UNCLJi/aN ENGLAND. ]Q1 



city, from north to south. To prevent this great 

 river from overflowing, it was confined by walls 

 or quays of brick ; and while these were build- 

 ing, the course of the river was turned into a 

 basin, forty miles square, and thirty-five feet 

 deep, which had been cut for the purpose of re- 

 ceiving it. 



The wealth, and power, and grandeur of this 

 magnificent city, is strongly expressed in the 

 Scriptures, where it is spoken of as " The lady 

 of kingdoms given to pleasure, that dwellest care- 

 lessly, and sayestin her heart, 1 am, and there is 

 none beside me." 



Among its vast buildings, was the Tower of 

 Babel, erected ages before, by Nimrod, on the 

 plain of Shinaar a pyramid, or rather a moun- 

 tain of masonry in that form, and on which 

 it is supposed that, in after ages, Nebuchad- 

 nezzar raised the temple of Belus. This temple 

 was of such prodigious magnitude, that having 

 been destroyed by Xerxes, it cost Alexander, who 

 intended to rebuild it, the labour of 1600 men 

 for two months, in merely removing the rubbish 

 caused by its destruction. 



Of all these immense buildings, the traces can 

 now be scarcely distinguished ; confused heaps 

 of bricks extending many miles, and grown over 

 with grass, still exercise the ingenuity of travel- 

 lers and antiquaries. In this dreary waste, there 

 are, however, three very conspicuous mounds. 



