around the outside of the tower. About the middle of the ascent was a landing-place, with seats, where those ascending could rest themselves; and in the top tower stood a spacious temple, and in the temple a beautiful couch, and by its side a table of gold. No Νο statue was erected in it; nor was any mortal allowed to pass the night there except only a native woman chosen by the god out of the whole nation. The Chaldeans, who were priests of this deity, say the Temple did not attain its full splendor until the time of Nebuchadnezzar, who greatly enlarged and beautified it. The summit of the temple was devoted to astronomical purposes. Herodotus states that the Greeks learned from the Babylonians,of the pole star, the sun-dial, and the division of the day into twelve parts; and Calisthenes the philosopher obtained for Aristotle, Chaldean observations for 1903 years-from the origin of the Babylonian monarchy to the time of Alexander.

Berosus, a priest of Belus, appears to have sketched a history of the earlier times, from the delineations upon the walls of the Temple.

From Strabo we learn that Alexander attempted to repair the tower, and employed 10,000 men two months in clearing away the rubbish, but he did not live to accomplish the undertaking. With the exception of the stone bridge across the Euphrates, all the great works of Babylon were constructed of sundried and kiln-dried bricks, generally stamped with figures or letters. Straw or reeds were laid between the courses, and the whole cemented with bitumen, mortar, or slime.

The country around Babylon was intersected by numerous canals; the largest of these, the royal canal, connected the Euphrates with the Tigris, and was navigable for merchant vessels. Strabo tells that Alexander inspected the canals, and ordered them to be cleared out, and that in clearing one in the marshes near Arabia, he discovered and examined the sepulchres of the kings, most of which were situated among the lakes.

Later writers-Diodorus and Strabo-describe yet more wonderful monuments in Babylon than are mentioned by Herodotus. Among these are a tunnel under the Euphrates, subterranean banqueting rooms of brass, and the famous hanging-gardens.

The palace connected with the hanging-gardens was unequaled in size and splendor. Its outer wall had a circuit of six miles, while within it were two other embattled walls and a large tower. All the gates were of brass. The interior of the palace was splendidly decorated with statues of men and animals, and furnished with vessels of gold and silver, and with every species of luxury, accumulated by Nebuchadnezzar in his conquests.

The population was estimated by Pliny to be 1,200,000, but others placed it at a much lower figure, as a considerable portion of the squares within the walls of the city was used for agricultural purposes, so as to render the city self-sustaining in the time of sieges; consequently the population would not be in proportion to the area. Under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon was the Mistress of the East. Pharaoh Necho was the first to take up

arms against her, and marched as far as Carchemish, on the Euphrates, where he was defeated by the Babylonian army. It was immediately after this great battle that the Chaldeans marched upon Jerusalem, and carried captive to Babylon the Jewish nobles, among whom were Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Michael, and Azariah, while Judea remained a province of the Babylonian monarchy.

ITS DECLINE.

B. c. 556, Babylon was taken by Cyrus. Alexander the Great made it his capital, B. c. 324, and died there B. c. 323. On the division of his conquests, Babylon became the kingdom of Seleucus and his successors. Seleucus Nicator transferred the seat of empire to Seleucia, 300 stadia distant, on the Tigris; after which Babylon rapidly declined, so that in the early days of Arab power it had dwindled to a mere name, and A. D. 1101 the present town of Hillah was founded on a part of its site.

RUINS.

The ruins of Babylon are vast in extent, indescribably grand and desolate, the extensive plain for miles around being covered with large mounds of earth and brick. Among the rubbish are found fragments of pottery, glass, marble, and vitrified bricks, many of the bricks bearing inscriptions, while the soil itself is so impregnated with nitre as to destroy all vege.

tation.

The most extensive ruins are five miles above Hillah, on the left bank of the Euphrates. Here are

found a series of artificial mounds of enormous size consisting chiefly of three great masses of buildings: the high pile of unbaked brick-work, called by the Arabs Babil; the building denominated the Kasr, or palace; and a lofty mound, upon which stands a mod ern tomb.

The principal ruins are surrounded by lines of ramparts, and an embankment along the river-side Scattered over a large area, on both sides of the Euphrates, are a number of notable mounds, nearly all standing single. The most remarkable of these is the vast ruin called Birs Nimroud-the Temple of Belus. This mound is 198 feet high, and has on its summit a compact mass of brick-work, 37 feet high by 27 broad-the whole being 235 feet in hight. It is rent into two parts nearly the whole of the way down, and the base is surrounded by immense piles of bricks bearing unmistakable evidence of fire.

It is laid out in the form of seven terraces, arranged in the order in which the Chaldeans supposed the planetary spheres to exist, each terrace being painted in a different color, representing its respective planet.

The lowest stage was black, and consists of bricks covered with bitumen.

The second stage represented the earth, and is of brownish bricks.

The third stage, Mars, and is of red bricks.

The fourth stage, the Sun-yellow bricks.

The fifth, Mercury-green bricks.

The sixth stage, Venus-blue, and the ruined tower

on the summit, gray bricks.