BABYLON. 



BABYLONIA. 



two dates, wxl even for several years Inter, Babylon MOD* to have 

 been governed by kings of ita own, who were often if not always 

 dqmtjfoqrt upon the kings of Nineveh. It has been inferred from the 

 (act that the Chaldioan astronomers fixed upon the dat of the accession 

 of Kabooassar (Feb. 28, B.C. 747) as the starting-point in their chro- 

 nology, that some distinguished event, such as the temporary etttablirfi- 

 meot of the independence of Babylon, then took place. Babylonia 

 was re-united to the Assyrian empire by Esirhaddon. After the 

 destruction of Nineveh in B.C. 604 by Nabopalassar and Cyaxares the 

 Mede, Babylon succeeded to the proud position which Nineveh had 

 so long held as the capital of the eastern world. Under Nebuchad- 

 nezzar her power was extended over all the countries that lie between 

 Persia and Egypt, the bounds of the city were extended, and those 

 gigantic buildings erected whose ruins even now excite the wonder of 

 the modern traveller. But the greatness of Babylon as an independent 

 city was short-lived. The Hedes and Persians had also profited by the 

 fall of Nineveh, and, united under the command of the great Cyrus, 

 advanced to dispute with Babylon the dominion of Asia. In B.C. 538 

 Cyrus took the great city, and Babylonia became a Fenian satrapy. 

 Babylon still retained however much of its former power and trade, 

 and struggled more than once to regain its independence. On the 

 downfall of the Persian empire, Babylon opened its gates to Alexander 

 the Great, who deemed the city not unworthy to become the capital 

 of his mighty empire. The foundation of Seleucia on the banks of 

 the Tigris in B.C. 322, gave a hut blow to the prosperity of Babylon : 

 with the exception of a few Chaktoan families who clung to their 

 sacred edifices, all its inhabitants abandoned it. The city partially 

 recovered, and continued to exist for many centuries. When Deme- 

 trius Poliorcetes took it, two fortresses were still remaining in it, only 

 one of which he was not able to take. Eueinerus, king of Parthia, 

 sent many families from Babylon into Media as slaves in ac. 1 27, and 

 burnt many of the temples and a great part of the city. In the reign 

 of Augustus a few Jews were its only inhabitants, and a large part of 

 the area was under cultivation. Lucian, who wrote in the 2nd century 

 of the Christian era, speaks of the former magnificence and extent 

 of Babylon, and adds that its site like that of Ninus (Nineveh) would 

 soon be a subject of investigation. St. Cyril of Alexandria, writing 

 about A.D. 412 says that the canals from the Euphrates having been 

 filled up, the site of Babylon was nothing better than a marsh. Theo- 

 doret in A.D. 460 says that it was no longer inhabited by either 

 Assyrians or Chaldeans, and that only some Jews had a few houses 

 scattered about the ruins. Ibn llaukal (A.U. 917) calls Babel a small 

 village, and states that hardly any remains of Babylon were to be seen. 

 Benjamin of Tudela in the 12th century testifies to its utter desola- 

 tion, and adds that no one dared to enter the remains of Nebuchadnez- 

 zar's palace owing to the number of scorpions and serpents that infested 

 the ruins. 



The greatness of Babylon was not owing solely to the warlike 

 energy or the architectural taste of her kings. The city, situated on 

 the Euphrates and connected by navigable canals with the Tigris, was 

 a great commercial and manufacturing centre long before the fall of 

 Nineveh. The two rivers navigable for large vessels to their mouths 

 in the Persian Gulf formed a highway for Chaldaean ships to the 

 coasts of Arabia and India, while they brought down to the quays 

 of the city the timber and other products of Armenia, and immense 

 quantities of grain from the plains of Mesopotamia. Advantage was 

 taken of the difference of level in the beds of the two rivers, and of 

 the periodical rises, to form canals, which facilitated trade avd car- 

 ried fertility to all parts of the plain. High-roads and causeways, 

 protected at regular interval* by fortified stations, led across the desert 

 to Syria and Palestine ; and at a little distance ran the great military 

 and commercial road from Sardeu to Susa, furnished at intervals of 

 15 mile* with stations and caravanserais. Merchandise descended the 

 riven floating a* to-day on inflated skins, or conveyed in reed-boats 

 coated with bitumen, or in solidly-built barges. The land trade was 

 principally carried on by means of caravans, as in modern times, but 

 the use of wheeled vehicles was Dot unknown. Among the products 

 brought to the market* of Babylon were the pearls of Bahrein and 

 perhaps of Ceylon, cotton, spice*, frankincense, precious stones, ivory, 

 ebony, silk* and dye-stuffs all brought from Arabia or directly from 

 the coast* of Hindustan. There was also a considerable overland 

 trade with Persia, India, and Central Asia, whence gold and precious 

 tones were brought to Babylon and Nineveh. From Babylon the 

 Phoenicians got the products of India in exchange for the tin ol 

 Britain, the cedar of Lebanon, and other product*. In exchange for 

 the product* of the east and west, Babylon was able to supply vast 

 quantities of corn, the produce of the plain between the two nvers , 

 Uw numerous and valuable product* of her looms, including carpet*, 

 silks, flowing garments, and woollen fabrics, woven or embroidered 

 with figures and exquisite designs ; engraved gem* and cylinders. 



This vast trade, which made Babylon for a long time the trading 

 centre of a large portion of the ancient world, with wealth introduced 

 luxury, corruption of manners, effeminacy, and profligacy. The 

 people complete'./ lost their warlike character. When the Persians 

 broke in they found the inhabitant* revelling in sensual indulgence 

 when the Macedonian appeared they at once embraced his yoke. A* 

 the population of the city diminished the canal* were neglected. The 

 waters that carried fertility to the corn-fields, gardens, and palm 



[roves of Mesopotamia, and on which the very towns and villages of 

 he interior of the plain depended for existence, were gradually choked 

 ip. At last the city became one undistinguishable ruin and the once 

 teeming plain an arid desert. 



(Dr. Layard's /tucoreria in Kinrrtk and Babylon ; Rich's Memoir on 

 'iabylon ; Smith'* Dictionary of Greet and Jtoman Geography; 

 Porter's and Buckingham's Travelt.) 



BABYLONIA, the ancient name of a territory in Western Asia, 

 originally comprehending the country in the immediate vicinity of the 

 city of Babylon, but which in later times comprehended the greater 

 >art of Mesopotamia. By ancient Greek and Roman writers it is 

 'requently confounded with Assyria and Mesopotamia. In the Old 

 Testament it is called the land of the Chaldees, and also the ' land of 

 ihinar,' which is the most ancient designation. The name ' Sbinar ' 

 s thought by some to be preserved in that of Sinjar, a hilly district in 

 .he north of Mesopotamia, now inhabited by the Yezedees ; that in 

 'act this district was the original land of Shinar, which designation 

 was gradually extended to the low plain to the southward. According 

 a Strabo and Ptolemaous, Babylonia was bounded N. by the Median Wall 

 'BAGHDAD Pashalic], which extending from the Tigris north of Sittace 

 a the Euphrates, separated it from Mesopotamia ; E. by the Tigris, 

 S. by the Persian Gulf, and W. by the Arabian desert 



In history the native inhabitant* are called Babylonians and 



haldrcans. By some the Chaldeoans are considered to be a distinct 

 race from the Babylonians, or a new people who conquered this country, 

 but it is much more probable that they were originally a distinguished 

 caste among the native population, which comprised the priests, 

 magicians, soothsayers, and astrologers of the country, and which on 

 account of its eminence eventually gave name to the main body of 

 the people. The southern part of the country however was distin- 

 guished by the name of ChaHa-a. 



The surface of Babylonia was an unbroken plain, without a single 

 natural elevation. It was drained by the Tigris and Euphrates, whose 

 periodical inundations contributed to the amazing fertility of its soil. 

 Herodotus (i. 193) speaking of the soil of Babylonia gays that of 

 bread-corns it returned from two to three hundredfold ; that millet 

 and sesame 1 (a leguminous plant from which oil was expressed) grew 

 to a vast size ; that the date-palm, the only tree that grew upon it, 

 flourished throughout the whole plain, and that bread, wine, and honey 

 were made from the dates. Xenophon, too, in his 'Anabasis' (i. 5), 

 and ' Cyropsedeia ' (vii. 5), testifies to the extraordinary fertility of the 

 soil, the gigantic size of the palm-trees, to the excellence of the dates, 

 the honey made from them, and the intoxicating qualities of the date- 

 wine. In the time of Herodotus, who visited Babylon about seventy 

 yean after its siege by Darius, the Babylonian territory supported the 

 king of Persia, his numerous followers, and his whole army for four 

 mouths in the year; and it fed besides 800 stallions and 16,000 mares 

 for the satrap Tritantechmes, whose Indian dogs were supplied with 

 food by four large villages in lieu of all other taxes. It is supposed 

 also that the climate in ancient times was milder, and less hot than 

 at present. 



The fertility of the soil was greatly assisted by numerous canals, 

 or rather aqueducts (for they were not sunk in the land but con- 

 structed on its surface), into which the water was forced from the 

 Euphrates or the Tigris by means of dykes or dams. Xcnophon 

 mentions four large canals flowing from the Tigris towards the 

 Euphrates, and navigable for large corn vessels. The largest of them, 

 which Herodotus (i. 193) says connected the two rivers and was navi- 

 gable, was most probably the Nahr-Malcha, or Royal River, mentioned 

 by Animianus (xxiv. 6), and the formation of which is attributed to 

 Nebuchadnezzar. Like all the other canals the Nahr-Malcha fell to 

 decay after the decline of the city, but it was opened again by Trajan 

 and Severus, and Julian's fleet passed through it out of the Euphrates 

 into the Tigris. But these canals were not constructed merely for 

 purposes of navigation, they served more particularly as reservoirs 

 for feeding the countless irrigating rills that crossed the plain in all 

 directions. A difference in the relative heights of the beds of the two 

 rivers was favourable to the construction of the canals. Above 

 Babylon Ainsworth found the bed of the Euphrates to be 5 feet 

 above that of the Tigris, owing to the greater alluvial deposit by the 

 former river, while at a considerable distance below Babylon the 

 level of the Euphrates is lower than that of the Tigris. There were 

 other large canals for carrying off to the sea or to the marshes in the 

 south of the plain the superabundant waters of the Euphrates and for 

 facilitating the navigation of that river. The marshes were of great 

 extent and were partly artificial, but mostly of natural foru 

 The marshes of Lamlum, which represent the first great marshy tract 

 below Babylon, are fed by the Euphrates, and are described by Ainsworth 

 as extending nearly 40 miles every way, covered with reeds or rushes, 

 haunted by vast herds of buffaloes, and when nearly dry in summer 

 yielding luxuriant crops of ricei Temporary reed-huts for the Arabs 

 who look after the crops are erected on dry spots like islet*. To the 

 south of the marshes the plain rises again almost imperceptibly ; but 

 at Kornah, where the Euphrates and Tigris now unite, there is a vast 

 extent of country covered with reed-marshes which are fed by the 

 Tigris. It is supposed that the alluvial deposits of the two rivers 

 below Kornah have produced a large delta, and that it projects 



into the Persian Gulf 50 miles farther than it did in the time of 



