172 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Through the heart of the city flowed the languid Euphrates ; along 

 its banks were quays of brick masonry of the same thickness as the 

 imposing walls. Brass gates and steps led to the water's edge, where 

 dusky ferrymen waited to row the traveler across the quiet river. In 

 the daytime the stream might also be crossed by means of a draw- 

 bridge, an eighth of a mile in length, resting on piers and arches made 

 of stone and fastened together with clamps of iron and lead. 



Near the center of Babylon stood the temple of Belus, with its 

 eight towers, its three gigantic golden divinities, and away in the dis- 

 tance in every direction were other temples and public buildings which 

 crowded history does not take time to mention. 



From either side of the Euphrates rose a majestic palace sur- 

 rounded by triple walls. On the east bank stood the Grand palace, 

 built and used by Nebuchadnezzar. The outer wall, seven miles in 

 length, was constructed of plain, baked brick. The middle and inner 

 walls were made of the same material, but were fronted with enameled 

 brick representing hunting scenes. 



The palace itself was built on a mound fifty or sixty feet in height, 

 walled with brick masonry and paved at the top with enameled brick 

 or stone slabs. 



Within the palace were the three famous halls of brass, one above 

 the other, and so arranged that they could be opened by a mechanical 

 contrivance when needed on feast days. Within were spacious apart- 

 ments, gold and silver vessels in abundance, and such magnificent 

 architecture as the world has rarely heard of since. 



Such was the city of which Nebuchadnezzar boasted. "Is not 

 this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by 

 the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?" 



Such was the city when Isaiah prophesied : "And Babylon, the glory 

 of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldee's excellency, shall be as when 

 God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. The wild beasts of the desert 

 shall lurk in its ruins ; the houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; 

 there shall the owls dwell and the Satyrs dance." 



Well might Nebuchadnezzar smile as he surveyed the walls and 

 temple.-*, the works of his hands. Well might he rest, knowing that the 

 fame of his name and the honor of his majesty would endure to the end 

 of the ages. 



But the queen was not happy. She, too, saw the mighty works her 

 lord had done, but they held no charm for her. She hated the alluvial 

 plain of Babylonia, with its rich verdure at one season and its scorch- 

 ing heat at another. She hated the monotony of the level lands, which 

 the great buildings could not hide. 



