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mplete fulfilment of her thrilling denunciations. Just, says ich, as we were within the proper distance, so necessary to e production of grandeur of view, the Birs at once burst son our view in the midst of rolling masses of black thick ouds, partially obscured by that kind of haze, whose indisctness is one great cause of sublimity; while a few catches stormy light, thrown on the desert, in the back ground, rved to give some idea of the immense extent and dreary litude of the waste surrounding the venerable pile.

The Birs Nemroud is a mound of an oblong form, the total rcumference of which is 762 yards. At the eastern side, is cloven by a deep furrow, and is not more than fifty or xty feet high; but on the western side, it rises in a conical gure, to the elevation of 198 feet; and on its summit is a olid pile of brick, thirty-seven feet high by twenty-eight in readth, diminishing in thickness to the top, which is broken nd irregular, and rent by a large fissure, extending through third of its height. It is perforated by small square holes, isposed in rhomboids. The fire-burned bricks of which it s built have inscriptions on them, and so excellent is the cenent, which appears to be lime-mortar, that it is nearly impossible to extract one whole. The other parts of the summit of this hill are occupied by immense fragments of brickwork, of no determinate figure, tumbled together and converted into solid vitrified masses, as if they had undergone the action of the fiercest fire, or had been blown up with gunpowder, the layers of brick being perfectly discernable. The ruins stand on a prodigious mound, the whole of which is itself in ruins, channelled by the weather, and strewed with fragments of blackstone, sandstone, and marble. In the eastern part, layers of unburned brick, but no reeds are discernible. In the north side, may be seen traces of building, exactly similar to the brick pile. At the foot of the mound a step may be traced, scarcely elevated above the plain, exceeding in extent, by several feet each way, the true, or measured base; and there is a quadrangular enclosure around the whole, as at the Mujelibe, but more distinct, and of greater dimensions.

This stupendous structure is believed, both by Rich and Ker Porter, to be the remains of the celebrated Temple and Tower of Belus, completed, if not commenced by Nebuchadnezzar. Porter seems to show that three, and part of the fourth original stages of the tower, as described by Diodorus, may be traced in the existing ruins of Birs Nemroud; and

with regard to the intense vitrifying heat, to which the sum mit has evidently been subjected, he says, that he has no doub that the fire acted from above, and was probably lightning This circumstance is assuredly most remarkable, in connexion with the tradition of the Arabs, that the original Tower of Babel was rent and overthrown by fire from heaven. The same author conceives that the works of the Babylonish kings concealed, for a season, the marks of the original devastation, and that now, the destruction of time and man have reduced it to nearly the same condition in which it appeared after the confusion. As it exists, it reminds the beholder of the emphatic words of the prophet:

"Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, Which destroyest all the earth:

And I will stretch out mine hand upon thee,

And roll thee down from the rocks.

And will make thee a burnt mountain.

And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner,

Nor a stone for foundations;

But thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the Lord."-Jer. li. 25, 26.

Scarcely half this elevation now stands. In the piece of brick wall, now surmounting the pile, 270 feet from the eastern face of the Birs, is a great mound, equal to the Kasr in elevation, and 1,242 feet broad by 1,935 feet in length. The whole of its summit and sides are furrowed into hollows and traversing channels, the effect of time, violence, and accident, and all are imbedded with fragments of the same nature as the other mounds. It is supposed that this mound contained the minor temples of the attendant gods of the chief divinity, and also the abodes of the priesthood, with their attendants.

Within the quadrangle of two miles and a half, stood the mound and the temple itself, with a large open are expanding on all sides; but on the north side, from the top of the mound, at the distance of 400 feet, mounds of various elevation are descried. Clustering ranges appear to continue curving round to the west, where a vacuum occurs, after which they recommence running eastward. Other chains, of apparently greater magnitude, rise to the west, at 200 yards from the Birs, and these are connected with others to the north and south; so that the whole quadrangle seems to have been filled with variously erected structures. These were doubtless erected for the protection of the various animals worshipped according to the Sabian ritual, the officers in attendance, and the many occasional residents of the place; for the in

habitants regarded the Birs Nemroud as a temple, a college, a royal sanctuary, and even a fortress, in the days of extremity.

NIMROD'S TOWER.

This pyramidal mass, which many travellers have taken for the ruined Tower of Babel, stands about ten miles to the north-west of Bagdad. By the Arabs, who refer every thing ancient to Nimrod, it is denominated Tel Nemroud; and by the Turks, Nemroud Tepasse: which appellations some translate "The Tower of Nimrod," but which signifies "The hill." The term Akkerkoof, given it by the Arabs, is intended to signify the ground around it; and the word having no distinct meaning, it is supposed by some that it was probably the name of some ancient city of the Babylonians, now buried in the dust. Thus Rennell thinks it to be the ancient Agrani; D'Anville, the ancient Sitace; and Ker Porter, the city of Accad, mentioned Gen. x. 10, as one of the principal cities of Nimrod's kingdom.

The ruined mass of the Tower of Nimrod rises 180 feet above the level of the plain, and 126 feet above the mound whereon it is erected. Its circumference at the base of the upper structure is 300 feet, and 900 feet within ten feet of the base on the mound. The whole mass is computed at 300,000 cubical feet. It is composed of the same materials as the structures before described, and seems to be solid, except certain square perforations, resembling those of the turret of the Birs Ñemroud. Like that of the Birs, there is reason to believe that this pile, as well as the lofty conical mounds of Al Hymer, were the temples and mansions of the Sabian priesthood, and dedicated to the worship of the host of heaven. A number of relics of Babylonish idolatry have been dug out of the ruins of the Kasr, and the hill of Amzam; and it is probable many more might be discovered on a close investigation.

CITY OF BABYLON.

There can be no doubt that this famous metropolis of the Assyrian empire was erected upon the site of that first postdiluvian city of which there is any record, and which was built by Nimrod, Babel. See Gen. x. 10. The town founded by Nimrod could have been but of little importance; but its greatness, after it had been enlarged and improved by Belus, Semiramis, Nebuchadnezzar, and his queen, whom Herodo

tus calls Nitocris, is shown by the writings of ancient historians, and the ruins now found on the site. Herodotus, with whom Pliny and Solinus agree, says that Babylon was a perfect square, each side of which was about twelve miles, and its circuit forty-eight, and that it was so magnificent, that no city could be compared with it. The walls were about 350 feet high, and eighty wide, and it was encompassed with a wide ditch, deep, and full of water. On the top were erected small watch towers, of one story high, leaving a space between them through which a chariot and four horses might pass and turn. In the circumference of the wall, at stated intervals, were a hundred massy gates of brass, whose hinges and frames were of the same metal. The Euphrates ran through the city, and divided it into two parts. Each wall formed an elbow, or angle on the river, at which point a wall of baked brick commenced, and the two sides of the river were lined with similar walls. The houses were built of three and four stories. The streets were straight, and intersected by others, which opened at the side of the river. Opposite the end of the streets, small gates of brass were formed in the walls which lined the river; and there were as many gates as there were transverse streets. The external wall served for defence, and there was also an internal wall, narrower, but still very strong.

A bridge was built by Nitocris, queen of Babylon, to connect the two parts of the city divided by the Euphrates. The piers of this bridge were formed of large hewn stones, and in order to fix them in the river, the waters of the Euphrates were turned, leaving the bed of the river dry. It was at this time that the banks of the river were lined with the walls, and the descents to the river from the smaller gates were made. The bridge was built about the middle of the city, and the masonry connected with iron and lead. During the day, pieces of squared wood were laid from pier to pier, which were removed at night, lest the inhabitants on each side should rob one another. When the whole was completed, the waters of the Euphrates were turned back into their ancient course.

Among the curiosities of Babylon, the most celebrated were, the temple and tower of Belus, which ran through the centre of the city, from north to south; the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, which formed the citadel; and the spacious hanging gardens, contiguous to the royal palace, which were built by Nebuchadnezzar, to gratify his wife, who was a native of

Media, a mountainous country, with the resemblance of her own, in the level country of Babylon.

The magnificence of this renowned city, after its enlargement and improvement by Nebuchadnezzar, when it became one of the wonders of the world, is strongly expressed by the arrogant boast of that haughty monarch: "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?" Dan. iv. 30. But where now is all its greatness? Reader, while in the plenitude of its power, and, according to the most accurate chronologers, one hundred and sixty years before the foot of an enemy entered its gates, the voice of prophecy pronounced its doom, and a succession of ages has brought it gradually to the dust.

"The kings thy sword had slain, the mighty dead,
Start from their thrones, at thy descending tread;
They ask in scorn, Destroyer, is it thus?
Art thou-thou too!-become like one of us?
Turn from the feast of music, wine, and mirth,
The worm thy covering, and thy couch the earth?
How art thou fall'n from thine ethereal helght,
Son of the morning, sunk in endless night!
How art thou fall'n, who saidst in pride of soul,
I will ascend above the starry pole,
Thence rule the adoring nations with my rod,
And set my throne above the mount of God.
Spilt in the dust, thy blood pollutes the ground;
Sought by the eyes that feared thee, yet not found,
Thy chieftains pause, they turn thy relics o'er,

Then pass thee by, for thou art now no more.' -MONTGOMERY,

It is a common opinion, that the destruction of Babylon has been so complete, that its site cannot now be discovered, not even by the investigation of the most scientific geographers, and learned antiquarians. This opinion is founded upon the declaration of the prophet, that the Almighty would "cut off from Babylon the name and remnant," and that he would perform this by making it "pools of water," Isa. xiv. 22, 23. This prediction, however, does not mean that every vestige of Babylon should be annihilated, but, that it should cease to exist as a city so called; and that every remnant of it, as an inhabited city, should be cut off, that no human being should make it his abode. Nor does it mean that the whole space including the city, should become a pool of water, for if it did, that very circumstance would point out to the traveller its ancient site. That such was never intended, is distinctly demonstrated by the present aspect of the remains, pointed out

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