Chapter XXX: Part 30

The White Nile has been traced up by Dr. Knoblecher and his associates further than by any one before him. In January, 1850, he passed the furthest point reached by any previous expedition; and on the sixteenth of that month reached the village of Logwek, which takes its name from a solitary granite peak about six hundred feet high, which stands on the left bank of the Nile. This is in latitude four degrees and ten minutes north, and is the most southern point which has yet been reached on the White Nile. Dr. Knoblecher ascended the mountain, which commanded a view of almost the entire Bari country. Toward the south-west the river wound out of sight between the mountains Rego and Kidi, near which is the mountain of Kereg, containing rich iron mines which are worked by the natives; and to the south, on the very verge of the horizon, rose a long range of hills, whose forms could not be observed with exactness, owing to the great distance. Beyond the Logwaya range, which appeared in the east, dwell the Berri tribes, whose language is distinct from the Baris, and who are neighbors of the Gallas, that warlike race, whose domain extends from Abyssinia to the wilds of Mozambique, along the great central plateau of Uniamesi. The natives of Logwek knew nothing whatever of the country to the south. The furthest mountain range was probably under the parallel of latitude three degrees north, so that the White Nile has now been traced nearly to the equator. At Logwek, it was about six hundred and fifty feet wide, and from five to eight feet deep, at the time of Dr. Knoblecher’s visit, which was during the dry season. Such an abundance of water allows us to estimate with tolerable certainty the distance to its unknown sources, which must undoubtedly lie beyond the equator. The great snow mountain of Kilimandjarò, discovered in 1850 by Dr. Krapf, the German missionary, on his journey inland from Mombas, on the coast of Zanzibar, has been located by geographers in latitude three degrees south. It is therefore most probable that the source of the White Nile will be found in the range of mountains, of which Kilimandjarò is the crowning apex. The geographer Berghaus, in a long and labored article, endeavors to prove that the Gazelle river is the true Nile, and makes it rise in the great lake N’Yassi, in latitude thirteen degrees south. Dr. Knoblecher, however, who examined the Bahr el-Ghazàl at its mouth, says it is an unimportant stream, with a scarcely perceptible current. He considers the White Nile as being, beyond all question, the true river.

Following the river on to its mouth, the greater part of lower Egypt is contained in a triangular island, formed by the Mediterranean sea, and the two great branches of the Nile, which dividing itself five or six miles from Old Cairo, flows on the one side to the north-east, falling into the sea at Damietta; while the other branch runs to the north-west, and enters the sea at Rosetta. What is called the Delta, resembling the Greek letter of that name, and constituting a triangle, is thus formed. The water of the Nile is here, for the most part, thick and muddy, more particularly when the river is swollen by the heavy rains which constantly fall within the tropics in the beginning of the summer season, and which are doubtless the principal cause of its overflowing the low lands of Egypt. A similar phenomenon is found in the Ganges; and it is the same with all the rivers which have either their rise or course within the tropics: they annually break their bounds, and cover the lands for many miles on each side, before they reach the sea. They likewise leave prolific mud, which, like that of the Nile, fertilizes the land; beside which, the north winds prevailing about the latter end of May, drive in the waters from the sea, and keep back those of the river, in such a manner as considerably to assist the swell. The Egyptians, and the Copts more especially, are persuaded that the Nile always begins to rise on the same day of the year; as, indeed, it generally commences about the same time in June. Its rise was observed for three successive years by Dr. Pococke, who found it to ascend during the first five days from five to ten inches; and it thus continued rising till it had attained the hight of nine feet, when the canal of Cairo was cut. It then rose from three to five inches only in the day; for, having spread over the land and entered the canal, although more water might have descended than before, its rise was less considerable. The other canals were now laid open at stated times, and those which water the lower grounds the last. These canals are carried along the highest parts of the country, so that from their elevation the water may be conveyed to the valleys. So important is this matter of the rise and fall of the river to the whole country, that a thin column or pillar, called the _Nilometer_, has been erected, to mark the elevation or depression of its waters. A view of it is given in the cut following. It is situated in the middle of a round tower, on the island of Rhoda, not far from Cairo, in the middle of the river. In this tower is a marble cistern, through which the Nile flows; its bottom and the bottom of the river being on the same level. From the center of this cistern rises a slender pillar, as seen in the engraving, marked off into twenty divisions of twenty inches each; the entire space marked on the column being somewhat more than thirty-six feet. This column is of the greatest interest to the people, as connected with their prospects of a harvest; and of the greatest importance to the government, as enabling it to fix the tribute, or tax, according to the hight of the inundation. The tower in which it is placed, is lighted by some eighteen or twenty windows, which form a belt around the base of the dome; and beneath these, and above the cistern, are rooms or apartments for those who come to see the hight of the waters, from which rooms a flight of some thirty stone steps leads to the marble pavement in the center of which the cistern and Nilometer are placed. As soon as the attendants ascertain that the overflow will be such as to fertilize all the land, the large canals are all opened with great ceremony and rejoicing. And as soon as the waters retire again from the fields, they are sown with all kinds of grain, so that in a short space of time the whole face of the country is variegated with the rich hues of the flowering plants and the ripening grain.

The Nile has one peculiar characteristic. Other rivers being supplied by rivulets, the ground is lowest near their banks; but as no water flows into the Nile in its passage throughout Egypt, and as it is necessary that this river should overflow the land, the country is generally lower at a distance from, than near to it; and, in most parts, the land has a gradual descent from the river to the foot of the hills, which terminate the sandy plains most benefited by the irrigation. Among other remarkable appearances, the celebrated Bruce notices a very singular one attendant on the inundation of the Nile. In Abyssinia, the early part of the morning is constantly clear in that season, with a fine sunshine. About nine, a small cloud, not above four feet in apparent breadth, appears in the east, whirling violently round as if on an axis; but having approached nearly to the zenith, it first abates its motion, and then loses its form, extending itself greatly, and seeming to call up vapors from all the opposite quarters. The clouds thus formed having attained nearly the same hight, rush against each other with great violence, and remind the spectator of Elisha foretelling rain on Mount Carmel. The air being impelled before the heaviest mass, or swiftest mover, makes an impression of its form on the collection of clouds opposite; and the moment it has taken possession of the space made to receive it, the most violent thunder possible to be conceived follows instantly, attended by rain. After some hours the sky again clears, with a wind at north; and it is always disagreeably cold when the thermometer is below sixty-three degrees.

Dr. Clarke, in his travels, draws the following elegant picture of this most interesting river.

“Here we were unexpectedly greeted with an astonishing view of the Nile, the Delta, and the numerous groves in the neighborhood of Rosetta. The scene is beyond description. The sudden contrast it offers, opposed to the desert we had traversed, the display of riches and abundance poured forth by the fertility of this African paradise, with all the local circumstances of reflection excited by an extensive prospect of the Nile, and of the plains of Egypt, render it one of the most interesting sights in the world. The beautiful boats of the Nile, with their large, wide-spreading sails, were passing up and down the river. Unable to quit the spot, we dismissed our guides, and remained some time contemplating the delightful picture. Afterward, descending on foot, close by the superb mosque of Abu-Mandur, we continued our walks along the bank of the river, through gardens richer than imagination can portray, beneath the shade of enormous overhanging branches of sycamore and fig trees, amid bowers of roses, and through groves of date, citron, lime and banana trees, to Rosetta.”

THE BARRAGE, OR GREAT DAM OF THE NILE.

We end our sketches of Egypt, and the Nile, by a notice of the _barrage_, or great dam, at the northern part of the Delta, just below where the river divides into the two great streams which empty themselves at Rosetta on the west, and Damietta on the east. This immense work, which is hardly heard of out of Egypt, is one of the greatest undertakings of modern times. It is nothing less than a damming of the Nile, so as to hold back its waters and keep them in reserve, till, by letting them out, at the proper seasons, two inundations may be produced each year, and so the crops doubled throughout the Delta. This great work is not only projected, but far advanced toward completion. Each branch of the river is to be spanned by sixty-two arches, besides a central gateway ninety feet in breadth, and flanked by lofty stone towers. The point of the Delta, between the two dams, is protected by a curtain of solid masonry, and the abutments which it joins are fortified by towers sixty or seventy feet in hight. The piers have curved breakwaters on the upper side, while the opposite parapet of the arches rises high above them, so that the dam consists of three successive terraces, and presents itself like a wedge, against the force of such an immense body of water. The material is brick, faced with stone. When complete, it is intended to close the side arches during low water, leaving only the central gateway open. By this means sufficient water will be gained to fill all the irrigating canals, while a new channel, cut through the center of the Delta, will render productive a vast tract of fertile land. The project is a grand one, and the only obstacle to its success is the light, porous character of the alluvial soil on which the piers are founded. The undertaking was planned and commenced by M. Linant, and has been continued by other engineers. “The Egyptian boatmen,” says Taylor, “have reason to complain of the _barrage_. The main force of the river is poured through the narrow space wherein the piers have not yet been sunk, which can not be passed without a strong north wind. Forty or fifty boats were lying along the shore, waiting the favorable moment. We obtained permission from the engineer to attach our boat to a large government barge, which was to be drawn up by a stationary windlass. As we put off, the wind freshened, and we were slowly urged against the current to the main rapid, and at last reached smoother water, and sailed off gaily for Cairo.”

THE AFRICAN BIRDS’ NEST.

Before passing to the ruins of some of the cities of antiquity, we would here, by way of variety, briefly describe the wonderful and curious nest of the “_sociable weavers_,” as they are called, which abound in some parts of Africa; a view of which is given in the engraving below. Hundreds of these birds, in one community, join to form a structure of interwoven grass, containing various apartments, all covered by a sloping roof, which is extended, from year to year, as the increase of their numbers may require. A traveler, having examined one of these huge nests, found it to consist mainly of grass, without any mixture, but so firmly basketed together as to be impenetrable to the rain, and extending like a canopy over all the particular nests built by the individual birds. The one he examined contained no less than three hundred and twenty cells.

Returning from this digression, we now pass to the notice of some of the ruins of the cities of antiquity; and first to the

RUINS OF PALMYRA.

This noble city of ancient Syria, also called Tadmor, is of uncertain date and origin, but is thought by some to have been the “Tadmor in the wilderness” built by Solomon. The first view of the city is exceedingly magnificent, the snow-white appearance of the innumerable columns and buildings, contrasting strikingly with the yellow sand of the desert. Its ruins are not to be compared, as to the size of the gates, columns and temples, with those of Balbec or Thebes; but they are more remarkable for their vast extent, and are less encumbered with modern fabrics than most ancient remains. They consist of temples, palaces, gateways and porticos of Grecian architecture, scattered over an extent of several miles. One of the most remarkable of them is the _temple of the Sun_, the ruins of which extend over a square of more than two hundred yards. The temple itself, which points north and south, is thirty-three yards in length and about fourteen in width. At its center, on the west side, is a magnificent entry, on the remains of which vines and clusters of grapes are carved in a bold and masterly imitation of nature. Over the door is a pair of wings, extending the whole breadth. Its north extremity is adorned with curious fret-work and bass-relief, and in the center is a dome, or cupola, about ten feet in diameter, of solid stone. To the north of this is an obelisk of seven large stones, which probably once supported a statue; and about a quarter of a mile distant are others similar to it, as if forming originally part of a continued row.

About one hundred paces from the middle obelisk, straight forward, is a magnificent entry to a piazza, forty feet in breadth and more than half a mile in length, inclosed with two rows of marble pillars twenty-six feet high, and eight or nine feet in compass. Of these there still remain one hundred and twenty-nine; and by a moderate computation, there could not have been originally less than five hundred and sixty. At the west side of this piazza are several apertures for gates into the court of the palace, each of them ornamented with four porphyry pillars, not standing in a line with those of the wall, but placed by couples in the front of the gate facing the palace, two on each side. Two of these only remain entire, and one only standing in its place. They are thirty feet in length, and nine in circumference. On the east side of the piazza stand a great number of marble pillars, some perfect, but the greater part mutilated. In one place eleven of them are ranged in a square, the space they inclose being paved with broad flat stones, but without any remains of a roof. At a little distance are the remains of a small temple, also without a roof, and having its walls much defaced. Before the entry, which faces the south, is a piazza supported by six pillars, two on each side of the door, and one at each end. The pedestals of those in front have been filled with inscriptions, both in the Greek and Palmyrene languages, which are become totally illegible. Among these ruins are many sepulchers, ranged on each side of a hollow way toward the north part of the city, and extending more than a mile; some being mere heaps of rubbish; others half fallen, exposing their shattered chambers; while one or two remain almost entire. They are built in the shape of square towers, from three to four stories in hight, each forming a sepulchral chamber, with recesses divided into compartments for the reception of the bodies. Some of the chambers are beautifully ornamented with Corinthian pilasters and sculptures, almost in perfect preservation, executed in bold relief; the walls are of white stucco, and the ceilings are divided into diamond-shaped compartments, delicately ornamented with white stars on a blue ground; while over the doorways are inscriptions both in the Greek and Palmyrene languages. The outsides are of common stone; but the floors and partitions of each story are of marble. A walk crosses the center of this range of buildings, and the space on each side is subdivided by thick walls, into six partitions, the space between which is wide enough to receive the largest corpse. In these niches six or seven are piled on one another.

RUINS OF BALBEC.

Baal-bec, or Balbec, is supposed by many to be the same as Baal-ath, built by Solomon in Lebanon, as mentioned in the eighth chapter of the second book of Chronicles. Its magnificent ruins are described by Mr. Bruce as even surpassing what he had seen at Palmyra. He was particularly struck by the splendid vestiges of the great temple, supposed to have been dedicated to the sun. The castle of Balbec, or tower of Lebanon, is described by Leander, a Carmelite monk, in his interesting travels, as a surprising monument of antiquity, built according to the tradition of the natives, by Solomon. His relation is as follows. “Balbec is distant from Damascus, toward the north, about fifty miles, and on the southern side is watered by springs and rivulets, brought thither, no doubt, to fill the ditches by which it was to have been surrounded for defense, but which were not completed. It is situated on the lofty summit of a hill, in approaching which the façade of the castle is seen, having two towers at its right angles, between which is a great portico, resembling the mouth of a vast cave, and provided with very strong walls. That on the right hand, by which the portico is attached to the tower, from the west to the north, is composed of four stones only, the fifth, which was to have completed the fabric, being deficient. The length of each of these stones is not less than sixty-two feet, and their breadth and hight thirteen. They are so artfully brought together, without any cement, that they appear to be only one solid block. The remainder of the wall to the left is of hewn stones, well cemented with quick-lime, the smallest of which are six feet in length, and four feet and six inches in hight: there are many which are upward of fifteen feet in length, but the hight of all of them is the same.

“Having entered the cavern by the grand portico, the traveler proceeds in obscurity to the distance of eighteen paces, when he at length perceives a ray of light proceeding from the aperture of the door which conducts to the center. At each of the sides, and within this grand portico, is a flight of stone steps which leads to the subterraneous prisons. Their aspect is horrid, and they were formerly dangerous, being frequented by banditti and robbers, who would plunder, kill, and here bury such wretched travelers as were imprudently led by their curiosity to penetrate, and risk the descent without being well escorted. Following the road above, by the cavern, to the extent of fifty paces, an ample area of a spherical figure presents itself, surrounded by majestic columns of granite, some of them of a single piece, and others formed of two pieces, the whole of them of so large a dimension, that two men can with difficulty girt them. They are of the Ionic order of architecture, and are placed on bases of the same stone, at such distances from each other that a coach and six might commodiously turn between them. They support a flat tower or roof, from which projects a cornice wrought with figures of matchless workmanship: these rise above the capitals with so nice an union, that the eye can not distinguish the place where they are joined. At the present time the greater part of this colonnade is destroyed, the western part alone remaining perfect and upright. This fabric has an elevation of five hundred feet, and is four hundred feet in length. In its exterior, and behind, it is flanked by two other towers similar to those of the first façade, the whole projecting from the wall, which within is provided with loop-holes, to keep off the enemy, in case of necessity, by the means of stones, fire, &c. It also surrounds the colonnade, more particularly in the part which looks toward the east. At the left flank rises a temple, which tradition says was the hall of audience of Solomon, in hight at least eighty feet, and long and large in proportion. Its stones are all sculptured with bass-reliefs, similar to those which ornament Trajan’s column at Rome, representing many triumphs and naval engagements. Several of these bass-reliefs have been defaced by the Saracens, who are the decided enemies of all sculptures. Without this grand hall is an avenue of the same size and breadth, where the traveler admires a large portal constructed with three stones only, attached to which, in the middle part, serving as an architrave, is seen, in a garland of laurel interwoven with flowers, a large eagle admirably sculptured in bass-relief. At the sides of the portal are placed two columns, in one of which, although formed of a single stone, is a winding staircase by which to ascend to the architrave: the passage is however very narrow. There is in the vicinity another temple, of an octangular shape, with a portico of superb architecture, and having three windows on the side opposite to the former.”

Three times Leander returned to visit this splendid vestige of antiquity; and on the last of these occasions, being well escorted, he proceeded to the distance of about a mile, to the foot of the mountains of Damascus, whence the stones employed in its construction were brought. He measured the stone which remained there, and which has already been noticed as having been intended for the fifth in the construction of the wall: it had been hewn out on all sides, was lying on the ground, and was simply attached to the rock at the lower part. Its length and dimensions were such that he could not conceive how it would have been possible to detach it, and still less with what machines to move, transport, and raise it to the hight at which other stones are placed, more especially as the sites, the roads, and the masses of rock are such, as to exceed in roughness and difficulty whatever the imagination can picture to itself. In the vicinity of the cave whence the stones were drawn is a very beautiful sepulcher supported by columns of porphyry, over which is a dome of the finest symmetry, and of great beauty.

RUINS OF BABYLON.

The ruins of Babylon are deeply interesting, not only on account of their great antiquity, but from the associations connected with them. They have been visited and described by Mr. Rich, resident for the East India company at Bagdad; and the result of his researches is given by the Rev. Mr. Maurice, author of “Indian Antiquities,” and assistant librarian to the British museum, in his elaborate work entitled “Observations connected with Astronomy and Ancient History, Sacred and Profane, on the Ruins of Babylon.”

Babylon was situated in a plain of vast extent, and bisected by the noble river Euphrates. Over this river was thrown a bridge of massive masonry, strongly compacted with iron and lead, by which the two sides of the city were connected; and the embankments on each side, to restrain its current, were lofty, and formed of the same durable materials as the walls of the city. The city itself is represented by Herodotus to have been a perfect square, inclosed by a wall in circumference four hundred and eighty furlongs. It is stated to have abounded in houses three or four stories in hight, and to have been regularly divided into streets, running parallel to each other, with tranverse avenues occasionally opening to the river. It was surrounded with a wide and deep trench, the earth dug out of which was formed into square bricks and baked in a furnace. With these, cemented together with heated bitumen, intermixed with reeds to bind the viscid mass, the sides of the trenches were lined; and of the same solid materials the walls of the vast dimensions above described were formed. At certain regular distances on them, watch-towers were erected; and below they were divided and adorned with a hundred immense gates of brass. As you float down the river from Bagdad, you pass a plain that hears the name of Dura, which tradition says, is the very place where Nebuchadnezzar set up the golden image, and commanded all to bow down and worship it: it is now a wilderness, with here and there a shapeless mound, the remains of some ancient habitation. And still further down, as you approach the city, is a tower, some two hundred feet high, on the east bank of the river, with an ascending way winding round it on the outside, like the spiral of a screw, as seen in the cut below, reminding the traveler of the common ideal pictures of the tower of Babel. It marks the site of the ancient city of Samarrah, where the Roman army under Jovian rested after marching and fighting a long summer’s day. It was afterward the capital of the eighth caliph of the Abbasside dynasty.

In the center of each of the grand divisions of the city itself, a stupendous public fabric was erected. In one (the eastern side) stood the temple of Belus, and in the other, (or western division,) in a large or strongly fortified inclosure, the royal palace, intended, doubtless, for defense as well as for ornament. The temple of Belus was a square pile, on each side of the extent of two furlongs. The tower erected in its center was a furlong in breadth, and as much in hight, the latter of which (taking the furlong at only five hundred feet) is enormous, being higher, by twenty feet, than the great pyramid of Memphis. On this tower, as a base, seven other lofty towers were erected in regular succession; and the whole was crowned, we are told by Diodorus, with a brazen statue of Belus, forty feet high! The palace, intended also as a citadel, was erected on an area a mile and a half square, and was surrounded with three vast circular walls, which, as we are informed by Diodorus Siculus, were ornamented with sculptured animals resembling life, richly painted in their natural colors on the bricks of which they were composed, and afterward burnt in. This may be mentioned as nearly the earliest specimen of enameling on record. Indeed, it was scarcely possible for a nation, who were so well practiced in the burning of bricks even to a vitreous hardness, to have been ignorant of this fine art; and that they could also engrave upon them, is evident, as we may soon see, from the characters at this day sculptured upon those that have been dug up and brought to Europe, many of which are preserved in the British museum. On the far-famed hanging gardens, and the subterraneous vault or tunnel constructed by Semiramis, or Nitocris, or the founder of Babylon, whoever he was, there is no necessity to dilate, as every trace of them, except what the idle fancy of travelers has surmised, must long since have disappeared; but such, in its general outline, was the _mighty Babylon_—BABYLON THE GREAT.

Mr. Rich, whose residence at the court of Bagdad, with the powerful protection of the pacha, afforded him every facility for comprehensive investigation, describes the whole country between Bagdad and Hella, a distance of forty-eight miles, as a perfectly flat, and, for the greater part, uncultivated waste; though it is evident, from the number of canals by which it is traversed, and the immense ruins that cover its surface, that it must formerly have been both well peopled and cultivated. About two miles above Hella, the more prominent ruins commence, among which, at intervals, are discovered, in considerable quantities, burnt and unburnt bricks and bitumen: two vast mounds in particular attract attention from their size, and these are situated on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. At the time of his visit, there were scarcely any remains of ruins visible, immediately opposite on the western bank, but there were some of stupendous magnitude on that side, about six miles to the south-west of Hella.

The first grand mass of ruins described by Mr. Rich, extends one thousand one hundred yards in length, and eight hundred in its greatest breadth, its figure nearly resembling that of a quadrant; its hight is irregular; but the most elevated part may be about fifty or sixty feet above the level of the plain, and it has been dug into for the purpose of procuring bricks. On the north is a valley of five hundred and fifty yards in length, the area of which is covered with tussocks of rank grass, and crossed by a line of ruins of very little elevation. To this succeeds the second grand heap of ruins, the shape of which is nearly a square, seven hundred yards in length and breadth, and having its south-west angle connected with the north-west angle of the mounds of Amran, by a ridge of considerable hight, and nearly one hundred yards in breadth. This he thought the most interesting part of the ruins of Babylon; every vestige discoverable in it declaring it to have been composed of buildings far superior to all the rest which had left traces in the eastern quarter: the bricks were of the finest description; and, notwithstanding this was the grand storehouse of them, and that the greatest supplies had been and then were constantly drawn from it, they appeared still to be abundant. But the operation of extracting the bricks had caused great confusion, and contributed much to increase the difficulty of deciphering the original design of this mound, as, in search of them, the workmen had pierced into it in every direction, hollowing out deep ravines and pits, and throwing up the rubbish in heaps on the surface. In some places they had bored into the solid mass, forming winding caverns and subterraneous passages, which, from their being left without adequate support, sometimes fell and buried the workmen in the rubbish. In all these excavations, walls of burnt brick, laid in lime mortar of a very good quality, are seen; and, in addition to the substances generally strewed on the surfaces of all these mounds, here are found fragments of alabaster vessels, fine earthenware, marble, and great quantities of varnished tiles, the glazing and coloring of which are surprisingly fresh. In a hollow near the southern part, Mr. Rich found a sepulchral urn of earthenware, which had been broken in digging, and near it lay some human bones, which pulverized with the touch.

“Not more than two hundred yards,” he says, “from the northern extremity of the above mound is a ravine hollowed out by those who dig for bricks, in length nearly a hundred yards, and thirty feet wide, by forty or fifty deep. On one side of it, a few yards of wall remain standing, the face of which is very clean and perfect, and which appears to have been the front of some building. The opposite side is so confused a mass of rubbish, that it would seem as if the ravine had been worked through a solid building. Under the foundations at the southern end an opening is made, which discovers a subterraneous passage seven feet in hight, and winding to the south, floored and walled with large brick, laid in bitumen and covered over with pieces of sandstone, a yard thick, and several yards long, on which the whole pressure is so great as to have given a considerable degree of obliquity to the side walls of the passage. The superstructure is cemented with bitumen, other parts of the ravine with mortar, and the bricks all have writing on them. The northern end of the ravine appears to have been crossed by an extremely thick wall of yellowish brick, cemented with a brilliant white mortar, which has been broken through in hollowing it out; and a little to the north is sculptured a lion of colossal dimensions, standing on a pedestal, of a coarse kind of gray granite, and of rude workmanship; in the mouth is a circular aperture, into which a man may introduce his fist.”

The next considerable mass to that of Amran is the Kasr, or palace, as it is called by the natives, and it is thus described by Mr. Rich.

“It is a very remarkable ruin, which, being uncovered, and in part detached from the rubbish, is visible from a considerable distance, but so surprisingly fresh in its appearance, that it was only after a minute inspection I was satisfied of its being in reality a Babylonian remain. It consists of several walls and piers, (which face the cardinal points,) eight feet in thickness, in some places ornamented with niches, and in others, strengthened by pilasters and buttresses, built of fine burnt brick, (still perfectly clean and sharp,) laid in lime cement, of such tenacity, that those whose business it is have given up working, on account of the extreme difficulty of extracting them whole. The tops of these walls are broken, and may have been much higher. On the outside, they have in some places been cleared nearly to the foundations; but the internal spaces, formed by them, are yet filled with rubbish, in some parts almost to their summit. One part of the wall has been split into three parts, and overthrown, as if by an earthquake; some detached walls of the same kind, standing at different distances, show what remains to have been only a small part of the original fabric; indeed, it appears that the passage in the ravine, together with the wall which crosses its upper end, were connected with it. There are some hollows underneath, in which several persons have lost their lives; so that no one will now venture into them, and their entrances have become choked up with rubbish. Near this ruin is a heap of rubbish, the sides of which are curiously streaked by the alternation of its materials, the chief part of which, it is probable, was unburnt brick, of which I found a small quantity in the neighborhood; but no reeds were discoverable in the interstices.

“A mile to the north of the Kasr, or full five miles distant from Hella, and nine hundred and fifty yards from the river bank, is the last ruin of this series, which has been described by Pietro Della Valle, who determines it to have been the tower of Belus, an opinion adopted by Rennel. The natives call it Mukallibe, or, according to the vulgar Arab pronunciation of these parts, Mujelibe, meaning _overturned_; they sometimes also apply this term to the mounds of the Kasr. It is of an oblong shape, irregular in its hight and the measurement of its sides, which face the cardinal points; the northern side being two hundred yards in length, the southern two hundred and nineteen, the eastern one hundred and eighty-two, and the western one hundred and thirty-six; the elevation of the south-east, or highest angle, one hundred and forty-one feet. The western face, which is the least elevated, is the most interesting, on account of the appearance of building it presents. Near the summit of it appears a low wall, with interruptions, built of unburnt bricks, mixed up with chopped straw or reeds, and cemented with clay-mortar of great thickness, having between every layer a layer of reeds; and on the north side are, also, some vestiges of a similar construction. The south-west angle is crowned by something like a turret, or lantern: the other angles are in a less perfect state, but may originally have been ornamented in a similar manner. The western face is lowest and easiest of ascent, the northern the most difficult. All are worn into furrows by the weather; and in some places, where several channels of rain have united together, these furrows are of great depth, and penetrate a considerable way into the mound. The summit is covered with heaps of rubbish, in digging into some of which, layers of broken burnt brick, cemented with mortar, are discovered, and whole bricks, with inscriptions on them, are here and there found. The whole is covered with innumerable fragments of pottery, brick, bitumen, pebbles, vitrified brick, or scoria, and even shells, bits of glass, and mother of pearl.”

Mr. Rich, having now finished his observations on the ruins of the east bank of the Euphrates, enters upon the examination of what, on the opposite west bank, have been by some travelers supposed (and their suppositions have been adopted by Major Rennel) to be the remains of this great city. Those, however, which Mr. Rich describes, are of the most trifling kind, scarcely exceeding one hundred yards in extent, and wholly consisting of two or three insignificant mounds of earth, overgrown with rank grass. The country, too, being marshy, he doubts the possibility of there having been any buildings of considerable magnitude erected in that spot, and, much less, buildings of the astonishing dimensions of those described by the classical writers of antiquity. He then opens to our view a new and almost unexplored remain of ancient grandeur, in the following passage.

“But, although there are not any ruins in the immediate vicinity of the river, by far the most stupendous and surprising mass of all the remains of Babylon is situated in the desert about six miles to the south-west of Hella. It is called by the Arabs _Birs Nimrod_, by the Jews, Nebuchadnezzar’s prison. It is a mound of an oblong figure, the total circumference of which is seven hundred and sixty-two yards. At the eastern side it is cloven by a deep furrow, and is not more than fifty or sixty feet high; but at the western it rises in a conical figure to the elevation of one hundred and ninety-eight feet; and on its summit is a solid pile of brick, thirty-seven feet high by twenty-eight in breadth, diminishing in thickness to the top, which is broken and irregular, and rent by a large fissure extending through a third of its hight. It is perforated by small square holes, disposed in rhomboids. The fine burnt bricks of which it is built have inscriptions on them; and so admirable is the cement, which appears to be lime-mortar, that, though the layers are so close together that it is difficult to discern what substance is between them, it is nearly impossible to extract one of the bricks whole. The other parts of the summit of this hill are occupied by immense fragments of brick-work, of no determinate figure, tumbled together and converted into solid vitrified masses, as if they had undergone the action of the fiercest fire, or been blown up with gunpowder, the layers of the bricks being perfectly discernible; a curious fact, and one for which I am utterly incapable of accounting. Round the Birs are traces of ruins to a considerable extent. To the north is the canal which supplies Mesjiid Ali with water, which was dug at the expense of the Nuwaub Shujahed Doulah, and called after his country, Hindia. We are informed that, from the summit of the Birs, in a clear morning, the gilt dome of Mesjiid Ali may be seen.”

Before passing on to a brief notice of the later discoveries at Babylon, a word may be said on the subject of the

BABYLONIAN BRICKS.

One of the ancient methods of writing, was on stone or brick, of which, as the earliest example on record, if allowable to be cited, may be adduced that of the two pillars of Seth, the one of brick and the other of stone, said by Josephus to have been erected before the deluge, and to have contained the history of antediluvian arts and sciences. However disputable this account may be, that of the tables of stone on which the decalogue was written by the finger of the Deity, and delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai, can admit of no doubt, no more than can the hieroglyphic characters in the most ancient periods, engraved on the marbles of Egypt, at present so abundant in the collections of Europe, and which remain to this day, and will be, for centuries to come, a lasting proof of the high advance in the engraving art, as well as in chemical science, of a nation, who, at that early period, could fabricate instruments to cut them so deep and indelibly on the almost impenetrable granite.

In countries destitute of stone, like Chaldea, an artificial substance, clay, intermixed with reeds, and indurated by fire, was made use of for that purpose. Of this substance, formed into square masses, covered with mystic characters, the walls and palaces of Babylon were, for the most part, constructed: and it has been seen in the accounts of travelers who have visited these ruins, examined the bricks, and observed those reeds intermingled with their substance, how durable, through a vast succession of ages, those bricks, with their inscribed characters, have remained. Their real meaning, or that of the Persepolitan arrow-headed obelistical characters, and the still more complicated hieroglyphics of Egypt, however partially deciphered by the labors of the learned, will, perhaps, never be fathomed in its full extent, by the utmost ingenuity of man.

Of the bitumen with which these Babylonian bricks were cemented together, and which was plentifully produced in the neighborhood of Babylon, it may be proper in this place to remark, that it binds stronger than mortar, and in time becomes harder than the brick itself. It was also impenetrable to water, as was formerly well known, for both the outside and the inside of the ark was incrusted with it. Gen. vi. 14. It may be proper to add here, that the bitumen, to deprive it of its brittleness, and render it capable of being applied to the brick, must be boiled with a certain proportion of oil, and that it retains its tenacity longest in a humid situation. Mr. Rich informs us, that it is “at present principally used for calking boats, coating cisterns, baths, and other places which usually come in contact with water. The fragments of it scattered over the ruins of Babylon are black, shining and brittle, somewhat resembling pit-coal in substance and appearance.” It will not be forgotten, that the custom above alluded to, of mixing straw or reeds with bricks baked in the sun, in order to bind them closer, and so make them more firm and compact, was also used in Egypt, as may be inferred from Exodus v. 7, where Pharaoh commands the taskmasters of the oppressed Israelites “not to give them straw to make bricks,” in order to multiply their vexations and increase their toil.

Speaking of the Babylonian bricks, and their variety in respect to size, color, hardness, &c., Mr. Rich tells us, that the general size of the kiln-burnt brick is thirteen inches square, by three thick; and that some are of about half these dimensions, and a few of different shapes for particular purposes, such as rounding corners, &c. They are of different colors: _white_, with a yellowish tinge, like what are called fire-brick; _red_, like our ordinary brick, which are the coarsest of all; and some _blackish_, and very hard. The sun-dried brick are generally the largest, and more or less mixed with chopped straw, for the obvious purpose of binding them; and some even of the fire-burnt bricks seem to have been made of the same material. In the palace, or Kasr, Mr. Rich found far finer specimens of art than the mere brick-work affords; for in addition to the substances usually strewed on the surfaces of all these mounds, he saw fragments of alabaster vessels, fine earthen-ware, marble, and great quantities of varnished tiles, the glazing and coloring of which was surprisingly fresh. The process from making pottery to molding figures in clay, was not difficult; but the designs in brass, and the grouping of figures, must have required much greater skill and labor.

LATER DISCOVERIES AT BABYLON.

As the traveler approaches very near to Babylon, from the north, the first great ruin, as we have already said, is the “mound of Babel,” better known as the Mujelibé, or the “overturned,” a vast mound, from the top of which rises a solitary mass of brick-work, and beyond which are long undulating heaps of earth, bricks and pottery. On all sides are fragments of glass, marble, earthen-ware, and inscribed brick, mingled with that peculiar nitrous and blanched soil, which, bred from the remains of ancient habitations, checks or destroys vegetation, and renders the site of Babylon a naked and hideous waste, fit only for the abode of owls and jackals. Southward from this spot, for nearly three miles, there is an almost uninterrupted line of mounds, the ruins of the vast edifices which once formed part of the city. Mr. Layard commenced his excavations in one of these mounds, finding arrow-heads of iron and bronze, glass bottles, colored and ribbed, and of various forms and sizes, &c., &c., &c. On going deeper, the workmen soon reached solid piers and walls of brick masonry, many of the bricks bearing the usual superscription of Nebuchadnezzar; and the remains of similar buildings were found in various places. But though Mr. Layard’s discoveries of this kind were numerous, few things were brought to light materially different from what had been found and described by others before him.

About the year 1850, however, the French government sent out three gentlemen to make scientific and artistic researches in Media, Mesopotamia, and Babylon. One, M. Jules Oppert, has just returned to Paris, (1854,) and it appears, from his report, that he and his colleagues thought it advisable to begin by confining themselves to the exploration of ancient Babylon. This task was one of immense difficulty, and it was enhanced by the excessive heat of the sun, by privations of all kinds, and by the incessant hostility of the Arabs. After a while M. Oppert’s two colleagues fell ill, so that all the labors of the expedition devolved on him. He first of all made excavations of the ruins of the famous suspended gardens of Babylon, which are now known by the name of the hall of Amran-ibn-Ali; and obtained in them a number of curious architectural and other objects, which are destined to be placed in the Louvre at Paris. He next, in obedience to the special orders of his government, took measures for ascertaining the precise extent of Babylon, a matter which the reader is aware has always been open to controversy. He has succeeded in making a series of minute surveys, and in drawing up detailed plans of the immense city. His opinion is, that even the largest calculations as to its vast extent are not exaggerated; and he puts down that extent at the astounding figure of five hundred square kilometres, French measure, (the square kilometre is eleven hundred and ninety-six square yards.) This is very nearly eighteen times the size of Paris. But, of course, he does not say that this enormous area was occupied, or anything like it: it comprised within the walls huge tracts of cultivated lands and gardens, for supplying the population with food in the event of a siege. M. Oppert has discovered the Babylonian and Assyrian measures, and by means of them has ascertained exactly what part of the city was inhabited, and what part was in fields and gardens. On the limits of the town, properly so called, stands at present the flourishing town of Hillah. This town, situated on the banks of the Euphrates, is built with bricks from the ruins, and many of the household utensils, and personal ornaments of its inhabitants, are taken from them also. Beyond this town is the vast fortress, strengthened by Nebuchadnezzar, and in the midst of it is the royal palace, itself almost as large as a town. M. Oppert says, that he was also able to distinguish the ruins of the famous tower of Babel; they are most imposing, and stand on a site formerly called Borsippa, or the tower of languages. The royal town, situated on the two banks of the Euphrates, covers a space of nearly seven square kilometres, and contains most interesting ruins. Amongst them are those of the royal palace, the fortress, and the suspended gardens. In the collection of curiosities which M. Oppert has brought away with him, is a vase, which he declares to date from the time of one of the Chaldean sovereigns named Narambel, that is, somewhere about sixteen hundred years before Christ; also a number of copies of cuneiform inscriptions which he has every reason to believe that he will be able to decipher. It may not be out of place, to add, here, that in the excavations recently made in Persia, it is said that the palace of Shushan and the tomb of Daniel have probably been found; and also the very pavement described in Esther i. 6, “of red, and blue, and white, and black marble.” On the tomb is the sculptured figure of a man bound hand and foot, with a huge lion in the act of springing upon him to devour him. No history could speak more graphically the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. Various other discoveries have also been made, all of which bear out the statements of the Old Testament history as to the times of the prophet, and the nation of which he speaks.

RUINS OF NINEVEH.

Nineveh, famous in the ancient world, as the splendid capital of the Assyrian empire, had been hidden some two thousand years in its unknown grave, when a French _savant_ and a wandering English scholar sought out the seat of that once mighty power, and throwing off its shroud of sand and ruin, revealed to the astonished world its temples, palaces, and idols, the representations of the wars of the ancient Assyrians, and their triumphs in civilization and art. Niebuhr was one of the first to give attention to these ruins, and especially to stimulate the curiosity and enterprise of others. And after him Rich, Botta, and others, and especially and above all, Layard, carried on investigations which have brought to light the wonderful remains of this long-buried city. The earliest successful excavations were made by Botta at Khorsabad, in 1843; and by these he was led on to the discovery of an immense monument worthy to be compared in richness and ornament to the most sumptuous productions bequeathed us by ancient Egypt. The first discovery was of the remains of a chamber, which evidently was but part of a large building buried in the mound, the walls of which were covered with bass-reliefs. And next, finding a bronze lion, and the heads and wings of the winged bulls, M. Botta was satisfied that the whole space was full of ancient remains. After various difficulties and obstacles, which were at length overcome, in 1844, he had three hundred laborers at work making excavations, while an artist copied the bass-reliefs and inscriptions as fast as they were uncovered. These, with the most remarkable and best preserved pieces of sculpture, were sent to Paris, where they arrived in 1846, and where they now form one of the greatest attractions in the noble museum of the Louvre.