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].
[Illustration: Balbec.]