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HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE LARGE N essays

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE LARGE N essays England in the eighteenth century saw a significant increase in criminal activity specifically in the growing towns where urbanisation was taking place. England prospered and her cities and ports flourished as worldwide trade and manufacturing expanded. The population soared as harvests improved and people migrated into the cities and towns searching for better lives. Cities became the centre for politics and culture. People were forced to live in close proximity to each other in a rather confined space. All this had huge implications for crime. In the generation after the Glorious Revolution few contemporaries doubted that crime and disorder were not only increasing but rampant. In particular they saw towns and cities as sinks of vice, stores of disrespect, and dens of thieving. For the most part they were just as certain that dramatic and at times drastic initiatives were necessary to stem this tide. This took the form of numerous laws and acts. The growing population stretched resources and work became a shortage. The peace disbanded many soldiers who returned home, facing unemployment. Food prices rose but wages fell. Poverty and hardship pushed many towards crime in order to survive; they were victims of economical and societal change, living on the very margins of society. As towns became the centres for trade, commerce, manufacture and home to the upper classes new opportunities for crime especially theft presented themselves. The upper classes felt progressively more threatened by the criminal behaviour of the lower classes. They were a menace to the political and social authority of the ruling class and it was feared that they would cause anarchy. Contemporaries felt that crime was very largely the work of an alienated fringe population living in idleness, immorality, and depravity, in fact a criminal, and a dangerous, class that congregated particularly in London and the enlarging citie...

Ancient Egyptian Religion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ancient Egyptian Religion - Research Paper Example While studying ancient religion of Egypt it is clearly understood that most of the concepts of that religion was due to the people’s observation of environment surrounding. The basis of the religion was based on the concepts like attraction and worship of sunlight, satisfaction gained by changing tones of the nature (Watson). Agriculture due to changes in flow of river Nile was also in the core concepts of the ancient religion of Egypt. Every aspect of Egyptian culture like laws, medicine, arts and crafts carried a clear image of religious concepts. Another concept greatly raised during those days of Egypt was concept of gods. It is very difficult to differentiate between gods worshipped by Egyptians. There was a time when Egyptians worshipped 2000 gods. Gods of Ancient Egypt Gods worshipped by ancient Egyptians were evolved and diminished with time. These gods had some individual properties and they also used to fight one another to get hold of the powers possessed by each ot her. One God was used to split into multiple forms of gods at a time like Amun-em-Opet, Amun-Ka-Mutef, and Amun of Ipet-swt (Teeter,  E., & Brewer, 2004). Every God had a specific role to play for the people used to worship them. Gods were in human form, they were used to born and die after a certain age and some of them had rebirth. They were like human males and females and families. One of the common such case is Amun, his wife Mut and their child Khonsu. Ancient Egyptian civilization was over the era of 3000 years. Creation of World Egyptians used to have different concepts regarding creation of the world. According to one of the beliefs the whole world was a part of a big dark ocean. Suddenly a large portion of land appeared with reappearance of Sun god. Sun as a god is of great importance in ancient Egyptian religion as it created all things. This Sun god had many versions one of them is the emerging of Sun god from a large piece of mud. This concept was believed by most of ancient Egyptians. One of the great evolutions the ancient Egyptian civilization gave to mankind was place of worship to gods (Brown, 2007). Temples were considered as sacred places where Gods should be worshiped by the people. There was a time in ancient Egypt when every city had its own god and its own temple for the worship of that god. These were the places where communications with those gods was supposed to happen. Priest was an essential part of society. Priest was responsible for taking care of god and fulfilling the needs of god. Also these priests used to advise people for their problems. One example that needs to be mentioned for such case was ancient Egyptians thought Nile as a god. Each ever a virgin girl was sacrificed to keep god Nile happy by drowning her in river Nile. In return Nile irrigated crops of the people. Concept of Life and Death. Ancient Egyptians having unique civilization also had a unique concept of life. They believe in life after death and considered life as a preparation period for the life after death. Many civil laws of ancient Egypt were based on this concept of life. It is amazing to note that in present day modern world this concept of life after death is adapted or believed by followers of major religions of the world (Parsons, 2011). Ancient Egyptians considered death as a transfer to life after death. This concept of death is an important part in the funerals that took place at that time. The body was preserved for the next life with help of â€Å"Natron† and placed in a coffin. These bodies are now known as mummies. After 70 days the final ritual performed on the mummy was â€Å"

The friendship of Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin Essay

The friendship of Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin - Essay Example The essay "The friendship of Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin" discovers the relationships between Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh. The other anticipation that Gauguin had was that he could establish a more intimate painting connection with Van Gogh, and out of it they could bring their painting talent together to create other a successful painting empire, like the two sunflowers painting that Van Gogh had created. In this respect, Gauguin anticipated that he could tap on his friend’s talent and make some impressive paintings during this vacation. The last of his anticipation was that he would continue building on his friendship with Van Gogh and his brother Theo, owing to the fact that Van Gogh had invited and waited for Gauguin for long, while Theo was the one who encouraged him to visit the Yellow House. The expectations that Paul Gauguin had while visiting Van Gogh was that out of their friendship and combined efforts, success for the two relatively new yet older artist s would spark a more beautiful life for the two of them, owing the fact that both had shared a similarity in living a depressed life previously. When he arrived at Van Gogh’s house, things turned out to be different, since the anticipated happiness and the cordial relationship they sought to create did not come about. The friendly connections lasted a little while, and then arguments between them started drawing them apart, as they could neither agree on the locations where they should paint, nor the mode of painting to adapt.

Surveying and mapping Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

Surveying and mapping - Essay Example Designing an effective and efficient survey network is one of the essential aspects in the implement of field surveys. In contrast, the design of a survey network is a complicated and sophisticated task because a survey network needs to meet or exceed specified criteria for precision, reliability, sensitivity, and cost. Other pivotal factors must be taken into account in a feasible design, such as geological criteria, suitability for equipment measurement, long term safety, field time and access costs (Talaya, et al., 1999). Therefore, it is vital to implement the techniques and instruments of the design of the survey network to deal with a variety of current problems. For instance, deformation monitoring network of dam (Gà ¶kalp and TaÅŸÃ §Ã„ ±, 2009), precise levelling of the network (Shahrum and Azhari, 2009), and control the network of construction, have drawn intensive attention for surveyors. The aim of survey network design is understood as creating an optimal network configuration and observation plan that satisfies the postulated network quality criteria (e.g., error ellipses and redundancy numbers) with minimum cost (Amiri-Simkooei and Sharifi, 2004). In other words, survey network design has two aspects: using the current equipment and condition to imbue the layout of the survey network with a higher accuracy, sensitivity and reliability; the cost of the survey network is the lowest when the network meets the precision, sensitivity and reliability.... Increasing amounts of researchers have considered the very pivotal role feedback loops play in the overall progress of network design technology (Mishima 2009; Anderson, and Mikhail, 2003). With the growing need for increased feedback mechanisms to ensure accuracy and reliability, software such as Geolab has emerged to attempt to account for these measures through trial-and-error procedural least square adjustment. Still, the complete potential of such a system remains to be understood. This research advances with a context consideration of this theoretical understanding. 1.2 Classification of survey network design In accordance with Grafarend’s suggestions (Grafarend, 1974), survey network design can be decomposed into four smaller problems. 1) Zero order design (ZOD) The free network that is a known configuration and observation plan will select an optimal coordinate system for the coordinate of control points and their variance. In other words, to determine the coordinates of vector X and the co-factor matrix when the design matrix and weight matrix of observation P is known, so that X is an objective function to extremes. Therefore, ZOD is an adjustment problem. 2) First order design (FOD) Design matrix A will be determined when the observation matrix P is known, so that some elements of the survey network reach a predetermined value or the highest accuracy, or the best approximation to the Coordinate of a given matrix. 3) Second order design (SOD) To determine the weight matrix of observation P when the design matrix P is known, so that some elements can achieve the desired accuracy or the highest accuracy, or coordinate the best approximation of a co-factor matrix given matrix. 4) Third order design

Just War Theory And The 2003 Iraq War Politics Essay

Just War Theory And The 2003 Iraq War Politics Essay The Iraq War or the second Gulf War has been commenced since 20 March 2003. Despite the troops consisted of military force of various western nations, it was actually led by the United States. Over the years, people have questioned the Bush administration whether it is justified to invade Iraq, and whether the Iraq War fulfill the criteria of the Just War Theory. As such, this essay will attempt to determine whether the invasion of Iraq by the Bush administration is justified. Just cause The reason for going to war must be just. Force may be used only to correct a grave, public evil, i.e. aggression or massive violation of the basic human rights of whole populations  [1]  . In addition to what we generally accept that force may only be used to correct a grave and public evil, Holmes (1992) stated that the criterion of just cause has been downgraded. He also stated that a war is justified in response to aggression, ie, self-defense. It also extended to cover also defense of another state against aggression, intervention to protect potential victims of grave wrong by nations, and even pre-emptive strikes against potential aggressors. Right authority War may be waged by constituted legal authority. Right intention War may be waged only in a truly just cause but not for material gain or maintaining economies. Last resort War may be waged only after all peaceful alternatives have been exhausted or are not practical. Prospects of success the goal of the war must end with peace Proportionality the anticipated benefits must be proportionate to its expected evils or harms. Besides, the just war theory also requires the moral standard to define the conduct of armed conflict (Just ad bellum):- Noncombatant Immunity Army must take reasonable measures to avoid and minimize harm to civilians. Proportionality Only necessary force is to be use to achieve the military objective, and to avoid unnecessary collateral damage civilians and their properties. Right intention the aim of the war is to achieve peace. The act of vengeance and indiscriminate violence are forbidden. Reason to Invade Iraq In the speech given by Bush on 18 March 2003 in the White House, he gave the reason for taking military action against Iraq. In this essay, I will mainly attempt to use this speech as my argument for reason for invasion to Iraq. JUST WAR THEORY VS US INVASION (Just ad bellum) 1. Just Cause In the speech given by Bush, he stated:- We have passed more than a dozen resolutions in the United Nations Security Council. We have sent hundreds of weapons inspectors to oversee the disarmament of Iraq. Our good faith has not been returned Over the years, UN weapon inspectors have been threatened by Iraqi officials, electronically bugged and systematically deceived. Peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime have failed again and again because we are not dealing with peaceful men Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraqs neighbors and against Iraqs people. It has aided, trained and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda The danger is clear: using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons, obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds or thousands of innocent people in our country, or any other. Terrorists and terror states do not reveal threats with fair notice, in formal declarations and responding to such enemies only after they have struck first is not self-defense, it is suicide. The security of the world requires disarming Saddam Hussein now. In Bushs speech, the causes for invasion are:- Iraq possess weapon of mass destruction and peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime have failed. Iraq aided terrorist like al Qaeda, and terrorists could make use of Iraqs weapon of mass destruction to kill Americans or people of other nations. However, it seems that the Iraq invasion did not fulfill the just cause. Regarding the weapon of mass destruction, in late 2002 Iraq agreed to inspection by UN inspectors in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1441. However, the inspectors discovered no weapon of mass destruction. They only concluded that Iraq government failed to proved that all weapon of mass destruction were properly destroyed. Besides, there was no evidence that the Iraqi government had any intention to use such weapon of mass destruction (even if Iraq did have the weapon). We did not see that the United States was facing a imminent threat of attack by Saddam Hussein. Moreover, we are all aware the recent missile test by North Korea and its possession of material for making nuclear weapon. Would it justify to wage war against North Korea? Certainly not, or why the United States has not waged war against North Korea? In respect of Iraqs link with terrorists, there was no evidence that Iraqi government had any link or connection with al Qaeda (or were involved with the attacks of September 11). If the Bush administration had such evidence, it would be a just course as the invasion is an act of self-defense. Postwar finding  [2]  also indicated that CIA assessed that Iraq and al Qaeda resembled two independent actors trying to exploit each other. It also indicated that Saddam Hussein was distrustful of al Qaeda and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime, refusing all request from al Qaeda to provide material and operational support. 2. Right Authority The US Congress passed the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq on 11 October 2002. This resolution provided the Bush Administration with the legal basis for the invasion to Iraq. Besides, UN Security Resolution 678 and 687 authorized the United States to use force in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. As such, US action was carried out with right and legal authority. 3. Right Intention As pointed out in Bushs speech, the intention of invasion is to protect American and other people from weapon of mass destruction possessed by Iraq and the its support to terrorists. In respect of the intention to protect people from terrorists, as I earlier reported, there was no creditable evidence that Suddam Hussein had supported the terrorist like al Qaeda. Being the chief of command, Bush should have known that the allegation of connection with terrorist was nothing more than an excuse. Scholar (Murray and Scales, 2003) argued that after the September 11 attack, the destruction of dictator Saddams government by a swift and forceful military action could establish the authority of the United States and the determination to fight against terrorism. As such, the invasion did not meet the criterion of right intention from this perspective. Regarding weapon of mass destruction, since UN Inspector stated that after the inspection in late 2003 the Iraq government had failed to prove that all weapon of mass destruction were destroyed. The right intention of protecting people from such weapon was justified. However, a number of scholars opined that the true intention of USs military act was to acquire Iraqs oil supply and to protect the oil in the Middle East. In the end, right intention is a subjective measure that depends on what was Bush thinking at the time of the invasion. Based on the circumstance, it seems that the right intention was justified as an independent UN inspection team (though may be hight influenced by US) had doubted whether Iraq had destroyed all weapon of mass destruction. 4. Last Resort Coates (1997) stated that the criterion of last resort underlines the primacy of peace over war in just war thinking. Recognition of the potential moral instrumentality of war is not to be confused with moral enthusiasm for war. .moral considerations go hand in hand with political and military ones, and the moral judgment needs to be informed by a certain realism. Deciding when diplomatic and other non-bellicose means of securing peace have been effectively exhausted, or deciding when a conciliatory approach has become counterproductive, is largely a matter of political and military judgment. Coates rightly pointed out that the idea of last resort is subjective and could be influenced by political and military judgment. Walzer (2004) emphasized the important of last resort as because of the unpredictable, unexpected, unintended and unavoidable horrors that it regularly brings. As for the notion of lastness, it is essentially cautionary, he stated: look hard for alternatives before you let loose the dogs of war. The issue we need to discuss is whether the Bush administration had exhausted all non-violence means to achieve peace before the invasion to Iraq. However, I personally think that there would not any last resort in the reality. From anti-war believer, we would never meet the criterion of last resort. As such, we have to act at some point as far as all reasonable diplomatic and non-violence means have been done. As a matter of fact, when it comes to war, anti-war believer would always say that even at the last minute, there still are alternatives (which is always the best argument against waging war). The alternatives could be economic sanctions, UN inspection, pressure from neighbor and diplomatic meeting. However, Saddam could also use such non-violence alternative to buy time, so that he could have more time to build or hide the weapon of mass destruction. One of the reason as to why the UN inspector could not find any weapon of mass destruction may be because Saddem had bought enough time from previous noncooperation with UN inspection. Since Bush administration and UN had exercised diplomatic means to warn Saddem that war would be unavoidable if he chooses not to cooperate with the United States or UN, it is justified for Bush administration to say that he had exhausted the last resort. 5. Prospects of success In general, the US-led coalition outnumbered the Iraqi army. The military technology of the US led coalition was more advance than that of Iraqi army. Bush administration knew that there was high probability of success. The invasion phase of the war, ie, from 19 March to 20 April, proved that the criterion of prospects of success was meet. The problem is whether the US invasion was likely to generate condition of lasting peace by removing the dictatorship. However, after the invasion phase, despite the Iraqi army was quickly overwhelmed, some religious radicals and Iraqis angered by the occupation have begun isolate attack against the US led coalition. This contributes one of the main reasons for US military death in Iraq after the invasion phase. Besides, US and UK government was not able to restore basic services to the Iraqi people, and the decaying infrastructure due to a decade of sanction, bombing, corruption had left major cities barely functioning. Local people claimed that their living standard was actually worse than that in Saddam regime which had contributed to local anger at the transitional Iraqi government. Even three years after the invasion, on 14 August 2007 800 civilians were killed by a series suicide bomb attacks in Iraq. More than 100 homes an shops were destroyed during this series of attacks. Isolated attacks have taken place from time to time killing US army. Besides, the invasion also creates anger by Iraqi people against United States. On 14 December 2008, at a press conference by George W. Bush in Iraq, a reporter threw his shoes to Bush screamed This is for the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq. It seems that the military act was a success during the invasion phase, peace is still very remote for Iraqi people. The worst is that the invasion also creates tension between civilian of Iraq and the United States which would not be easily solved in short period of time (taking Chinese against Japanese government for the war crime they did during WWII as an example). 6. Proportionality Being a just war, it must be proportionate. The use of force must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. We all are concerned that invasion of Iraq could have unpredictable consequences not only for Iraq but for peace and stability elsewhere in the Middle East. Wells (1996) stated that if the price of the projected war is too great in total dislocation, suffering, and death, including all human, economic, and cultural costs, in comparison to the good likely to come of it, again, considering all the likely gains, then the war is disproportionate. During the invasion phase from 19 March to 30 April 2003, 9,200 Iraqi combatants were killed along with 7,299 civilians, primarily by US air and ground forces. Coalition forces reported the death in combat of 139 US military personnel and 33 UK military personnel. The casualty rate of Iraqi is almost ten times higher than that of the coalition force. From casualty perspective, we could say that it was a disproportional war. Besides, war would definitely destroy the infrastructure of Iraq and affect the living standard given the fact that they had already lived at the edge of survival after a decade of destructive sanctions. The international communities and the countries in the Middle East were not ready to handle the problem of refugee from the Iraq. What about the good achieved by the war. The most obvious one would be the discovery or destroy of weapon of mass destruction. Since the western countries generally believed that Saddam had possessed a number of weapon of mass destruction and was intended to use. The military action protected the live of American and people of other nations. Besides, Saddam was known to be brutal dictator who killed his own people including children and women. Removing Saddam might facilitate the development of democracy and protect the right and live of Iraqi civilians. It is important to compare the benefit and detriments caused by the war. Given that the Bushs speech on 18 March 2003 did warn that it is not too late for the Iraqi military to act with honor and protect your country by permitting the peaceful entry of coalition forces to eliminate weapons of mass destruction. Our force will give Iraqi military units clear instructions on actions they can take to avoid being attacked and destroyed. I urge every member of the Iraqi military and intelligence services, if war comes, do not fight for a dying regime that is not worth your own life. Besides, in the same speech, Bush also promised that as our coalition takes away their (Saddam) power, we will deliver food and medicine you need., we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free. In a free Iraq, there will no mar wars of aggression against your neighbors,no more execution of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms. In view of all the circumstance, it is reasonable to say that the invasion met the criterion of proportionality. Based on the above analysis, the invasion of Iraq fulfills all criteria of Jus ad bellum except the criterion of just cause. The reason the invasion of Iraq failing to meet the requirement of just cause is because there is no weapon of mass destruction found in Iraq and Iraq had no connection with Terrorists. However, if the Bush administration, based on the intelligence provided by CIA prior to the invasion, truly believed that Iraq had weapon of mass destruction (and was intended to use it) and there was evidence to suggest Iraq had aided al Qaeda, then it would be reasonable to say the invasion fulfills the criterion of just cause. JUST WAR THEORY VS US INVASION (Just in bello) 1. Noncombatant Immunity Coates (1997) states that the moral reasoning associated with the principle of civilian or, more exactly, noncombatant immunity is one of the most strongly contested areas of just war theory. Since moral guilt or innocent can be established only by reference to the intentions, state of mind and subjective disposition of an individual, the distinction could not be used as a means of discriminating between legitimate and illegitimate targets of attack. This means the criterion of noncombatant immunity is a subjective measure of a persons mind. In a democratic government like the United State, targeting civilian or noncombatant during a war would be a crime. I would quite confidence to say that the US-led coalition force did not violate the criterion of noncombatant immunity. But there is always collateral damage. People estimated the number of civilian causality since 2003 ranged from 91,676 to 100,083  [3]  . The large number of civilian causality or collateral damage gave a worrying reality that noncombatant immunity is very difficult to uphold in a war. Those Iraq civilian killed may be because the coalition army truly believed that their live were in danger and is was an act of self-defense. Besides, there were the human right abuses during the war and in particular at Abu Ghraib prison. Captured Iraqi army was tortured by US army in order to have intelligence. Those Iraqi soldiers were prisoners and could no longer cause any harm to the US, and strictly speaking, they were noncombatant. I consider such act by US is a violation to noncombatant immunity. Nonetheless, those violations to noncombatant immunity are isolated cases during the entire war. From the proceeding currently undertaking against US soldiers committing war crime, it shows that the US government is determined to uphold the requirement of noncombatant immunity. In respect of proportionality and right intention, their arguments are basically the same as the cases in jus ad bellum, and I would not repeat here. CONCLUSION The US led coalitions invasion of Iraq met all the requirement of the just war theory except the just cause. The Just Cause Theory is a subjective theory. Whether a war is just depends on the state of mind of the person who wages war, and we could only assess the circumstantial evidence. I guess that we would never know whether the Bush administration knowingly accept the false intelligence that Iraq had weapon of mass destruction and connection with terrorists or the Bush administration simply misled by incredible intelligence from CIA or other government agencies. It would a just war from Bushs perspective, if he was deceived by incredible intelligence. It is very difficult to assess whether a war is just, particularly for those war waged by powerful nations who could exert influence to its alliances or even the United Nation. I therefore suggest that an independent organization should be create who could have access to documents relating to the decision to wage war. This organization should also have judiciary power to conduct proceeding to decide whether a war is just. It can publish country for waging a unjust war and any wrongdoing during a war. Without an independent organization, nations will continue to wage war using the subjective side of the Just War Theory to justify their action. ******

The Olive Branch :: essays research papers

The Olive Branch   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å" Like dragonflies their [dead bodies] have filled the river. Like a raft they have moved to the edge [of the boat]. Like a raft they have moved to a river bank † (flood-myth.com, 3/15/00).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether the above is fact, fiction, myth, or legend it appears that all civilizations have a strong fascination with The Deluge. Bible believers feel that it was an act of God, who intern wanted to cleanse the earth of immoral people and evildoers. Chosen survivors, for example Noah, as well as present day Christians believe that the Flood was a marking point for a new covenant between God and themselves. However, the myths that have accumulated from each culture provide great colorful characters and death defying heros against the angst of the gods.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Often times the bible is compared to the â€Å"Gilgamesh Epic†, which is the oldest fictional novel known to man. The Babylonian epic tells a similar story of the flood. The gods within the story are very angered by humankind’s behavior. So they decided to punish them a flood. Ea, a Babylonian God, disagrees with extremely harsh treatment. He then instructs Utnapishtim to flee with his family and all the animals on a boat. This basic myth emerges from the â€Å"Gilgamesh Epic† but neighboring civilization, such as Sumeria, retell the same with different protagonist gods.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Traveling east into China the flood legend seems to take on a new meaning. The myth is recorded around 1000 b.c. by the Chou Dynasty. â€Å"The main difference between the Chinese flood myth and that of Western cultures seems to be the emphasis on why there was a flood. In the Western Myths the floods are brought about because of the anger of the gods, or at a whim of the gods, while in the Chinese myth the emphasis is on a very practical matter, the channeling of unruly waters in such a way to make the cultivation of land possible.†( cybercomm.com ,15 March) In other words, the purpose of the flood was to create better farm land. There was no sense of divine intervention.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Continuing east, the story picks up in the Mayan ruins. The â€Å"Popol-Vuh† , the Mayans sacred book, relates the tale of the destruction from flood. They felt that the purpose of the flood was to remedy the faulty creation of man, not to punish to mankind. The Feathered Serpent, who is the Mayan creator, first created man from mud, but they were without sight or substance.