148 . 



The spaces between the towers were broad enough to 

 allow a pair-horsed chariot to turn (Herod, i. ITQ)."^ The 

 question of the actual height has been discussed by Sir H. 

 Kawlinson in Herodotus, and by Dr. Oppert in the AtJienceiwi 

 Franr.ais, 1854, p. 370, The celebrated Hanging Gardens 

 were on the eastern side of the river and within the palace 

 precincts. They were built in the form of a square (each side 

 being 400 feet long) upon a series of arches.f 



The absence of genuine history in the inscriptions of 

 Nebuchadnezzar is remarkable. All the inscriptions yet 

 found narrate his great care to make Babylon a success in 

 the matter of buildings. There is no doubt he was a most 

 pious king, and whether he considered the giving an account 

 of his restoration and rebuilding of the temples of the gods 

 of more importance than a narrative of his wars, is very 

 hard to say. If only the history of his expedition through 

 Palestine, of his siege of Tyre, and of his defeat of all the 

 nations in that part of the world could be found. In the 

 following inscription, the large India House inscription is 

 perhaps referred to when he speaks of the account of his 

 works which he wrote. 



Nebuchadnezzar III., son of Nabupolassar, reigned from 

 about B.C. 605 to B.C. 562. fie took command of the Babylon- 

 ian army on the occasion of the war between Nabopolassar and 



* One cannot help thinking there must be an allusion to these mighty- 

 walls in the verse in Jeremiah (li. 53), " Though Babylon should mount up 

 to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength," &c. 



{rr\v ^r\o 'run "'D). 



t "In uno latere civitatis erant horti suspensi, fere conjuncti fluvio 

 Euphrati ; qui numerabantur inter septeni miracula mundi, cSitus eorum 

 erat figursB quadrata^, quadringentorum pedum, per queiulibet angukini 

 quibus correspouderent secundus et tertius. Intus eraut quatuor atria vel 

 areas, quadringentorum pedum longitudinis, et centum latitudinis, ita ut una 

 supra aliam emineret. Prima elevebatur a terra duodecim cubitos cum 

 dimidio. Secunda, viginti cubitos. Tertia, triginta septem cubitos cum 

 dimidio. Quarta, proxima Euphrati, quinquaginta cubitos. Illic ex- 

 trahebatur aqua ab Euphrate certis quibusdam machinis, ad irrigandos 

 hortos. Tota htcc structura sustinebatur fornicibus latericiis, sibi 

 coha'rentibus lato interstitio secundum proportionem arearum ; quorum 

 quilibet habebat duodecim pedes diametri ; distabat itaque unus at altero 

 fornix pedes viginti duos ; et hoc quidem tarn pro lirraatione intermedia, 

 quam pro commoditate mansiuncularum quarundam, ibi exstructarum. 

 iSuperiora harum tabernarum, primo erant instrata magnis hipidibus, 

 longitudinis sedecim pedum, et quatuor hxtitudinis. Deinde totum ilkid erat 

 coopertum multis arundinibus. Tertio, omnes ill* arundines erant obtectre 

 magnis Lmiinis pUunbeis, qua?, defenderent fornices ab humiditate terrte. 

 Tandem erat super omnia h;fc, optima terra, exculta cxquisitis floribus et 

 plantis," 6ic.—Not. in Diod. Sic, i. p. 124. 



