Sir R. Ker Porter's Travel iw Georgia, Persia, Armenia, &e. 605 
latter, with theimflowingsgandy apparel, 
formed a'striking contrastoto the daring, 
dirty; independent air ofthe almostam- 
‘garmented swarthysAvab.iog loll dod 
2269 SOOTHER 'RUINSOF (BABYLON) ¥) it 
o Having disedssed) Hillah,' I shatkpro- 
‘eted to! theyinore interesting grounddh 
itsimmediateneighbourhood ,stilinamed 
‘by: the: Arabs’ Babel; :whileyits vast re- 
mainsilay!for-agesiim the depths of time, 
‘asmnich forgotten by the learned of: Eu- 
rope as!ifitilad been a city of the ante- 
dildvianse’ .(is/)i5 
oWSince the dayssof Alexander, we find 
four capitals; atleast; built out of her re- 
mains > Seleucia’ by: the: Greeks, Ctesi- 
phomby the Parthians, Al Maidanby the 
Persians; (Kufas by« thes Caliphs; with 
‘towns, villages, and caravansaries without 
umber. oThat the fragiients of one city 
should travel sofar,to build or repair the 
‘breaches: of :anotherpon:the first view of 
athe suibject,:appearcd: unlikely ‘te my- 
sself; ‘but: on travetsing the country be- 
tween the approximating shores’ of the 
atworivers, and observing all the facilities 
‘of »water-carriage from: one’ side to the 
@therpl could-no longer be ‘incredulous 
lof) whatthad ‘been told:me ; particularly 
when'scarceiia day passed «without my 
seeing people: digging ‘the mounds of 
Babylon:for bricks, which they carried 
tothe verge@ofthe Euphrates,and thence 
-Conveyéd ini boats«to» wherever ‘they 
dmightbewanteds » From the consequent 
fex¢avations in every possible shape and 
direction; thexregular lines of the original 
#uins have been so broken, that nothing 
ibut confusion as) seen to exist Between 
‘one course ‘and:another, when any tra- 
wveller would attemptjsecking a distinct 
plan anongst those eternally traversing 
minor heaps, hollows, and ravines. But 
certain’ hugesand) rugged ‘masses yet 
stand pre-eminent; which, by their-situ- 
ation;:and ‘other Joeal circumstances, 
seem sufficiently, to)warrant)the: conelu- 
sions! which: diave) beem drawn of; their 
original: purpose. «These vaster mounds 
are surrounded by subordinate xanges, 
now; bearing: ihe appearance of embank- 
aments5and«which, doubtless, have \been 
theseause: of tliciinterior pile’s:;campara- 
itively|animpaired state. oo The yearly 
overflowmg ofthe! whole country, from 
ithe decay ofthe eanils, made todrawloff 
the) superflux-cof! the; ziver, /havingofor 
ages swept unimpeded over the faces of 
‘all the rainsavhich hid not the protection 
of these, I may call them, dbreak-watérs, 
could not fail producing:the devastation 
weysec. » All-such exposed |parts | of the 
city must necessarily “be: broken down 
ro) 
‘imtowider‘and ‘more shapeless ruin, and 
be gradually washed! down into’ lower 
‘and lower‘ hillocks, ‘till, in‘most’ places, 
all'traces would-be entirely swept away- 
‘The piles whieh Iam now going to de- 
iséribeohave, ‘thercfore, not only ‘been 
sav¥ediby their'extraordinary. magnitude 
from theiover-topping of the floods; but 
their foundations greatly: preserved, by 
the majestic lengtl of these banks: in- 
closing them nearly on:allsides. 
The pre-eminent mounds axe three in 
number. © First; the’ Amran’ Hiil,; so 
named by Mrv Richin his “ Memoir on 
the Ruins of Babylon;” and who desig- 
nates it by that appellation, from its sup- 
porting a small tomb erected to the 
memory. of some personage of that 
name, said oto have been a ‘son of: the 
Caliph Ali, who» fell at the: battle of 
Hillah. -These must. be some mistake 
in this tradition; Ali, having: had only 
two sons, Hassan and: Hessein:> '‘The 
second pile is that called the Kasr, or 
palace, which. is\ separated, from’ the 
preceding by. a. distance: of) only) 75¢ 
yards. The third is ‘knewa) byo the 
appellation Mujelibé, or Maelouba, 
“the overturned.” It stands’ about,a 
mile and a half morthward) from the 
other. 
I shall begin my notice: of 'the great 
ruins on this bask) with a detail of :the 
Mujelibé. 
The Mujelibé stands about four miles 
north of Hillah,-on the eastern! sidé of 
the Euphrates; and, perhaps, it is:only 
second to: the Birs: Nimrood)\ ine being 
one of the most. gigantic: masses! :of 
brick-formed,earth that ¢verawas raised 
by the labour of man. >\1t is composed 
of these sun-dried materials, 1o: the pre- 
sent height of 140 feet.::.The:fonn;an 
oblong square; and, like the Birs, facing 
the four cardinal points) he;side.to 
the north measures, along lits dbase652 
feet; that; to the south 230) that othe 
east 230.; andthat ito the west 551.i; The 
summits abroad flat; »when icompared 
with: thes pyramidal) Birsy yet{ very un- 
even; its highest poiut being to the 
south cast, ayhere!it ‘forms an; angular 
kind of ‘peak; ‘sloping gradually down, in 
an oppdsile direction, upon the broad bo- 
somof theymound; toa depth of about 
400 feet. |, Regular lines of. clay brick- 
work are clearly aliseermible along each 
facez, and. those onj,the western front 
hear every, trace; of, .a,yperfectly straight 
wall, that appears,to, hawe cased and 
parapeted } this):side,of» the» pile. The 
angle. tothe south-west is rounded off ; 
but whether it thusomarks the original 
shape 
