sarrani, "kings." 

 Ztf dtf aim'. "stones." 



c^ JfcJ tf Jfcjy kaklci, "weapons." 



f ^y>- ^y>- for ->f !> ty- y^- ift ra&z, " great gods." * 



ildni rabuti. 



In col. 3 line 22 we meet with an example of the redun- 

 dancy so common in Syriac, thus : subursu dur Bdrzippav 

 " the height of it the fortress of Borsippa," i.e. " the height 

 of the fortress of Borsippa." 



And this brings us to the consideration of Babylon itself. 

 Babylon is the Greek form of Babel or Bab-ili. And Ba-bel 

 is the exact Semitic translation of the Akkadian JE^I $jfc 

 fT.y KA DINGIRRA, or " the gate to god." It bore two 

 other names, viz., ^~^ ^I^J EKI "the house," par excellence, 

 and ^ ^5fif DIN-TIR " the house of the jungle," t or, 

 according to others, "the place of life." But this is 

 properly the designation of the town on the left bank of 

 the river. Babylon is also expressed by *~^TT "Y~Y 

 >-Jf- y~- D.P. Bab-ilani "the gate of the gods." J It was 

 said to have been built in very early times, it became the 

 capital under Khaminuragas (B.C. about 1700, who built a 

 temple to Merodach there) and held this position for 1200 

 years. It was conquered by Tukulti-Ninip, B.C. 1271; by 

 Tiglath-Pileser I. B.C. 1110 ; by Tiglath-Pileser II. B.C. 731 ; 

 by Merodach Baladan, B.C. 722 ; by Sargon, B.C. 721. It 

 was sacked and burnt by Sennacherib, B.C. 692 ; restored by 

 Esarhaddon, B.C. 675 ; captured by Assur-bani-pal, B.C. 648, 

 (also by Nabu-pal-usur, B.C. 626?) and finally taken by 

 the Medes and Persians about B.C. 539. The city was built 

 on both sides of the river in the form of a square, and was 

 enclosed within a double row of high walls, the inner being 

 called Imgur-Bel, the outer Nimitti Bel. Ctesias makes the 

 outer walls 360 stades in circumference, Herodotus and Pliny 

 480, Strabo || 385, Q. Curtiusf 368, and Clitarchus ** 365. 



* This usage reminds us of the nl^? n " l S3 of Genesis xiv. 10, to express 

 multitude, "NBn. "llJDn of Judges xv. 16. 



t Sayce in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, art. " Babylon," 9th edition. 



1 Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch., vii. p. 109. 



N. H. vi. 26. || xvU. 5. IT v. i. 26. 



f * airoXaftovaa $t rnv Eiipparijv Trorapbv t/e ptffor, irtpttpaXtTo rtT^oc ry 

 ir6\ft aradtuiv e%i}KOvra Kni Tfiiaicoaitav, tn\rinpsi>ov irvpyntc irvict'olg xai 

 /ifyaAo<c, &G <pT]oi Krijamp o Krioiof, wf St KXftrapxof Kai TUIV vartpov pir' 

 'A\tavSpov StafidvTuiv tig ri]v 'Aaiav rtvff aviypa^av, Tptaicooiiov i%r)KovTa 

 ic.t nkvrt oraS'tuv <co irpoortQiaatv on riav laiav fipfpuv riav OTaSiwv 

 at. Diod. Siculus, book ii. sect. 7. 



