SECTION IV.-Description of Nineveh and Babylon.

THE city of Nin'eveh, probably so named from Nínus, its founder, stood on the east bank of the Tígris, nearly three hundred miles north of Bab'ylon. Like all the ancient cities of Asia, it was of a rectangular form, and retained the traces of the nomad encampment in which it originated. It was of enormous dimensions, being fifteen miles in length, nine in breadth, and forty-eight in circumference. Nor will this great extent seem incredible, when we reflect that the houses were not built in continuous streets, but stood apart, as the tents formerly did, each surrounded by gardens, parks, and farms, whose size varied according to the rank and wealth of the respective proprietors. Nin'eveh, in short, was less a city, according to the modern European notions, than a collection of villages, hamlets, and noblemen's seats, enclosed within one wall as a common defence. The fortifications, according to the historians, were constructed on a stupendous scale. The walls were two hundred feet in height, and so wide that three chariots might drive on them abreast, and they were further secured by fifteen hundred lofty towers. After the destruction of the city by the Medes, Nineveh appears to have long remained desolate; several villages were subsequently erected from its ruins, the largest of which preserved the name of the ancient metropolis. It is now a desert waste: even the wild vegetation that usually veils the ruins of fallen greatness has disappeared, and desolation is spread over the entire landscape.

BABYLON stood in a plain, and was perfectly square; the river Euphrátes ran through the centre of the town, and also supplied water to the ditches, which were dug in front of the walls. The streets were perfectly straight, and crossed each other at right angles,

On the western bank of the river, stood the tower of Bélus, which was probably built on the foundations of Babel. When completed by Nebuchadnezzar, each of the sides of the city was about fifteen miles in length, and consequently the whole circumference was sixty miles. The eastern division was the most recent: it was built by the Kasdím, or Chaldeans; and there Nebuchadnezzar erected the great palace whose circuit was equal to that of a moderate-sized city. Like the generality of steppe regions, the country between the Tigris and Euphrátes produced neither stone nor wood fit for building; but the vicinity of Bab'ylon furnished an inexhaustible supply of clay, which, dried in the sun or burnt in kilns, became so firm and durable, that the remains of ancient walls, which have been thrown down for centuries, have withstood the action of the atmosphere to the present day; and, as may be seen by the specimens in the British Museum, retain the arrow-headed inscriptions with which they were impressed., Nature also provided a plentiful supply of naphtha or bitumen, which served instead of lime. Layers of rushes and palm-leaves were laid between the strata of brick; and the traveller Niebuhr found specimens of these in the ruins of Babylon, so perfect that it might have been supposed that they had not been placed together longer than a few months.

The walls of Bab'ylon were made of brick, cemented by bitumen, eighty-seven feet thick, and more than three hundred high: they were

surrounded by a deep ditch, and pierced by a hundred gates, all made of solid brass. Towers were erected for the defence of the gates and the corners of the walls, except where a morass protected the walls, and prevented the approach of an enemy. Wide, straight streets, or rather roads, from each of the gates, crossed each other at right angles, which, with the four half-streets that fronted to the walls, divided the city into six hundred and seventy-six squares, each of four furlongs and a half on each side, or two miles and a quarter in circumference. These squares were, in fact, separate villages, and many of them were wholly untenanted, being used as parks or pleasure-grounds by the king and his nobles.

A bridge passed over the Euphrátes between the two palaces on the opposite banks, which, we are assured, were further connected by means of a tunnel. The length of the bridge was about a furlong, but its breadth only thirty feet; a long causeway on both sides of the river made the bridge appear of much greater extent than it really was.

The temple of Bélus was the most wondrous structure of the city. It was at its foundation a furlong in length, and about the same in breadth its height is said to have exceeded six hundred feet, which is more than that of the Egyptian pyramids. It was built in eight stories, gradually diminishing in size as they ascended. Instead of stairs, there was a sloping terrace on the outside, sufficiently wide for carriages and beasts of burden to ascend. Nebuchadnezzar made great additions to this tower, and surrounded it with smaller edifices, enclosed by a wall somewhat more than two miles in circumference. The whole was sacred to Bel or Bélus, whose temple was adorned with idols of gold, and all the wealth that the Babylonians had acquired by the plunder of the East. Next to the temple was the old palace, strongly fortified; and on the opposite side of the river was the new palace, whose enclosures and pleasure-grounds covered a space of eight miles round. Within its precincts were the celebrated hanging gardens, consisting of terraces one above another, raised upon pillars higher than the walls of the city, well floored with cement and lead, and covered with earth, in which the most beautiful trees and shrubs were planted.

From the time of its conquest, Bab'ylon gradually declined. Alexan'der the Great designed Bab'ylon to be the capital of his empire, and was preparing to restore its ancient splendor when he was prematurely cut off. Thenceforward, its decay was rapid; and it is now a vast heap of ruins, tenanted only by the beasts and birds that love to haunt solitary places. Thus literally has the prediction of the prophet been fulfilled: "Bab'ylon, the glory of kingdoms, 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: but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and ostriches shall fill their houses, and the daughters of the owl shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the howlers [jackals] shall cry in their desolate houses, and wild hounds in their pleasant palaces."

⚫ Isaiah xiii. 19-22. (GESENIUS's Translation.)

66

SECTION V.-Commerce and Manufactures of the Babylonians. WEAVING of cotton, woollen stuffs, and carpets, were the principal manufactures established in Bab'ylon; and the cotton robes called sindónes, probably a species of muslins, were so highly esteemed for their delicacy of texture and brilliancy of color, that they were appropriated to royal use. We read in the book of Joshua, that a BabyÎonish garment" formed part of the sacrilegious spoil which A ́chan hid in his tent after the conquest of Jer'icho. Articles of luxury, such as perfumed waters, carved walking-canes, engraved stones, and seal rings, were made in the city; and the art of cutting precious stones was carried to a perfection not exceeded by our modern lapidaries, as is manifest from the collection of Babylonian gems in the British Museum.

The Babylonians had an extensive commerce eastward with Persia and northern India, whence they obtained gold, precious stones, rich dye-stuffs, and the best hounds. From Kandahar and Kashmír they procured fine wool, and the shawls which are still so highly valued. Emeralds, jaspers, and other precious stones, procured from the desert of Bac'tria, the modern Cobi, were brought in great abundance to Bab'ylon, and thence transmitted to western Asia and Europe. Cochineal, or rather the Indian lac, was imported in considerable quantities; indeed, the Greeks confess that they derived their knowledge of the insect which produces this dye from the Babylonians. Gold and golddust were also obtained from northern India, but more as articles of tribute than of commerce. It is uncertain whether any commerce was opened with China before the latter ages of the Persian empire; but the Babylonians had certainly intercourse with Tibet and the countries round the Hindú Kúsh.

It was chiefly through their commercial allies, the Phoenicians, that the Babylonians had any trade in the Indian seas, though Isaiah plainly states that they had a navy of their own; for he mentions "the Chaldeans, whose cry [exultation] is in their ships." The trade by sea was between the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrátes, and the western coasts of India and the island of Ceylon. From these countries they imported timber of various kinds, sugar-canes, spices, cinnamon, and pearls. This trade was completely destroyed by the Persians, through fear of the pirates who infested those seas, and who, by a sudden dash up the great rivers, like the Normans and Danes of Europe, might surprise and plunder the chief cities of the empire. To prevent this misfortune, they blocked up the Tígris with immense dams, which effectually put an end to all navigation on the river, and to the intercourse between Bab'ylon and southern India.

At a very early period the Babylonians formed commercial establishments on the Bahrein islands in the Persian gulf, whence they obtained large quantities of the finest pearls. Pearl-oysters are found on almost all the coasts in this gulf, but the most considerable bank is that which extends along the western coast, from the Bahrein islands, nearly as far as Cape Dsiulfar. The pearls are both white and yellow, they are also as hard as rock, and are therefore preferred to

Isaiah xlii. 14.

the pearls of Ceylon, which shiver to pieces when struck with a hammer. The cotton plantations on these islands were very extensive, and the staple of the cotton wool they produced was remarkable for its length and fineness, surpassing in this respect the cotton of India. From these islands the Babylonians, and after them the Phoenicians, obtained the best timber for ship-building, probably some species of the Indian teak-wood, which continues to be highly valued for this purpose. They also imported various kinds of ornamental timber, used in the manufacture of walking-canes and inlaid work, for which the Babylonians were deservedly celebrated.

CHAPTER IV.

WESTERN ASIA:

INCLUDING

ASIA MINOR, SYRIA, AND PALESTINE.

SECTION L-Asia Minor.-Geographical Outline.

ASIA MINOR is a term not used by classical writers: it was invented in the middle ages, to describe the peninsula between the Egean, the Black sea, the Caspian, and the Levant, which by more recent authors is called Anatólia. It included a great number of petty states, whose boundaries varied at different periods. In the northern part of the peninsula, beginning from the western side, the chief countries were My'sia, Bithyn'ia, Paphlagónia, and Pon'tus. In the centre, Lyd'ia, Phrygia, Galátia, Lycaónia, Isaúria, Cappadócia, and Arménia. In the south were Cária, Ly'cia, Pisid'ia, Pamphy'lia, and Cilic'ia.

The western part of My'sia, on the seacoast, was called Lesser Phrygia, or Tróas. It was celebrated for the Trojan plains and the city of Troy, immortalized by Hómer.

Bithyn'ia, Paphlagónia, and Pon'tus, skirt the Black sea, and were studded with Greek colonies during the flourishing age of Grecian commerce. The Halys and San'garis, the principal rivers of Asia Minor, fall into the Black sea.

The entire west coast of Asia Minor was colonized by the Greeks, whose commercial cities in Iónia, Æólia, and Cária, were the most flourishing free states of antiquity, before they were conquered by the Persians.

Lyd'ia, called also Mæónia, besides the Greek cities on its coasts, contained the celebrated metropolis Sar'dis, which stood on the banks of the Pactólus, at the foot of Mount Tmólus. It was the capital of the Lydian kingdom, and, after its conquest by the Persians, was regarded as one of the chief cities of their empire.

The boundaries of Phry'gia were almost constantly varying; its chief cities were Gor'dium and Celæ'næ in ancient times; but many others were erected when the Macedonians became masters of the country; of which the chief were Apaméa, Laodicéa, and Colossé.

Galátia received its name from a body of Gauls who entered that country in the third century before the Christian era. Isaúria and Lycaónia were intersected by the chain of Mount Taurus. Cappadocia lay between the Hálys and Euphrátes: its chief town was Maz'aca. Arménia was the name of the mountainous districts bordering on the Caspian sea its chief rivers were the Cy'rus and Arax'es, both of