On this tracing board for the degree of “Chevalier de l’Orient” from the Kloss/von Löwen collection you see a river filled with bones and skulls.
The Masonic museum of Riga (Latvia) holds a French symbol chart which has some similarities to the one above. Here the river of sorrow is at the bottom. The left part says “star”, and the right part “bvsanaï”. More about that below. Because the gate at the bottom says “Babilone” like the example above, the river of sorrow and the arms with swords, there is a suggestion that these two French charts refer to the same or at least similar degrees.
Nowadays in the 15th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (“Knight of the Orient and Sword”, the name varies), you see a river with a bridge. On a French tracing board, however, the river contains skulls and bones like in the old examples.
As you may have guessed, the story here is that of the flee after the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. Apparently they were allowed to cross the bridge, because the letters L.D.P. that can sometimes be seen, mean “liberté de passage”, ‘freedom of passage’. Sometimes there are different letters on the bridge, such as “Y.H.” which would stand for Yaveron-Ha-mayim with the same meaning. Then they refer to the password of the degree, the word with which the Jews were allowed to cross the bridge and leave Babylon. The river is sometimes called “Euphrate”, sometimes “Starburzanai”, and there we have the explanation of a detail in the image below.
“Starbuzanai” according to the “Chevalier de l’Orient our l’Epée degree in the Baylot manuscript was the leader of the opponents who wanted to prevent the rebuilding of the Temple.
The story of the return from Babylon appears in some variations in other (historical) degrees as well.
Also see Bridge with Letters.
Top: collection (1844) of Georg Kloss (1787-1854) (Collection de 84 tableaux, Kl.MS:XXV.1)
Bottom: image in the collection of the Museum of Freemasonry, Riga.