synthetically in Germany. This was what the aforementioned scientists discovered to be the key for unlocking earth's vast storehouse of this metal. They established that molten cryolite would dissolve the hard aluminum oxide and then, by passing a powerful electric current through the melted solution, the aluminum could be separated from the oxygen, allowing the pure metal to settle to the bottom of the vessel. Thus electrolytic aluminum-producing "pots" were born.
For large-scale smelter production of aluminum, many "pots" are required, set up in "potlines." In the Aluminum Company of Canada smelters, some are made of inch-thick steel approximately thirty feet long, twelve feet wide and four feet deep. These are lined with carbon to become the cathode (negative pole) of the cell, while the anode (positive pole) is a mixture of petroleum coke and pitch. This
compound, packed into rectangular aluminum or steel casings, is hung above the "pot." Control equipment progressively lowers this continuous replacement type of anode into the "pot" as it is self-baked and used up in the molten solution of alumina and cryolite. Interestingly, this material is devoured at the rate of one thousand pounds for each ton of metal produced.
Fluorspar from Newfoundland is another important ingredient, as well as other materials from around the globe. Added up, the raw materials required to produce one ton of pure aluminum amount to seven tons. Thus uninterrupted production calls for a well-organized transportation arrangement to make sure all necessary material is on hand at the right time and in the right place. For example, materials that would fill 250 boxcars are consumed each twenty-four hours by the smelters in the Saguenay Valley of Quebec.
The Role of Electricity
Keep in mind that bauxite is usually mined in low-lying tropical or semitropical lands. Therefore, the most important raw material required—an abundance of cheap electrical power—is seldom found near the ore body. As a result, the alumina must be transported to the power. This is what has made Canada, with its plenteous supplies of cheap hydroelectric power, a natural location for some of the world's largest aluminum smelters.
If you kept an ordinary 25-watt bulb continuously lit for two weeks, the electricity used would equal the amount called for to produce one pound of aluminum. The average American home would take four years to use the power needed to extract a ton of metal from the original alumina! In fact, a few years ago, inside of one year the aluminum industry on this continent used more electricity than is needed to provide power for a city comprising half a million homes for about ten years!
Since that time, with constant expansion of the industry, power demands have increased by almost half as much again. What a vital part it plays!
Fabrication
As the gleaming ingots come off the potline at the smelter the story of the metal's versatility begins to unfold. Many processes finally transform these into ob-
nal qualities of lightness, corrosion resistance and workability.
The metal's protean nature is further enhanced by its pleasing appearance and being an efficient conductor of both heat and electricity. So, come now, observe how this interesting substance is turned into some of the useful appliances that have become so commonplace in our modern world.
The Finished Products
jects of practical use. First they enter remelt furnaces where alloying substances are added and varied according to the final use to which the material will be put. From this process come notch-bar ingots for casting, round ingots or "billets" for extruding, and rectangular ingots or "slabs" for rolling, forging or spinning. The smelters themselves produce rods for drawing into aluminum wire. How adaptable the metal proves to be even as it is prepared for the manufacturing procedure!
TPC-C Integrated Products
We will first visit Rogerstone, South Wales, and its giant rolling mill. Here aluminum "slab" ingots, two tons in weight, are run back and forth through a continuous line of hot presses that stretch out for a quarter of a mile. Coils of sheet aluminum or straight sheets emerge from this process, their thickness depending on future employment. This varies from a quarter of an inch to foil so fine it requires a stack of 1,250 sheets to achieve the same thickness! At Kings-
Year by year the usefulness of aluminum continues to grow. Expansion of present uses and the finding of new ones is encouraged by the industry itself. Constant metallurgical research is carried on in order to open up wider fields for utilizing its qualities of lightness, softness and yet strength. This strength is the result of pure aluminum being alloyed with other minerals. Much experimentation along this line has produced several hundred alloys all having different characteristics.
How the strength is improved is illus-
ton, Ontario, a milling machine rolls out foil fifty-four inches wide at a speed of more than half a mile every minute. From plants such as these the fabricated aluminum moves out to various manufacturing plants to become the superstructure of an ocean liner or the "skin" of an intercontinental jet aircraft. As foil, you may be using it in your kitchen for innumerable purposes or peeling it off your favorite chocolate bar. But that is not all.
Perhaps you are a resident of Lon-
trated in a one-inch test bar of the pure metal breaking under a load of a little over seven tons, while a similar test bar, made of certain alloys now in common use, can be put under tension of a fortyton load without tearing apart. Such alloys are even stronger than some types of steel, thus adding to the aluminum's versatility, because they retain the origi-
don, England, and daily ride "the underground." Your comfortable train is made of aluminum. Or a recent trip through Spain was on the famous "ACT-Talgo" train of the Spanish Railways. Aluminum alloys contributed to your pleasant journey. In North America, railroads are more and more making use of the metal that was once a curiosity. Refrigerator cars, gondolas, box- and tank cars, all made of aluminum, hurtle by on mile-long trains.
On the highways of the world the metal is used in trucks, buses, trailers and even your own automobile. Many of the soaring skyscrapers of the world's great cities are faced or paneled with porcelain-enameled or gleaming sheet alloys of aluminum.
In the giant argosies of the skies, now coming off the assembly lines, some parts must be constructed to carry a tremendous load. Such are forged by giant presses similar to the 50,000-ton press at the Alcoa plant in Cleveland, Ohio. After the press stamps out the part, it is "carved" to its proper size by a profile milling machine. Huge extrusion presses squeeze out the metal like toothpaste, changing round "billets" into everything from airplane propellers to bridge girders. A few years ago, such girders were used to build the world's first all-aluminum highway bridge across the rapids of the beautiful Saguenay River in Quebec.
From the equator to the poles and all around the earth more and more uses are being found for this champion lightweight
metal. One hundred ounces of aluminum top the famed Washington Monument providing not only a beautiful silvery cap but also a protective lightning conductor. Portable aluminum sprinkler irrigation systems are in use on the coffee plantations of Brazil and the sugar-beet farms of southern Alberta. Seven million miles of transmission lines crisscross the countries of the world carrying vital electrical power to cities and factories through steel reinforced aluminum conductors. In many cases these are now hung from aluminum towers. Even eight-room houses with two verandas, having a total weight of only 2,300 pounds, are being prefabricated from this metal of many uses.
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