172 



BABYLON. 



Climate 

 and soil. 



Baby lonia. 2d, Babylonia, extending from this narrow isthmus 

 l """ "v ' about 500 miles towards the Persian gulph, and 

 never exceeding fourscore miles in its breadth be- 

 tween the rivers ; ami, 9d, The eastern district, pro- 

 perly named Attn-, but frequently called Messeue 

 and Adiabenc, lying beyond the Tigris, and reach- 

 ing to the foot of the Carduchian hills. It is to the 

 second of these that the present article refer*, and it 

 is called indiscriminately Babylonia or ChaUK a ; but, 

 in general, the latter name is used by sacred writers, 

 and the former by profane. Sometimes, indeed, these 

 appellations are appropriated severally to a particular 

 district ; the former denoting the country more im- 

 .- mediately in the neighbourhood of Babylon, and the 



latter that which stretches southward to the Persian 



The climate of this country is temperate and salu- 

 brious, but at certain seasons the heat is so intei.se, 

 that the inhabitants were accustomed to sleep with 

 their bodies partly immersed in water ; and the same 

 practice, according to the testimony of modern tra- 

 vellers, is continued to this day. It seldom rains 

 th re above three or four times in the course of a 

 year ; and the lands were watered by means of ca- 

 nals, trenches, and various sorts of engines, provided 

 in great abundance for the purpose. The soil na- 

 turally rich, and thus carefully supplied with mois- 

 ture in the driest seasons, surpassed even that of 

 E jrpt in fertility ; and is said to have generally 

 yielded from 1(X) to 300 fold. Its vegetable pro- 

 ductions grow to so extraordinary a size, that Hero- 

 dotus declines giving a particular description of them, 

 lest he should incur the charge of exaggeration ; but 

 he mentions, as one instance, that the leaves of the 

 ivheat and barley were four fingers in breadth. It 

 afforded every where a viscous clay, easily formed by 

 the Furnace, or even by the sun, into the hardest 

 bricks ; and the naphtha or bitumen, which was ex- 

 tremely abundant, furnished the firmest of all ce- 

 ments. 



The government of this country was of the most 

 despotic description ; and the sovereignty was con- 

 sidered as hereditary. Every thing depended upon 

 the will of the prince; and, hence, the laws were un- 

 defined, and the punishments arbitrary in the highest 

 degree, (Dan. i. 10; ii. 5; iii. 19.) Three separate 

 tribunals, however, were appointed to administer jus- 

 tice ; the first of which took cognisance of adultery, 

 and similar offences ; the second of thefts ; and the 

 third of all other crimes. The principal officers of 

 state Been) to have been the captain of the guard, in 

 whom the executive p. wer resided ; the prince of 

 the eunuchs, who took charge of the education and 

 subsistence of the youth of the palace ; the prime 

 minister or vizer, who was as the head of the police, 

 and acted as chief justice in the empire ; and the 

 master of the magi, whose business it was to inter- 

 pret prognostications, and divii.e the events of futu- 

 rity to the king. The immediate household of the 

 prince appears to have been extremely numerous ; 

 and particular district.', weie appointed to supply the 

 different articles of food which vt ete FoT the 



maintenance of the many thousands who daily fed at 

 Sis tables. 



Govern- 

 ment and 

 laws. 



The religious system of the Babylonians bore a Babylonia, 

 near resemblance to that of the Egyptians; and has ~Y~~^ 

 been very ingeniously ascribed to the followin e U 

 source. 1 he sudden inundations of the Euphrates , 

 and Tigris, like those of the Nile, occasioning, al- 

 ternately, the most rapid beneficial, or destructive 

 changes in the face of nature, attracted the attention, 

 and alarmed the anxiety, of the unenlightened people, 

 who witn I experienced their momentous ef- 



fects. These important changes were observed to 

 have an evident connection with the vicissitudes of 

 the seasons, and the revolutions of the heavenly bo- 

 dies ; and In-nee, these luminaries, whose influence 

 was understood to be so powerful and extensive, 

 were consul red, at first, as the ministers ur vice- 

 gerents of the Supreme Being, were gradually wor- 

 shipped as mediators or intercessors tor man, and 

 were at length exalted to the rank of separate, but 

 subordinate divinities. The sacerdotal families, de- 

 voted to the service of these deities, and thus led by 

 their office to be continually observing the motions 

 ot the celestial bodies, gradually acquired such a de- 

 gree of astronomical skill, as had the appearance of 

 supernatural communications ; and gave them a com- 

 plete ascendency over the minds of the multitude. 

 This power they employed, as their fancy or interest 

 suggested, in prescribing an immense variety of ido- 

 latrous rites and modes of worship ; the most re- 

 markable of which was the adoration of fire, and the 

 offering of human victims in sacrifice. (See Sabiax 

 Worship.) These sacerdotal tribes, who have been 

 called by way of distinction, Chaldeans or Chaldees, 

 were the philosophers as well as the priests of their 

 country. They pretended to have derived their learning 

 from the first instructor Oannes, who sprung from the 

 primogenial egg; who was half ni3n or god, and half 

 fish ; who appeared in the Red Sea, and taught the 

 knowledge of letters and civilization in general. This 

 learning, as far as it went, they studied very minute- 

 ly ; and handed it down by tradition from father to 

 son, with any little addition or improvement. It 

 consisted chiefly of some absurd opinions about the 

 formation and shape of the earth, a few astronomical 

 observations, and a contused mass of astrological 

 rules and prognostications of the weather. See 

 C 1 1 A I d t a N Ph i/o tophi/. 



As the priests and philosophers have been parti- Arts amt 

 cularly distinguished by the appellation Chaldeans, manufac- 

 the artists and mechanics have been denominated lures. 

 Babylonians. These appear to have made consi- 

 derable attainments in geometry, architecture, me- 

 tallurgy, and the general principles ot mechanism ; 

 but almost nothing is known of their poetry, paint- 

 ing, statuary, and music. They excelled in the ma- 

 nufacture of rich veils, embroideries, carpets, cloth 

 of gold, and every species of dress or furniture, in 

 linen, cotton, and woollen stuffs. Their country af- 

 forded the best materials for dyeing ; and their pur- 

 ple, like that of the Tynans, formed a principal ar- 

 ticle of traffic. So very precious and splendid, in- 

 deed, were the vestments which they prepared, that 

 Cato is said to have sold a Babylonian mantle, which 

 had been left him as a legacy, but which he thought 

 too rich for any one to wear : and that at Rome a 



