Chaldse'a (Jer. 1, 10; li, 24, 85 ; Ezek. xvi, 29; xxiii, 16; Gr. t; XaXSala, for the Heb. D'^?to, else- where " Chald«eans") is properly only the most south- ern portion of Babylonia. It is used, however, in our version for the Hebrew ethnic appellative Kasdim (or *'Ohaldees'*), nnder which term the inhabitants of the entire country b designated, and it will therefore here be taken in this extended sense. The origin of the term is very doubtful. Kaedim has been derived by some from Kesed C^bS), the son of Nahor (Gen. xxii, 22); but if Ur was already a city *'of the Chaldees" before Abraham quitted it (Gen. xi, 28), the name Kasdim cannot possibly have been derived from his nephew. On the other hand, the term Cbaldiea has been con- nected with the city Kalwadha (Chilmad of Ezekiel, xxvii, 23). This is possibly correct At any rate, in searching for an etymology, it should be borne in mind that Kaldi or Kaldai, not Kasdim, is the native form (Bawlinson, Herod, i, 583, note). The ChaldsMins are mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions (q. v.). In Persian cuneiform the name of Babylon or Babylonia h written very differently :
ct m =f rr-«<M"^
B a h i r u sh. The Babylonian cuneiform writes it in many ways, Imt none have any resemblance to Kasdim or Kaldi, See Babylon.
1. Extent and Boundaries, — The tract of country viewed in Scripture as the land of the ChMdieans is that vast alluvial plain which has been form'ed by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris — at least so &r as it lies to the west of the latter stream. The country to the east is Elam or Suslana ; but the entire tract between the rivers, as well as the low country on the Arabian side of the Euphrates, which b cultivable by irrigation from that stream, must be considered as comprised within the ClialdflBa of which Nebuchadnez- zar was king. This extraordinary flat, unbroken ex- cept by the works of man, extends, in a direction near- ly N.E. and S.W., a distance of 400 miles along the coarse of the rivers, and is on the average about 100 mOes in width. A line drawn from the junction of the river Khabur with the Euphrates to that of the Lesser Zab with the Tigris may be considered to mark its northern limits ; the eastern boundary is the Tigris itself; the southern the Persian Gulf; on the west its Iwundary Is somewHtt ill defined, and in fact would ▼ary according to thd degree of skill and industry de- voted to the regulation of the waters and the extension of works for irrigation. In the most flourishing times of the Chaldssan empire the water seems to have been broogfat to the extreme limit of the alluvium, a canal having been cut aloufc the edge of the tertiary forma- tion on the Arabian side throughout its entire extent,
running at an average distance from the Euphrates of about 80 miles.
2. General Character o/ihe Country. — The general as- pect of the country is thus described by a modem trav- eller, who well contrasts its condition now with the appearance which it must have presented in ancient times. ** In former days," he says, "the vast plains of Babylon were nourished by a complicated system of canals and water-courses, which spread over the sur- face of the country like a net- work. The wants of a teeming population were supplied by a rich soil, not less bountiful than that on the banks of the Egyptian Nile. Like islands rising from a golden sea of waving com stood frequent groves of palm-trees and pleasant gardens, affording to the idler or traveller their grate- ful and highly-valued shade. Crowds of passengers hurried along the dusty roads to and from the busy city. The land was rich in com and wine. How changed is tiie aspect of that region at the present day ! Long lines of mounds, it is true, mark the courses of those main arteries which formerly diffused life and vegeta- tion along their banks, but their channels are now be- reft of moisture and choked with drifted sand ; the smaller offshoots are wholly effaced. * A drought is upon her waters,' says the prophet, *and they shall be dried up !' All that remains of that ancient civiliza- tion— that * glory of kingdoms* - * the praise of the whole earth* — is recognisable in the numerous mould- ering heap^ of brick and rubbish which overspread the surface of the plain. Instead of the luxuriant fields, the groves, and gardens, nothing now meets the eye but an arid waste — the dense population of former times is vanished, and no man dwells there" (Loftus*s ChaldcBd, p. 14, 15). The cause of the change is to be found in the neglect of man. ** There is no physical reason," the same writer observes, '*why Babylonia should not be as beautiful and as thickly inhabited as in days of yore ; a little care and labor bestowed on the ancient canals would again restore the fcrtilit}- and population which it originally possessed.*' The proa* perity and fertility of the country depend entirely on the regulation of the waters. Carefully and properly applied and husbanded, they are sufilcient to make the entire plain a garden. Left to themselves, they desert the river courses to accumulate in lakes and marshes, leaving large districts waterless, and others most scantily supplied, while they overwhelm tracts former- ly under cultivation, which become covered with a for- est of reeds, and during the summer heats breed a pes- tilential miasma. This is the present condition of the greater part of Babylonia under Turkish rule ; the evil is said to be advancing, and the whole country threat- ens to become within a short time either marsh or desert.