Part 21 (2/2)

The edifice, of which this remarkable ruin is the rest the rubbish, show that it was adorned with other materials The cement by which the bricks were united is of so tenacious a quality, that it is almost impossible to detach one from the mass entire The ruin is a specimen of the perfection of the Babylonian masonry

I will not enter into the raphy of Babylon, nor will I endeavor to identify the various existing ruins with the nificent edifices described by ancient authors

The subject was fully investigated by the late Mr Rich, and the published controversy between him and Major Rennell, has left little to be added A theory, first I believe put forward by Col Rawlinson, that the ruins around Hillah do not ht for further to the south, as far even as Niffer, has, I presume, been abandoned There cannot, however, be a doubt that Nebuchadnezzar almost entirely rebuilt the city, and perhaps not exactly on the ancient site; a conjecture, as I have shown, perfectly in accordance with Scripture and with Eastern customs[203] An accurate survey of the ruins is now chiefly required Recent travellers are of opinion that the Birs Nimroud cannot be identified, as conjectured by Rich, with the temple of Belus, but that it marks the site of the celebrated Chaldaean city of Borsippa, which Rich traced four leagues to the south of Hillah, in some mounds called Boursa by the Arabs Until more authentic information be obtained from inscriptions and actual remains, the question cannot, I think, be considered as settled

Froazed over a vast marsh, for Babylon is made ”a possession for the bittern and pools of water”[204] In the uished the Arab settleht boats were ski to and fro over the shalloater, whilst ed onwards their flocks and laden cattle The booainst the fort of Hawaina, resounded in the distance; and the inhabitants of thewith their property to safer retreats in anticipation of the fall of their stronghold

To the south-west, in the extre their scanty shade over a small dome, the tomb of Ezekiel To this spot annually flock in crowds, as their forefathers have done for centuries, the Jews of Baghdad, Hillah, and other cities of Chaldaea, the descendants of the captives of Jerusaleh tradition alone hbourhood of Babylon the tomb of the prophet, yet froht in pilgrio It is now but a plain building, despoiled of the ornaments and manuscripts which it once appears to have contained

Benja description of it, which the reader will find orth exaalloped back fro the dreary and deserted plain withoutover the face of the country

I re every day to the ruins on the eastern bank of the river, and personally superintending the excavations The first trenches were opened in the great ate of Hillah, and three quarters of a e opened and described by Mr Rich, and on reular funnel, about thirteen feet square, of burnt brick and bitumen,” which he had discovered After the lapse of forty years, it had been once ain entered the underground cha a skeleton still well preserved

Beneath this masonry were found several entire coffins, precisely similar to that discovered by Mr Rich They still held skeletons, more or less entire, which fell to pieces as soon as exposed to the air No relic or ornament had been buried with the bodies The wood of the coffins was in the last stage of decay, and could only be taken out piecemeal A foul and unbearable stench issued froes which had become the dens of wild beasts, who had worked their way into them from above It was alround Even the Arabs were compelled to leave their work after a few days

On the northern side of the mound, above these places of sepulture, are the remains of a massive wall of sun-dried brick The masonry is not united by bituminous cement, as in the vaults, but apparently by sis, and between each course of bricks are spread thin layers of reeds still perfectly preserved

The coffins discovered at Babel are of a comparatively recent period, and are not pure Babylonian At the very earliest they may be of the time of the Seleucidae, but I am inclined to think that they are even of a still later date It is evident that they were buried after the destruction of the edifice covered by the mound

Numerous deep trenches opened on the surface of the mound, and several tunnels carried into its sides at different levels, led to no other discovery than that of nue nust all Babylonian ruins, especially after heavy rains have washed away the loose soil, or have deepened the ravines The lass bottles, some colored, others ribbed and otherwise ornamented, and vases of earthenware of various forlazed with a rich blue color These, and in general what travellers have found, may be set down as of the time of the Greek occupation, and some as late as the sixth or seventh century of the Christian era

[Illustration: Jug of Soapstone, from the Mound of Babel]

At Babel was also found, at so, which I should have been inclined to believe altogether modern, had there not been one nearly similar in form, and of the same substance, in Mr

Rich's collection in the British Museum, and consequently, it may be presumed, obtained from the same ruins It is of soapstone, rudely carved and ornamented, and resembles in shape the vessels still used by the Arabs for ablutions

Scattered over the mound, and at a little depth beneath the surface, were nu the usual superscription of Nebuchadnezzar No ancient masonry was, however, discovered, from which these bricks had been detached

It was thus evident that the reinal edifice, if any still existed, were to be sought far beneath the surface, and I accordingly opened tunnels at the very foot of the mound nearly on a level with the plain A few days labor enabledOn the eastern side the workmen soon reached solid piers and walls of brick masonry, buried under an enormous ht or ten piers and several walls branching in various directions, but I failed to trace any plan, or to discover any remains whatever of sculptured stone or painted plaster

During the remainder of my stay in Babylonia, workmen continued to excavate in this part of themasonry The enormous accumulation of loose rubbish above them, not a hard co and falling in, exposed the men to a risk scarcely warranted by the results of their labors I much doubt whether even more extensive excavations would lead to any important discoveries It is possible, however, that detached inscriptions or sculptured slabs ht be obtained

On the western and southern sides of the mound were also discovered, at the very base, remains of solid masonry The bricks bore the usual superscription of Nebuchadnezzar, and were firether with fine white mortar It is thus evident that a vast edifice once stood either on the level of the plain, or raised upon enormous piers and buttresses of brickwork, and that the to that may exist on or near the present surface of the mound, are of a more recent period I will not attereat palace of Nebuchadnezzar, of the celebrated hanging gardens, or of a te not covered by soil and sand, but still standing above ground, on the site of Babylon, and part of the ancient city, are about one mile to the south of the mound last described It is the Kasr, or Palace, of Rich, a naenerally known to travellers, but the Arabs call it the Mujelibe, or the ”overturned” It rises on the river bank, and is about seven hundred yards square The principal part of this great ruin consists of loose bricks, tiles, and fragments of stone; but nearly in the centre a solidtraces of architectural ornament, protrudes from the confused heap of rubbish Piers, buttresses, and pilasters may be traced; but the work of destruction has been too co to the interior or exterior of a palace I sought in vain for soeneral plan of the edifice Upon nearly every brick is clearly and deeply stamped the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar, and the inscribed face is always placed doards This wonderful piece of masonry is so perfect, and of so fresh a pale yellow color, that it seeh it is undoubtedly part of a building which stood in the es been theafter the fall of Babylon have obtained their materials To this day there arebricks fro towns and villages, and even to Baghdad There is scarcely a house in Hillah which is not almost entirely built with theh the narrow streets, he sees in the walls of every hovel a record of the glory and power of Nebuchadnezzar

A large numents of brick found in this ruin are covered with a thick enalaze The colors have resisted the effects of tiures and ornaments may still be traced on many specimens The principal colors are a brilliant blue, red, a deep yellohite, and black We learn from ancient authors that the walls of the palaces of Babylon were painted with the figures of men and animals, and there can be no doubt that these enalass, Babylonian geures, and other relics of this nature are occasionally found on the ht by the Jews of Hillah, who sell thee lion described by Rich still exists half buried in the rubbish

The animal stands over a inative travellers to see in the group a representation of Daniel in the lions' den The figures are in black basalt, either so barbarously executed as to show very little progress in art, or left unfinished by the sculptor It would scarcely be worth ree of the ruin is the solitary tree Athele, well-known to the Arabs, and the source of various traditions It is said to have stood in the hanging gardens of Babylon, and to have been saved by God froeneral destruction which overwhelht tie his horse to its trunk after the defeat of the enereat battle of Hillah No other tree of the sa to the same tradition, in the whole world It is, however, I believe, a species of ta feathery branches tremble in the breeze with a melancholy murmur well suited to the desolate heap over which it may have waved for a thousand years

It was a hopeless task to excavate in a shapeless heap of rubbish of such vast extent, which had already been explored in every direction With the exception of the solitary pile ofin the centre, the ruin consisted of little else than of shattered brickwork I continued, however, a few of the tunnels already opened, but the falling rubbish, which had more than once overwhelmed the seekers after bricks, soon compelled me to desist The only relic of any interest I was fortunate enough to discover was a fragures, undoubtedly those of Gods The name of one deity is added in Babylonian characters to its sculptured ie It is probably only a s a series of sied search, to find any other pieces The frag that the Babylonians portrayed their divinities in the sah head-dress orna curled hair and beard, and the e as the Gods in the rock sculptures of Bavian