Portion.? of ancient Babylon distiagui-hable in the present Ruina
7. Identification of SIIjs. — On comparing the exist- in i ; ruins with the accounts of the ancient writers, the great difficulty which meets us is the position of the remains almost exclusively on the left bank of the river. All the old accounts agree in representing the Euphrates as running through the town, and the prin- cipal buildings as placed on the opposite sides of the stream. In explanation of this difficulty, it has been urged, on the one hand, that the Euphrates, having a tendency to run off to the right, has obliterated all trace of the buildings in this direction (Layard's Nin. and Bab. p. 420) ; on the other, that, by a due exten-
sion of the area of Babylon, it may be made to include the Birs Nimrud, and that thus the chief existing re- mains will really lie on the opposite banks of the river (Rich, Second Memoir, p. 32 ; Ker Porter, Travels, ii, 383). But the identification of the Birs with Borsippa seems to interfere with this latter theory; while the former is unsatisfactory, since we can scarcely suppose the abrasion of the river to have entirely removed all trace of such gigantic buildings as those which the an- cient writers describe. Perhaps the most probable solution is to be found in the fact that a large canal (called Shcbll) intervened in ancient times between the Kasr mound and ¥^=__J?T the ruin now called
Kpv_ ^ Babil, which may ea-
sily have been con- ■=■_ founded by Herodotus "- ""_._ with the main stream.
This would have had the two principal buil- dings upon opposite sides; while the real -~" river, which ran down the long valley to the west of the Kasr and Amran mounds, would also have separated(as Ctesias related) be- tween the greater and the lesser palace. If this explanation be ac- : cepted as probable, we m may identify the prin- cipal ruins as follows : 1. The great mound of Babil will be the ancient temple of Be- lus. It is an oblottg
BABYLON
600
BABYLON
of the Kasr.
mass, composed chiefly of unbaked brick, rising from the plain to the height of 140 feet, flattish at the top, in length about 200, and in breadth about 140 yards. This oblong shape is common to the temples, or rather temple-towers of Low- er Babylonia, which seem to have had near- ly the same propor- tions. It was origi- nally coated with fine burnt brick laid in an excellent mortar, as was proved by Mr. Layard (Xin. and Bab. p. 452) ; and was, no doubt, built in stages, most of which have crumbled down, but which may still be in part concealed under the rubbish. The statement of Berosus {Fragm. 14), that it was rebuilt by Nebu- chadnezzar, is con- firmed by the fact that all the inscribed bricks which have been found in it bear the name of that king. It form- ed the tower of the temple, and was sur- mounted by a chapel; but the main shrine, thealtars,andnodoubt the residences of the priests, were at the foot, in a sacred pre- cinct. 2. The mound of the Kasr will mark the site of the great palace of Nebuchad- nezzar. It is an irreg- ular square of about 700 yards each way, and may be. regarded as chiefly formed of
the old palace plat- form (which resem- bles those at Nine- veh, Susa, and else- where), upon which I are still standing cer- tain portions of the ancient residences to which the name of "A'«sr" or " palace" ^ especialky attaches.' j The walls are com- posed of burnt bricks, |S of a pale yellow col- v or, and of excellent 9 quality, bound to- i^ gether by a fine lime M^- cement, and stamped g^, with the name and ■''^ titles of Nebuchad- nezzar. They con- tain traces of archi- tectural ornament — piers, buttresses, pi- lasters, etc. ; and in the rubbish at their base have been found slabs inscribed by Nebuehadnezzar,ancl containing an ac- count of the building of the edifice, as well as a few sculptured fragments, and many pieces of enamelled brick of brilliant hues. On these last portions of figures are traceable, recalling the statements of Ctesias (ap.
Chart of the Country round Babylon, with Limits of the ancient City.
BABYLON
C01
BABYLON
Diodor. Sicul.) that the brick walls of the palace were colored, and represented hunting-scenes. No plan of the palace is to be made out from the existing re- mains, which are tossed in apparent confusion on the highest point of the mound. 3. The mound of Amran is thought by M. Oppert to represent the "hanging gardens" of Nebuchadnezzar; but this conjecture does not seem to be a very happy one. The mound is com- posed of poorer materials than the edifices of that prince, and has furnished no bricks containing his name. Again, it is far too large for the hanging gar- dens, which are said to have been only 400 feet each way. The Amran mound is described by Rich as an irregular parallelogram, 1100 yards long by 800 broad, and by Ker Porter as a triangle, the sides of which are respectively 1400, 1100, and 850 feet. Its dimensions therefore, very greatly exceed those of the curious structure with which it has been identified. Most probably it represents the ancient palace, coeval with Babylon itself, of which Nebuchadnezzar speaks in his inscriptions as adjoining his own more magnificent residence. It is the only part of the ruins from which bricks have been derived containing the names of kings earlier than Nebuchadnezzar, and is therefore entitled to be considered the most ancient of the existing re- mains. 4. The ruins near each side of the Euphrates, together with all the other remains on the west bank, may be considered to represent the lesser palace of Ctesias, which is said to have been connected with the greater by a bridge across the river, as well as bj' a tunnel under the channel of the stream (!). The old course of the Euphrates seems to have been a little east of the present one, passing between the two parallel ridges near it at the bend in the middle, and then closely skirting the mound of Amran, so as to have both the ruins just named upon its right bank. These ruins are of the same date and style. The bricks of that on the east bank bear the name of Neriglissar ; and there can be little doubt that this ruin, together with those on the opposite side of the stream, are the remains of a palace built by him. Perhaps (as already remarked) the little mound immediately south of this point, near the east bank, may be a remnant of the an- cient bridge. 5. The two long parallel lines of em- bankment on the «ast, which form so striking a feature in the remains as represented by Porter and Rich, but which are ignored by M. Oppert, may either be the lines of an outer and inner enclosure, of which Nebu- chadnezzar speaks as defences of his palace, or they may represent the embankments of an enormous reser- voir, which is often mentioned by that monarch as ad- joining his palace toward the east. G. The southern- most embankment, near the east bank of the river, is composed of bricks marked with the name of Labyne- tus or Nabunit, and is undoubtedly a portion of the work which Berosus ascribes to the last king (Eragm. 14).— Smith.