Babylon and Nineveh appear to have resembled each other, not only in form but in extent and population. Quintus Curtius asserts, that Babylon owed its origin to Semiramis. In the Bible, however, it having been stated, that one of the chief cities of Nimrod was Babel; many authors have given into the idea, that Babylon was built by Nimrod. If we attend strictly to the words of Moses, however, we shall find that to have been an impossible circumstance.

Moses states, that Nimrod had four large cities[88]. Those were Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneth. Nimrod was a descendant of Ham; but the temple of Babel, on the establishment of which depends the origin of Babylon, was built by the descendants of Shem:—at least, we have the right to believe so; for Moses mentions the descendants of Shem last, and then goes on to say:—"The whole earth was of one language and of one speech: and it came to pass, as they journeyed from the East, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there."

When they had dwelt there some time, they said to one another, "Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar." This was the first of the subsequent town. They had not yet aspired to any particular distinction. At length they said to themselves, "Let us build a city and a tower; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." They were interrupted in their design, and "they left off building the city." There is, however, no account of its having been destroyed; nor any in regard to the destruction of the temple. The people, however, were scattered[89].

This city was, subsequently, called Babel; and the temple of Belus being the oldest temple recorded in history, it has been generally supposed, that it was no other than the tower, the family of Shem had endeavoured to build. This, however, is far from being certain; for Josephus, who, in this case is not without his weight, relates that the tower was thrown down by an impetuous wind or violent hurricane; and that it never was rebuilt.

The fact is, that the real origin of Babylon is lost in the depth of history; and all that can be stated, with any degree of certainty, is, that Nineveh and Babylon were founded much about the same time, and that Ninus, Semiramis, Ninyas, and Sardanapalus were sovereigns, though not during their whole lives, of both cities. This appears to us to be the only way in which we can understand the history of the first Assyrian empire.

We have no space to enter into the particular history of this most celebrated of all cities; neither does the plan of our work admit of it: our province only being to record its origin, to describe its ancient state, to give an account of its destruction, and then describe, from the pages of authentic travellers, the ruins which still remain.

Having given some account of its origin, we proceed to describe the height to which it was exalted. "The Assyrians," says Herodotus, "are masters of many capital towns; but their place of greatest strength and fame is Babylon[90]; where, after the destruction of Nineveh, was the royal residence. It is situated on a large plain, and is a perfect square; each side, by every approach is, in length, one hundred and twenty furlongs; the space, therefore, occupied by the whole, is four hundred and eighty furlongs: so extensive is the ground which Babylon occupies. Its internal beauty and magnificence exceeds whatever has come within my knowledge. It is surrounded by a trench, very wide, deep, and full of water; the wall beyond this is two hundred royal cubits high[91], and fifty wide; the royal exceeds the common cubit by three digits[92]." "It will not be foreign to my purpose," continues the historian, "to describe the use to which the earth dug out of the trench was converted, as well as the particular manner in which they constructed the wall. The earth of the trench was first of all laid in heaps, and when a sufficient quantity was obtained, made into square bricks, and baked in a furnace. They used, as cement, a composition of heated bitumen, which, mixed with the tops of reeds, was placed between every thirtieth course of bricks. Having thus lined the sides of the trench, they proceeded to build the wall in a similar manner; on the summit of which, and fronting each other, they erected small watchtowers of one story, leaving a space betwixt them, through which a chariot and four horses might pass and turn. In the circumference of the wall, at different distances, were a hundred massy gates of brass[93], whose hinges and frames were of the same metal. Within eight days' journey from Babylon is a city called Is, near which flows a river of the same name, which empties itself into the Euphrates. With the current of this river, particles of bitumen descend towards Babylon, by means of which its walls are constructed. The great river Euphrates, which, with its deep and rapid streams, rises in the Armenian mountains, and pours itself into the Red Sea[94], divides Babylon into two parts. The walls meet and form an angle at the river at each extremity of the town, where a breast-work of burnt bricks begins, and is continued along each bank. The city, which abounds in houses from three to four stories in height, is regularly divided into streets. Through these, which are parallel, there are transverse avenues to the river opened through the wall and breast-work, and secured by an equal number of little gates of brass."

The historian then proceeds to describe the fortifications and the temple of Belus. "The first wall is regularly fortified; the interior one, though less in substance, is of about equal strength. Besides these, in the centre of each division of the city, there is a circular space surrounded by a wall. In one of these stands the royal palace, which fills a large and strongly-defended place. The temple of Jupiter Belus[95] occupies the other, whose huge gates of brass may still be seen. It is a square building, each side of which is of the length of two furlongs. In the midst, a tower rises of the solid depth and height of one furlong, upon which, resting as a base, seven other turrets are built in regular succession. The ascent is on the outside; which, winding from the ground, is continued to the highest tower; and in the middle of the whole structure there is a convenient resting-place. In the last tower is a large chapel, in which is placed a couch magnificently adorned, and near it a table of solid gold; but there is no statue in the place." Herodotus, however, states, that in another part of the temple there was a statue of Jupiter, in a sitting posture, with a large table before him; and that these, with the base of the table and the seat of the throne, were all of the purest gold, and were estimated in his time, by the Chaldeans, at not less than eight hundred talents.

We may here give place to a passage in a modern poem, highly descriptive of its ancient state.

Those walls, within
Whose large inclosure the rude hind, or guides
His plough, or binds his sheaves, while shepherds guard
Their flocks, scure of ill: on the broad top
Six chariots rattled in extended front.
For there, since Cyrus on the neighbouring plain,
Has marked his camp, th' enclosed Assyrian drives
His foaming steeds, and from the giddy height
Looks down with scorn on all the tents below.
Each side in length, in height, in solid bulk,
Reflects its opposite; a perfect square;
Scarce sixty thousand paces can mete out
The vast circumference. An hundred gates
Of polished brass lead to that central point,
Where through the midst, bridged o'er with wondrous art,
Euphrates leads a navigable stream,
Branch'd from the current of his roaring flood.
Dr. Roberts, Judah Restored.

Thus we find the walls to have extended to a vast circumference—from forty-eight to sixty miles; but we are not to suppose them to have been entirely filled up with houses;[96] but, as in the old city of Moscow, to have been in no small part taken up with gardens and other cultivated lands.

In regard to the size of some ancient Eastern cities, Mr. Franklin has made some very pertinent remarks, in his inquiry concerning the site of the ancient Palibothra:—"For the extent of the city and suburbs of Palibothra, from seventy-five to eighty miles have been assigned by the Puranas; a distance, said to be impossible for the space occupied by a single city. So, indeed, it might, were we to compare the cities of Asia with those of Europe. The idea of lofty houses of brick and stone, consisting of many stories, with a number of inhabitants, like those of London, Paris, Vienna, and many others, must not be compared with the nature of the Asiatic cities. To look in them for regularly-built squares, and spacious and paved streets, would be absurd."

Herodotus gives the extent of the walls of Babylon at one hundred and twenty stades on each side, or four hundred and eighty stades in circumference. Diodorus three hundred and sixty stades in circumference. Clitarchus, who accompanied Alexander, three hundred and sixty-five. Curtius states it at three hundred and sixty-eight; and Strabo at three hundred and eighty-five stades. The general approximation of these measurements would lead us to suppose that the same stade was used by the different reporters; and if this was the Greek itinerary stade, we may estimate the circumference of the great city at twenty-five British miles[97]. "The lines, drawn on maps, are often only used to divide distant mounds of ruin. Accumulations of pottery and brickwork are met with occasionally over a great tract; but the connection, supposed between these and the corn-fields and gardens, within the common precincts of a wall, is gratuitous in the extreme. Imagine London and Paris to be levelled, and the inhabitant of some future city to visit their ruins, as those of then remote antiquity; if, in the one instance, SÈvres, Mont Rouge, and Vincennes, or, in the other, Greenwich, Stratford-le-Bow, Tottenham, Highgate, Hammersmith, Richmond, and Clapham, be taken in as boundaries, or identified respectively as the ruins of Paris and London, what a prodigious extent would those cities gain in the eyes of futurity[98]!"

Babylon, as we have already stated, stood upon the Euphrates, as Nineveh did upon the Tigris. A branch of it ran entirely through the city from north to south; and on each side was a quay, walled towards the river, of the same thickness as the city walls. In these, also, were gates of brass, from which persons descended to the water by steps; whence, for a long time, they crossed to the other side in boats; that is, until the building of a bridge. These gates were open always in the day, but shut at night. A bridge was at length erected; and this bridge was equally celebrated with the other great buildings; for it was of vast size; but Diodorus would seem to make it to have been much larger than it really was. He says it was five furlongs in length. Now as the Euphrates, at the spot, was only one furlong wide, this would be impossible; so we suppose that there must have been a causeway on each side of the bridge; and that Diodorus included the two causeways, which were, probably, merely dry arches, as we find in a multitude of modern bridges. It was, nevertheless, thirty feet in breadth, and built with great skill. The arches were of hewn stone, fastened together with chains of iron and melted lead. To effect the building with the greater care and safety, they turned the course of the river[99], and laid the channel dry. While one part of the workmen were doing this, others were shaping the materials for the quays, so that all were finished at the same time.

During a certain portion of the year (viz., June, July, and August) the Euphrates overflows its banks, as the Nile does in Egypt, the Ganges in India, and the Amazon in South America. To remedy the manifold inconveniences arising from this, two large canals were cut to divert the superabundant waters into the Tigris, before they could reach Babylon[100]; and to secure the neighbouring country still the better, they raised artificial banks,—as the Dutch have done in Holland,—of a vast size, on both sides the river; not built, however, of earth, as in Holland, but of brick cemented with bitumen, which began at the head of the canals, and extended for some distance below the city. To effect all this, the Euphrates, which had been turned one way, in order to build the bridge, was turned another to build the banks. To this end they dug a vast lake, forty miles square, and one hundred and sixty in compass, and thirty-five feet deep. Into this lake the river was diverted, till the banks were finished; after which it was re-diverted into the former channel. The lake was, however, still preserved as a reservoir[101].

Perhaps some of our readers may be curious to know how long it would take to fill this lake up. It is thus stated in the Edinburgh Review[102]:—"Taking it at the lowest dimensions of a square of forty miles, by thirty feet deep; and supposing the Euphrates to be five hundred feet wide, ten deep, and to flow at the rate of two miles an hour, it would require one thousand and fifty-six days to fill the lake, allowing no absorption to the sides; but if absorption and evaporation are taken into the account, we may put the time at four years, or thereabouts; which, no doubt, would be sufficient, considering the number of hands employed, to complete the embankment[103]."

This lake, the bridge, and the quays of the river are ascribed to Nitocris, by Herodotus; but most of the other wonders of Babylon are ascribed by Josephus to Nebuchadnezzar, her father-in-law. "Perhaps," says one of the historians, "Nitocris might only finish what her father had left imperfect at his death, on which account the historian might give her the honour of the whole undertaking."

We are now called upon to describe other wonders. These are the palaces and hanging gardens. At each end of the bridge stood a palace; and those two palaces had a communication each with the other by means of a passage under the bed of the river, vaulted at the time in which it was laid dry[104]. The old palace, which stood on the east side of the river, was three miles and three quarters in compass. It stood near the temple of Belus. The new palace stood on the west side. It was much larger than the old one; being seven miles and a half in compass[105]. It was surrounded with three walls, one within the other, with considerable spaces between; and these, with those at the other palace, were embellished with an infinite variety of sculptures, representing all kinds of animals to the life; amongst which was one more celebrated than all the rest. This was a hunting piece, representing Semiramis on horseback throwing a javelin; and Ninus, her husband, piercing a lion.

Near the old palace stood a vast structure, known from all antiquity, and celebrated in every age as the most wonderful structure ever yet built; viz., the temple of Belus. We have given some account of it from Herodotus already. A tower of vast size stood in the middle of it. At its foundation it was a square of a furlong on each side; that is, half a mile in its whole compass, and the eighth part of a mile in height. It consisted of eight towers, built one above another, gradually decreasing in size to the top. Its height exceeded that of the largest of the pyramids[106]. It was built of bricks and bitumen. The ascent to the top was on the outside, by means of stairs, winding, in a spiral line, eight times round the tower from the bottom to the top. There were many large rooms in the different stories, with arched roofs, supported by pillars. On the top was an observatory, the Babylonians having been more celebrated than any other people of ancient times for their knowledge of astronomy[107].

Notwithstanding the opinions of many, that this tower was built expressly for astronomical purposes, it appears certain that it was used as a temple also; for the riches of it were immense; consisting of statues, tables, censers, cups, and other sacred vessels, all of massy gold. Among these was a statue, weighing a thousand talents of Babylon, forty feet high. Indeed, so rich was this temple, that Diodorus does not hesitate to value all it contained at not less than six thousand three hundred Babylonian talents of gold; which implies a sum equivalent to twenty-one millions of pounds sterling! Surely some error must have crept into the MS.

This temple stood till the time of Xerxes. On the return of that prince from Greece he plundered it; and then caused it to be entirely demolished. When Alexander returned from India, he formed the design of rebuilding it upon the ancient plan; and probably, had he lived, he would have accomplished his wish. Ten thousand men were put to work to clear away the rubbish; but he died in the midst of his preparation.

Many of the chief erections in this city were planned and executed by Semiramis. When she had finished them, she made a progress through the various divisions of her empire; and wherever she went left monuments of her magnificence, by many noble structures, which she erected, either for the convenience or the ornament of her cities[108]. She was the best political economist of ancient times, and may truly be styled the first utilitarian: for she applied herself to the formation of causeways, the improvement of roads, the cutting through mountains, and the filling up valleys. She applied herself, also, most particularly, to the forming of aqueducts, in order that water might be conveyed to such places as wanted it: in hot climates desiderata of the first importance.

Valerius Maximus[109] records a circumstance of her, which paints the influence she possessed over her people in a very striking manner. One day, as she was dressing herself, word was brought that a tumult was raging in the city. Without waiting to dress herself, she hurried from her palace with her head half dressed, and did not return till the disturbance was entirely appeased[110].

We now pass on to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, because the accomplishment of that dream is connected with the splendid state of Babylon in the time of its glory. This dream was, that[111] "he saw a tree in the midst of the earth, whose height was great: the tree grew, and was strong, and the height of it reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of the earth. The leaves were fair, and the fruit much; and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw the visions of my head on the bed, and, behold, a watcher, and an holy one, came down from heaven; he cried aloud, and said thus:—'Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given to him. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand of the word of the holy ones, to the intent that the living may know, that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.'"

This dream was expounded by Daniel. "Let the dream be to them, O king, that hate thee; and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies." The prophet then declared, "that the king should be driven from the company of men for seven years; should be reduced to the fellowship of the beasts of the field, and feed upon grass like oxen; that his kingdom should, nevertheless, be preserved for him, and he should repossess his throne, when he should have learnt to know and acknowledge, that all power is from above, and cometh from heaven."

At the end of twelve months, as Nebuchadnezzar was walking in his palace, and admiring the beauty and magnificence of his buildings, he became so elated at the sight of the structures he had erected, that he exclaimed—"Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" In an instant, a voice came from heaven declaratory of his fate, and his understanding was taken from him. He was driven from men, and did eat grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.

At the expiration of seven years he recovered his intellectual powers. He was restored to his throne, and became more powerful than he had been before. At this period he is supposed to have built the hanging gardens, which have been so celebrated in every age. Amytis, his wife, having been bred in Media,—for she was the daughter of Astyages, king of that country,—had been much taken with the mountains and woody parts of her native country, and therefore desired to have something like it at Babylon. To gratify this passion, the king, her husband, raised the hanging gardens. Diodorus, however, ascribes them to Cyrus; and states that he built them to gratify a courtezan.

They are thus described by Quintus Curtius:—"Near the castle are those wonders, which are so often celebrated by the Greek poets; gardens elevated in the air, consisting of entire groves of trees, growing as high as the tops of the towers, marvellously beautiful and pleasant from their height and shade. The whole weight of them is sustained and borne up by huge pillars, upon which there is a floor of square stone, that both upholdeth the earth, that lies deep on the pillar, and also the cisterns with which it is watered. The trees that grow upon this are many of them eight cubits in circumference, and every thing is as fruitful as if they grew on the natural ground; and, although process of time destroys things made by mortal hands, and also even the works of nature, yet this terrace, although oppressed with the weight of so much earth, and so great a multitude of trees, still remains unperished, being held up by seventy broad walls, distant from each other about eleven feet. When these trees (concludes Curtius), are seen afar off, they seem to be a wood growing upon a mountain." This may well be, since they comprised a square of about four hundred feet on every side, and were carried up into the air in the manner of several large terraces, one above another, till the highest equalled the height of the walls of the city. The floors were laid out thus[112]:—On the top of the arches were first laid large flat stones, sixteen feet long, and four feet broad; and over them a layer of reed, mixed with a great quantity of bitumen; over which were two rows of bricks, closely cemented by plaister; and then, over all, were laid thick sheets of lead; and, lastly, upon the lead a vast quantity of mould. The mould was of sufficient depth to let grow very large trees, and such were planted in it, together with other trees, and every description of plant and flower, that was esteemed proper for shrubberies and flower-gardens. To improve all this, there was, on the highest of the terraces, a water-engine, to draw the water out of the river below, wherewith to water the whole garden[113].

Besides all this, there were magazines for corn and provision, capable of maintaining the inhabitants for twenty years; and arsenals, which supplied with arms such a number of fighting men, as seemed equal to the conquest or defence of the whole monarchy.

If Babylon was indebted to Nebuchadnezzar for many great buildings, it was still more so to his daughter Nitocris. She erected a great multitude; and amongst the rest, one of the gates. On this gate she caused to be inscribed a command to her successors, that, when she should be buried under it, none of them should open the tomb to touch the treasure which laid there, unless impelled by some great and overwhelming necessity. Many years passed away, and no one opened it. At length Darius came to the city. Reading the inscription, he caused the tomb to be opened; but alas! instead of finding the vast treasures he had expected, he beheld only this inscription:—"If thou hadst not an insatiable thirst for money, and a most sordid avaricious soul, thou wouldst never have broken open the monuments of the dead."

Astyages, king of the Medes, was succeeded by Cyaxares, uncle to Cyrus. Cyaxares, learning that the king of Babylon had made great preparations against him, sent for Cyrus, son of Cambyses, king of Persia, and placed him at the head of his army. Before marching, Cyrus addressed those officers who had followed him from Persia, in the following manner. "Do you know the nature of the enemy you have to deal with? They are soft, effeminate, enervated men, already half conquered by their own luxury and voluptuousness; men not able to bear either hunger or thirst; equally incapable of supporting either the toil of war, or the sight of danger: whereas you, that are inured, from your infancy, to a sober and hard way of living; to you, I say, hunger and thirst are but as sauce, and the only sauce, to your meals; fatigues are your pleasure; dangers are your delight; and the love of your country, and of glory, your only passion. Besides, the justice of our cause is another considerable advantage. They are the aggressors. It is the enemy that attacks us; and it is our friends and allies that require our aid. Can any thing be more just than to repel the injury they would bring upon us? Is there any thing more honourable, than to fly to the assistance of our friends? But what ought to be the principal motive of your confidence is, that I do not engage in this expedition without having first consulted the gods, and implored their protection; for you know it is my custom to begin all my actions, and all my undertakings, in that manner."

Cyrus, after several battles, laid siege to Babylon. It was in the days of Belshazzar. That prince was absorbed in luxury and sloth. A great festival was to be held within the palace, and Cyrus heard of it. He prepared himself, therefore, and all his army. The court, in the meantime, was rife in every species of dance, feast, and revelry. In the pride of his heart, Belshazzar ordered all the gold and silver vessels, which had been taken from the temple of Jerusalem, to be brought to the banqueting-room; and he and his officers, and his wives and his concubines, drank out of them. No sooner was this done, than the fingers of a man's hand came out from the wall, and wrote over the candlestick upon the plaster.

The king saw the hand; and when he saw it "his countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another."

He summoned the magi, and made proclamation. "Whoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." Daniel, the prophet, interpreted this writing. "This is the writing that was written: Mene Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. This is the interpretation of the thing. Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel; thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting. Peres; thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians[114]."

Notwithstanding this interpretation, Belshazzar continued the feast, and to grace it the more, performed his promise. He commanded, and "they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler of the kingdom."

In the meantime, Cyrus, well aware of the riot and luxury prevailing in the king's palace, entered the city by the river, the waters of which he had managed to be drawn dry, by means of the sluices. He and his army entered through the gates of brass, which opened on the quays. This they did in two divisions; then they proceeded through the city; met before the palace; slew the guards; and some of the company having come out to see what was the cause of the noise they heard, the soldiers rushed in and immediately made themselves masters of the palace. The king, however, in this last extremity, acted in a manner more worthy than might have been expected. He put himself at the head of those who were inclined to support him; but he was quickly despatched, and all those that were with him. Thus terminated the Babylonian empire, after a duration of two hundred and ten years, from the beginning of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who was its founder; and the fate of which had been so truly foretold.

"Babylon, the glory of kingdoms," says Isaiah, "and the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited: neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabians pitch their tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there; but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there; and the wild beasts of the island shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces. I will also make it a possession for the bittern and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction." Events answered the prophecy, though not precisely at this time[115].

From this period Babylon belonged to the Persian kings: but having become greatly affronted by the transference of the royal court to Susa, the inhabitants revolted. By this insult, they drew upon themselves the whole force of the Persian empire. The inhabitants had provided themselves with every necessary to support a siege. But lest it might last longer than they anticipated, they put the most barbarous act in practice that ever had then been heard of from the creation of the world. They assembled all their wives and children, and strangled them; no man being allowed to preserve more than one wife and a servant to do the necessary business of his house. The siege lasted eighteen months. Darius himself began to despair.

Some friends having taken the liberty, one day, to propose the question to Darius, who was then holding a pomegranate in his hand:—"What good is there you would wish to multiply as often as that fruit contains seeds?" "Such friends as Zopyrus," answered the king, without hesitation. This answer threw Zopyrus into one of those paroxysms of zeal, which can only be justified by the sentiment that gives them birth.

One morning the king observed one of his courtiers make his appearance before him, bathed in blood, with his ears and nose entirely cut off, and his whole body wounded in many places. When Darius saw this, he started from his throne, advanced to the wounded person, and eagerly inquired of him who had treated him in so terrible a manner? "You, yourself, O king!" answered Zopyrus. "My wish to render you a service has put me in this condition. As I was persuaded that you would never have consented to this method, I have consulted none but the zeal I have for your service." He then told the king that he had formed the plan of going over to the enemy in that condition.

His plan will be explained in the result. He left the camp, and proceeded to the walls of Babylon. When he arrived before the gates, he told the Babylonians who he was. He was immediately admitted and carried before the governor. There he complained of Darius, accusing him of having reduced him to such an unfortunate condition: and that because he had advised him to give up the siege. Saying this, he offered his services to the governor and people of Babylon: stating that his revenge would be a sufficient stimulus and reward for his exertions; and that he would be found fully adequate to cope with the enemy, since he was well acquainted with all the arts, and discipline, and stratagems of the Persians.

When the Babylonians heard all this, and saw the dreadful condition in which Zopyrus was, they gave him the command of as many troops as he desired. With these he made a sally, and cut off more than a thousand of the enemy: Darius having previously concerted with him. In a few days he made another sally, when he cut off double the number. In a third he destroyed not less than four thousand. "Nothing," say the historians, "was now talked of but the condition and success of Zopyrus." This was, indeed, so much the case, that he was at length appointed commander-in-chief. The whole matter, as we have stated before, was a stratagem between Zopyrus and Darius. Now, then, as Zopyrus had become master of the forces, he sent intelligence to the king. The king approached with his army. Zopyrus opened the gates, and the city was delivered into the king's hands.

No sooner did Darius find himself master of the town, than he ordered its hundred gates to be pulled down, and its walls to be partly demolished[116]: but, in order to keep up the population, he caused fifty thousand women to be brought from the several provinces of his empire to supply the place of those the inhabitants had so cruelly destroyed at the beginning of the siege; and for having perpetrated that horrific act, he caused three thousand of the most distinguished of the nobility to be crucified[117].

Babylon remained in the possession of the kings of Persia for several generations[118]. But it soon ceased to be a royal residence, the sovereigns having chosen to reside either at Shusan, Ecbatana, or Persepolis; and, the better to reduce it to ruin, they built Seleucia in its neighbourhood, and caused the chief portion of its inhabitants to remove to Ctesiphon.

The course of our subject now descends to the time, when Darius Codomanus became sovereign of Babylon, in right of being king of Persia. This prince was conquered at the Granicus by Alexander. Not long after, he lost another battle; viz. that of Arbela: after which the conqueror made what is called his "triumphant entry" into Babylon. He entered, we are told, at the head of his army, as if he had been marching to a battle. "The walls," says the historian, "were lined with people, notwithstanding the greatest part of the citizens were gone out before, from the impatient desire they had to see their new sovereign, whose renown had far outstripped his march. The governor and guardian of the treasure strewed the street with flowers, and raised on both sides of the way silver altars, which smoked not only with frankincense, but the most fragrant perfumes of every kind. Last of all, came the presents, which were made to the king; viz. herds of cattle and a great number of horses; also lions and panthers, which were carried in cages. After these the magi walked, singing hymns after the manner of their country; then the ChaldÆans, accompanied by the Babylonian soothsayers and musicians. It was customary for the latter to sing the praises of their king to their instruments; and the ChaldÆans to observe the motion of the planets and the vicissitudes of seasons." "The rear," continues the author, from whom we quote, "was brought up by the Babylonish cavalry, which, both men and horsemen, were so sumptuous, that imagination can scarce reach their magnificence." The king caused the people to walk after his infantry, and, himself surrounded by his guards, and seated on a chariot, entered the city, and from thence rode to the palace. On the next day he took a survey of all Darius' money and movables. These, however, he did not keep to himself. He distributed a large portion of it to his troops: giving to each Macedonian horseman fifteen pounds; to each mercenary horseman about five pounds; to every Macedonian foot-soldier five pounds; and to every one of the rest two months of their ordinary pay. Nor did he stop there. He gave orders, that all the temples which had been thrown down by the order of Xerxes should be rebuilt; most especially that of Belus.

On his second visit to this city, he was met some miles from the town by a deputation of old men, who told him that the stars had indicated that, if he ventured into the city, some signal misfortune would befal him. At first the king was greatly alarmed and perplexed. But having consulted some Greek philosophers who chanced to be in his army, they threw such contempt on astrology in general, and the Babylonish astrologers in particular, that he resolved to continue his march, and the same day entered the city with all his army.

Soon after this, designing to raise a monument to his friend HephÆstion, he caused nearly six furlongs of the city wall to be beat down; and having got together a vast number of skilful workmen, he built a very magnificent monumental structure over the part he had caused to be levelled.

That the reader may have a distinct idea of the grandeur of this structure, it is necessary to admit a full account of it. It is thus given in Rollin's "History of Alexander":—"It was divided into thirty parts, in each of which was raised a uniform building, the roof of which was covered with great planks of palm-tree wood. The whole formed a perfect square, the circumference of which was adorned with extraordinary magnificence. Each side was a furlong, or an hundred fathoms in length. At the foot of it, and in the first row, there was set two hundred and forty-four prows of ships gilded, on the buttresses or supporters whereof the statues of two archers, four cubits high, with one knee on the ground, were fixed; and two other statues, in an upright posture, completely armed, bigger than the life, being five cubits in height. The spaces between the rows were spread and adorned with scarlet cloth. Over these prows was a colonnade of large flambeaux which, ending at top, terminated towards eagles, which, with their heads turned downwards, and extended wings, served as capitals. Dragons fixed near, or upon the base, turned their heads upwards towards the eagles. Over this colonnade stood a third, in the base of which was represented, in relievo, a party of hunting animals of every kind. On the superior order, that is, the fourth, the combat of Centaurs was represented in gold. Finally, on the fifth, golden figures, representing lions and bulls, were placed alternately. The whole edifice terminated with military trophies after the Macedonian and Babylonian fashion, as so many symbols of the victory of the former, and the defeat of the latter. On the entablatures and roofs were represented Syrens, the hollow bodies of which were filled, but in an imperceptible manner, with musicians, who sang mournful airs and dirges in honour of the deceased. This edifice was upwards of one hundred and thirty cubits high; that is, one hundred and ninety-five feet. The beauty and the design of this structure," concludes our author, "the singularity and magnificence of the decorations, and the several ornaments of it, surpassed the most wonderful productions of fancy, and were all in exquisite taste. The designer and architect of the whole, was Stasicrates; he who offered to cut Mount Athos into the shape of a man. The cost of this monument was no less than twelve thousand talents; that is, more than one million eight hundred thousand pounds!"

Alexander resided at Babylon more than a year. During this time he planned a multitude of things; amongst which, we are told that, finding Babylon to surpass in extent, in conveniency, and in whatever can be wished, either for the necessities or pleasures of life, all the other cities of the East, he resolved to make it the seat of his empire[119]. With this view he planned many improvements, and undertook some; and would have, doubtless, accomplished much that he intended, for he was still but a very young man, when death cut him short in the midst of his career—

Leaving a name, at which the world grew pale,
To point a moral, or adorn a tale[120].

And this calls to our recollection the prophecies which had been uttered:—"I will cut off from Babylon the name and remnant." "I will make it a possession for the bittern." "I will sweep it with the besom of destruction." "It shall never be inhabited; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation."

Such was the fate of this city; insomuch that, in process of time it became entirely forsaken, and the Persian kings made a park among its ruins, in which they kept wild beasts for hunting. Instead of citizens, there were boars, leopards, bears, deer, and wild asses. Nothing remained but portions of its walls, a great part even of these at last fell down. They were never repaired, and for many ages, so great was the ruin, that even the remains of it were supposed to have been swept from the face of the earth[121].

A short time after the death of Alexander, Babylon became a theatre for hostility between Demetrius and Seleucus. Seleucus had got possession of the city. When Antigonus learned this, he sent his son, Demetrius, with an army to drive him out of it. Demetrius, according to his father's order, gathered all the force he could command at Damascus, and marched thence to Babylon; where, finding that Seleucus had gone into Media, he entered the city without opposition; but, to his great surprise and mortification, he found it in great part deserted. The cause was this: Seleucus had left the town under the charge of a governor named Patrocles. When Demetrius was within a short distance, this governor retreated out of the walls into the fens, and commanded all persons to fly from the city. This multitudes of them did; some into the deserts, and others beyond the Tigris. Demetrius, finding the town deserted, laid siege to the castles; for there were two, both well garrisoned and of large extent. One of these castles he took; and, having plundered not only the city, but the whole province, of every thing he could lay his bands on, he returned to his father, leaving a garrison. The robbery, however, did not go unpunished; for the Babylonians were so grievously offended at it, that, at the return of Seleucus, they received him with open arms; and thus began the true reign of Seleucus. That prince, however, did not long make Babylon his capital. He built Seleucia on the western bank of the Tigris, forty miles from Babylon, over against the spot where now stands the city of Bagdad. To this new city, Seleucus invited the Babylonians generally to transplant themselves. This they did, and Babylon became, in process of time, so desolate, that Strabo assures us[122] that, in his time, Babylon, "once the greatest city that the sun ever saw," had nothing left but its walls. The area had been ploughed.

In the fourth century St. Jerome notes, that Babylon was become a park for the Parthian and afterwards for the Persian kings to keep their wild beasts for hunting in; the walls being kept up to serve for a fence for the enclosure. No writer for several hundred years has been found to mention this city from this time, till Benjamin of Tudela[123] (in Navarre) visited the spot, and related, on his return, that he had stood where this old city had formerly stood; and that he had found it wholly desolated and destroyed. "Some ruins," said he, "of Nebuchadnezzar's palace remain; but men are afraid to go near them on account of the multitude of serpents and scorpions there are in the place."

It was afterwards visited by the celebrated Portuguese traveller, Texeira, who says, "That there was, in his time, only a few footsteps of this famous city; and that there was no place in all that country less frequented." In 1574 it was visited by a German traveller, Rauwolf. "The village of Elugo," says he, "lieth on the place where formerly old Babylon, the metropolis of Chaldea, did stand. The harbour lieth a quarter of a league off, where-unto those use to go that intend to travel by land to the famous city of Bagdad, which is situated further to the east on the river Tigris, at a day and a half's distance. This country is so dry and barren that it cannot be tilled, and so bare that I should have doubted very much, whether this potent and powerful city (which once was the most stately and famous one of the world, situated in the pleasant and fruitful country of Sinar,) did stand there; if I had not known it by its situation, and several ancient and delicate antiquities, that still are standing hereabout in great desolation[124]. First, by the old bridge, which was laid over the Euphrates, whereof there are some pieces and arches still remaining, built of burned brick, and so strong, that it is admirable. Just before the village of Elugo is the hill whereon the castle did stand, in a plain, whereon you may still see some ruins of the fortification, which is quite demolished and uninhabited. Behind it, and pretty near to it, did stand the tower of Babylon. This we see still, and it is half a league in diameter; but so mightily ruined and low, and so full of venomous reptiles, that have bored holes through it, that one may not come near it within half a mile, but only in two months in the winter, when they come not out of their holes[125]."

The next traveller that visited Babylon appears to have been Della Valle (A.D. 1616). When at Bagdad he was led, by curiosity rather than business, to visit Babylon, which, says he, was well known to the people in that city, as well by its name of Babel, as by the traditions concerning it. "He found," says Rennell, "at no great distance from the eastern bank of the Euphrates, a vast heap of ruins, of so heterogeneous a kind, that, as he expresses it, he could find nothing whereon to fix his judgment as to what it might have been in its original state. He recollected the descriptions of the tower of Belus, in the writings of the ancients, and supposed that this might be the ruins of it." He then proceeds to give measurements; but better accounts have been received since.

The remains of Babylon have been visited in our times by several accomplished travellers, amongst whom may be especially noted Mr. Rich and Sir Robert Ker Porter. The former of these travellers has given the most distinct and circumstantial account; but, before we state what he has afforded us, we afford space for that passage of Sir Robert, in which he describes his first entry into the scene.

"We now came to the north-east shore of the Euphrates, hitherto totally excluded from our view by the intervening long and varied lines of ruin, which now proclaimed to us, on every side, that we were indeed in the midst of what had been Babylon. From the point, on which we stood, to the base of the MujelibÉ, large masses of ancient foundations spread on our right, more resembling natural hills in appearance, than mounds covering the remains of former great and splendid edifices. The whole view was particularly solemn. The majestic stream of the Euphrates wandering in solitude, like a pilgrim monarch through the silent ruins of his devastated kingdom, still appeared a noble river, even under all the disadvantages of its desert-tracked course. Its banks were hoary with reeds, and the grey osier willows were yet there, on which the captives of Israel hung up their harps, and, while 'Jerusalem was not,' refused to be comforted. But how is the rest of the scene changed since then! At that time, these broken hills were palaces; those long, undulating mounds, streets; this vast solitude, filled with the busy subjects of the proud daughter of the East! now, 'wasted with misery,' her habitations are not to be found; and, for herself, 'the worm is spread over her.' The banks of the Euphrates are, nevertheless, still covered with willows, as they were in ancient times[126]."

For the following particulars we are, principally, indebted to Mr. Rich, several years British minister at Bagdad. "The town of Hillah, enclosed within a brick wall, and known to have been built in the twelfth century, stands upon the western banks of the Euphrates (latitude thirty-two degrees, twenty-eight minutes). It is forty-eight miles south of Bagdad. The country, for miles around, is a flat, uncultivated waste; but it is traversed, in different directions, by what appear to be the remains of canals, and by mounds of great magnitude; most of which, upon being excavated, are found to contain bricks, some of which were evidently dried in the sun, others baked by a furnace, and stamped with inscriptions in a character now unknown." "The soil of the plains of ancient Assyria and Babylonia," says Major Keppell, "consists of a fine clay, mixed with sand, with which, as the waters retire, the shores are covered. This compost, when dried with the heat of the sun, becomes a hard and solid mass, and forms the finest materials for the beautiful bricks for which Babylon was celebrated." Hillah is built of such bricks; but there are others of more ancient appearance, which, no doubt, belonged to ancient Babylon; since they are stamped with characters, which have been ascribed to the Chaldeans. Hillah, then, stands upon the site of ancient Babylon: that is, a portion of it.

Though this is certainly the case, there are no ruins at Hillah; the nearest being at a distance of two miles to the north, and upon the eastern side of the river. The first of these remains consists of a vast mound of earth, three thousand three hundred feet long, by two thousand four hundred feet broad, at its base, curved, at the south side, into the form of a quadrant. Its height is sixty feet at the highest part: and the whole appears to have been formed by the decomposition of sun-dried bricks, channelled and furrowed by the weather; and having the surface strewed with pieces of pottery, bricks, and bitumen. This mound is called Amran.

On the north of this mound is another square, of two thousand one hundred feet, having one of its angles,—to the south-west,—connected with the other by a ridge, three hundred feet broad, and of considerable height. The building, of which this is a ruin, seems to have been finished in a very particular manner, for the bricks are of the finest description. "This is the place," says Mr. Rich, "where Beauchamp made his observations, and it is certainly the most interesting part of the ruins of Babylon. Every vestige discoverable in it declares it to have been composed of buildings far superior to all the rest, which have left traces in the eastern quarter: the bricks are of the finest description; and notwithstanding this is the grand storehouse of them, and that the greatest supplies have been, and are now, constantly drawn from it, they appear still to be abundant."

To the north of this ruin is a ravine, hollowed out by brick-searchers, about three hundred feet long, ninety wide, and one hundred and twenty feet deep. At the north end of this ravine an opening leads to a subterranean passage, floored and walled with large bricks, laid in bitumen, and roofed with single slabs of sand-stone, three feet thick, and from eight to twelve long. In this passage was found a colossal piece of sculpture, in black marble. "There I discovered," says Mr. Rich, "what Beauchamp saw imperfectly, and understood from the natives to be an idol[127]. I was told the same thing[128], and that it was discovered by an old Arab in digging, but that, not knowing what to do with it, he covered it up again." On sending for the old man, and he having pointed out the spot, Mr. Rich set a number of men to work, and, after a day's hard labour, they laid open enough of the statue to show that it was a lion of colossal dimensions, standing on a pedestal. Its material was a gray granite, and it was of rude workmanship.

The mound, last described, is called by the natives the palace (El Kasr)[129]. The walls are eight feet thick, ornamented with niches, and strengthened by pilasters and buttresses, all built of fine brick, laid in lime cement of such tenacity, that it cannot be separated without breaking. Hence it is, that so much of it remains perfect. This remarkable ruin is visible from a considerable distance, and is so fresh, that it is only upon minute inspection, that Mr. Rich became satisfied, that it is really a Babylonian remain. Near this are several hollows, in which several persons have lost their lives; so that no one will now venture into them, and their entrances are, therefore, become choked with rubbish.

There are two paths near this ruin, made by the workmen, who carry down their bricks to the river side, whence they are transported to Hillah; and at a short distance to the north-north-east the celebrated tree stands, which is called by the natives AthelÈ, and which they assert to have once flourished in the hanging gardens; and which they as religiously believe God purposely preserved, that it might afford Mahomet a convenient shade, beneath which to tie up his horse, after the battle of Hillah! It is an evergreen, of the lignum-vitÆ species. "Its trunk has been originally enormous; but at last, worn away by time, only part of its original circumference, hollow and shattered, supports the whole of its yet spreading and evergreen branches. They are particularly beautiful, being adorned with long tress-like tendrils, resembling heron-feathers, growing from a central stem. These slender and delicate sprays, bending towards the ground, gave the whole an appearance of a weeping-willow, while their gentle waving in the wind made a low and melancholy sound. This tree is revered as holy by the Arabs, from a tradition among them, that the Almighty preserved it here, from the earliest time, to form a refuge in after ages for the Caliph Ali; who, fainting with fatigue from the battle of Hillah, found a secure repose under its shade. The battle adverted to was fought within so short a period after the death of Mahomet, that, if any credit is to be given to the rest of the tale, the age of the tree must already have extended to a thousand years!"

When Mr. Kinneir visited Hillah the girth of the tree was, two feet from the ground, four feet seven inches. Its height twenty feet.

Nine hundred and fifty yards from the side of the river, and about a mile to the north of what is called the palace, stands the most remarkable ruin of the eastern division. This is called MukallibÈ, a word signifying "overturned." This was visited, in 1616, by Della Valle, who determined it to be the tower of Belus; and this opinion has been adopted, erroneously, by Rennell and other writers. It is of an oblong shape, irregular in its height and the measurement of its sides, which face the cardinal points; the northern side being two hundred yards in length; the southern side, two hundred and nineteen; the eastern, one hundred and eighty-two; and the western, one hundred and thirty-six. The elevation of the highest angle, one hundred and forty-one feet. This mound is a solid mass. Near its summit appears a low wall, with interruptions, built of unburnt bricks, laid in clay mortar of great thickness, having a layer of reeds between every layer of bricks. On the north side are vestiges of a similar wall. The south-west angle, which is the highest point, terminates in a turret; or, rather, heaps of rubbish, in digging into which, layers of broken burnt brick, cemented with mortar, are discovered, and whole bricks, with inscriptions on them, are here and there found. The whole is covered with innumerable fragments of brick, pottery, pebbles, bitumen, vitrified scoria, and even shells, bits of glass, and mother-of-pearl! When Mr. Rich saw all these, he inquired of the Turk, that acted as guide, how he imagined the glass and mother-of-pearl came there?—"They were brought here by the deluge," answered the Turk.

In describing this mound, Major Keppell says, that he found it full of large holes. "We entered one of them, and found them strewed with the carcases and skeletons of animals recently killed. The ordure of wild beasts was so strong, that prudence got the better of curiosity; for we had no doubt as to the savage nature of the inhabitants. Our guides, indeed, told us, that all the ruins abounded in lions and other wild beasts." Mr. Rich found, also, quantities of porcupine quills; and most of the cavities, he says, are peopled with bats and owls.

The pile on the MujelibÉ is called Haroot and Maroot, by the Arabs; and they believe that, near the foot of the pyramid, there still exists, though invisible to mankind, a well, in which those two wicked angels were condemned by the Almighty to be suspended by the heels until the end of the world, as a punishment for their vanity and presumption.[130]

In another part of the ruins were found a brass pike and some earthen vessels (one of which was very thin, and had the remains of fine white varnish on the outside);—also a beam of date-tree wood. Continuing the work downwards, the men arrived at a passage, in which they discovered a wooden coffin; opening which they found a skeleton, perfect in all its parts. Under the head was placed a round pebble, and a brass ornament was attached to the skeleton. On the outside, another brass ornament was found, representing a bird: and a little farther on, they discovered the skeleton of a child. No skulls were found, either here or in the sepulchral urns that were at the bank of the river.

Mr. Rich, also, found a number of urns, in the bulwark on the banks of the river. These contained ashes, and bones in small fragments. Comparing these remains with the skeletons found in the MujelibÉ, he judiciously remarks, that the two modes of sepulture decidedly prove what people they were who were so interred. "There is, I believe," he adds, "no reason to suppose that the Babylonians burnt their dead: the old Persians, we know, never did." It was the common usage with the Greeks. "From this he infers," says Porter, "that the skeletons in the MujelibÉ were the remains of the ancient people of Babylon; and the urns in the embankment contained the ashes of Alexander's soldiers."

From the south-east angle of the MujelibÉ, a mound extends in a circular direction, and joins the Amran at its south-east angle, the diameter of the sweep being two miles and a half. This is supposed to have been the fortified enclosure that is described by Herodotus as encircling the palace.

To the north of the MujelibÉ there are no ruins of any importance. A few low mounds, however, are observed, occurring at intervals, on each side of the road from Hillah to Bagdad; but they are of an insignificant character, and, from their situation, they are supposed to have been burying-places outside the city, rather than buildings within its walls.

The MujelibÉ is supposed to have been a Babylonian mausoleum, rather than a temple of worship. In respect to the other ruins, it is probable that the Kasr and adjacent mounds are the remains of the royal palace, with its hanging gardens, enclosed with the circular mound, which formed the outer wall of the palace mentioned by Herodotus, and described more in detail by Diodorus.

Two or three miles upwards from the river, are the remains of what have, hitherto, been considered remains of canals. A recent traveller[131], however, seems inclined to believe, that they are the remains of streets. His reasoning is probable. Canals would go all one way; but most of these cross each other at right angles, with immense spaces of open and level ground on each side of them.

We are now to note something in regard to what appears on the west side of the Euphrates. "The loose and inaccurate accounts of some modern travellers," says Mr. Rich, "have misled D'Anville and Rennell into the belief of there being considerable ruins on the western side of the river, similar to those on the eastern." This, however, does not appear to be the case; that is, near to the river. But although there are none in the immediate neighbourhood, by far the most stupendous and surprising mass of all the ruins of Babylon is situated on this side, about six miles from Hillah. This is the tower of Babel, otherwise the temple of Belus. It is called by the Arabs, Birs Nemroud; by the Jews Nebuchadnezzar's Prison. The shape of this vast ruin is oblong, having the appearance of a fallen or decayed pyramid. It is two thousand two hundred and eighty-six feet in compass at the base; and, on the west side, it rises conically to the height of one hundred and ninety-eight feet. "I visited the Birs," says Mr. Rich, "under circumstances peculiarly favourable to grandeur of effect. The morning was at first stormy, and threatened a severe fall of rain; but, as we approached the object of our journey, the heavy clouds separating, discovered the Birs frowning over the plain, and presenting the appearance of a circular hill, crowned by a tower, with a high ridge extending along the foot of it. It being entirely concealed from our view, during the first part of our ride, prevented our acquiring the gradual idea, in general so prejudicial to effect, and so particularly lamented by those who visit the pyramids. Just as we were within the proper distance, it burst at once upon our sight, in the midst of rolling masses of thick black clouds, partially obscured by that kind of haze whose indistinctness is one great cause of sublimity; whilst a few strong catches of stormy light, thrown upon the desert in the back ground, served to give some idea of the immense extent, and dreary solitude, of the wastes in which this remarkable ruin stands."

Two stages of building are visible on the eastern side. The lowest is sixty feet high, and is broken in the middle by a deep ravine, and intersected on all sides by channels, made by the winter rains. The summit of this first stage was once flat; but it is no longer so; its margin having crumbled down so as to give this side the appearance of a cone. The second stage rises above the first, also, in a conical form, but much more steep; the summit being marked by a perpendicular fragment of brick work; which is probably the base of the third stage.

On the west side, the structure rises at once from the plain like a pyramid; the face being broken in different directions, partly by the torrents, and partly by what seems to have been some convulsion of nature. At the foot of the northern side, vast masses of solid brick-work are scattered over the rubbish. The building is seen to most advantage to the south; for on that side it is by far the most perfect. The tower there rises by high and distinct stages (four), receding one within another, in proportion to their respective elevations. "Here is a ruin," says an elegant writer, "corresponding, in a most surprising degree, with the tower of Belus, as described by Herodotus. The total circumference of the base is two thousand two hundred and eighty-six feet instead of one thousand nine hundred and sixty, the square of a stadium. The east and west sides remain of the original breadth nearly, and a greater portion of rubbish from the top crumbled down upon their sides, the north and south are thereby elongated; the present height of the ruin, to the top of the wall, is two hundred and thirty-five feet—less than one-half of the original height—consequently the dÉbris round the base might be expected to be much more considerable, so as to make the circumference of the base greater than it appears to be. But it must be remembered, that Alexander the Great, when he took possession of Babylon, after the defeat of Darius, employed ten thousand men for two months in removing the rubbish, preparatory to removing the tower[132]. It is probable they had only cleared the south side, before the work was abandoned; which would account for the south face being more perfect than any of the others. If we add to this, that vast quantities of the bricks have been taken away by the natives of the country, for building modern towns, the circumstance that the base so little exceeds the dimensions, given by Herodotus, will no longer appear unaccountable."

On Sir Robert Ker Porter's second visit to the Birs Nimrod, his party descried several dark objects moving along the summit of its hill, which they construed into dismounted Arabs on the look out, while their armed brethren were lying concealed under the southern brow of the mound. "Thinking this very probable," says Sir Robert, "I took out my glass to examine, and soon distinguished that the causes of our alarm were two or three majestic lions, taking the air upon the height of the pyramid. Perhaps I had never seen so sublime a picture to the mind, as well as to the eye. They were a species of enemy which my party were accustomed to dread without any panic fear; and while we continued to advance, though slowly, the hallooing of the people made the noble beasts gradually change their position, till, in the course of twenty minutes, they totally disappeared." The party then rode close to the ruins, every now and then observing the broad prints of feet the lions had left in the soil. This naturally brought to Sir Robert's recollection that part of the scriptures, wherein it is said, "Wild beasts of the desert shall be there."

At a short distance from the Birs, and parallel with its eastern face, is a mound, not inferior to that of the Kasr in elevation, but much longer than it is broad. "On the top of it are two oratories," says Mr. Rich. "One, called Mekam Ibrahim Khalib, and said to be the place where Ibrahim was thrown into the fire by order of Nemroud, who surveyed the scene from the Birs; the other, which is in ruins, Makam Saheb Zeman; but to what part of Mehdy's life it relates, I am ignorant."

"They call it," says Sir R. Ker Porter, "'Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency. The lady of kingdoms, given to pleasure, that dwelleth carelessly, and sayeth in her heart, I am, and there is none else beside me!' But now, in the same expressive language, we may say, 'She sits as a widow on the ground. There is no more a throne for thee, O daughter of the Chaldeans!' And for the abundance of the country, it has vanished as clean away as if 'the besom of desolation' had, indeed, swept it from north to south; the whole land, from the outskirts of Bagdad to the farthest stretch of the sight, lying a melancholy corpse."

Round the Birs are traces of ruins to a considerable extent; and near the town of Hillah there are several remarkable places; but as they do not bear any very particular relation to Babylon, we here close our account, entirely agreeing with Mr. Rich, that it is evident, from what remains of that celebrated city, and even from the most favourable account handed down to us, that the public edifices which adorned it were remarkable more for vastness of dimensions than elegance of design, and solidity of fabric than beauty of execution.

Though Babylon has universally been considered as the largest city that ever existed on the earth, there are some and even very good reasons to believe, that it was never so large as Nineveh. "It was intended, indeed," says one of the historians, "that Babylon should have exceeded Nineveh in every thing; but Nebuchadnezzar did not live long enough, nor the Babylonish empire last long enough, to finish the scheme that had been drawn of it." The houses were not contiguous, but all built with a void space on each side between house and house, so that the larger part was not built upon. The houses of Nineveh, however, were contiguous. Nineveh, also, had a greater population; for, in the time of Jonah, it had one hundred and twenty thousand souls, "who could nor did not know their right hand from their left." That is, one hundred and twenty thousand infants[133]. But though Nineveh was the oldest city and the largest, Babylon has in all subsequent ages enjoyed the greatest celebrity[134].