BAB 



BAB 



mi^ht God allege this as a memorable inftance of liis pre- 

 fcicnce, and challenge all tlie falfe gods and their votaries to 

 produce the like. If. xlv. 2i. xlvi. lo. And indeed where 

 can you find a fimilar inftance, but in fcripture, from the 

 beginning of the world to this day?" The triumphant ode 

 upon the fall of Babylon, recited in the fourteenth chapter 

 of Ifoiali, merits particular attention, as it is truly admirable 

 for the fevered ilrokes of irony, as well as for the fublimetl 

 Strains of poetn.-. " The Greek poet Alc.xus, who is cele- 

 brated lor his hatred to tyrants, and whofe odes were ani- 

 mated with the fpirit of liberty no lefs than with the fpirit 

 of poetry, we may prefume to fay, never wrote any thing 

 comparable to it." Bifhop Lowth, in his excellent leftures 

 upon the facred poefy of the Hebrews, hath juftly defcribed 

 it as one of the nioftfpirited, moil fublime, and mod perfect 

 compofitions of the lyric kind, fuperior to any of the pro- 

 duftions of Greece or Rome. See his Prile£l. xiii. p. 120, 

 &c. Praslect. xxviii. p. 277, &c. Mr. Mafon hath alfo imi- 

 tated it in an Englifli ode, pubhftied with fome other odes, 

 in 1756. 



Babylon, a city of Egypt, which was watered by the 

 river Trajanus, according to Ptolemy. It was fituated near 

 the Nile, where Grand Cairo now {lands, or at a fmall di- 

 ftance from it, and had a caftle ftrongly fortified both by 

 nature and art. Some fay, that it was founded by the Per- 

 fians when they ravaged Egypt under Cambyfes, (fee Jofe- 

 phu3 Antiq.) ; and that it was erected in the place where 

 . Latopolis Hood ; or according to others, when Semiramis 

 vifited t!iis countiy at the head of a formidable army. 

 Strabo fays (1. xvii.), that it was built by fome Barbarians, 

 who retired thither by permiffion of their fovereign, and that 

 in his time the Romans kept in garrifon there one of the 

 three legions that were ftationed in Egypt. From the 

 fortrefs of Babylon, the mountain gently floped to the bank 

 of the Nile ; and 150 flaves were continually employed 

 there in raifing the water by means of wheels and an aque- 

 du£^. The Perfians, who were worrtiippers of the fun, kept 

 up a perpetual tire in this place, which occafioned its being 

 called by the Arabs " The caftle of the Lights." See 

 Cairo, and Fostat. 



Babylon, in Scriji'ure H'ljlnrv, is a name figuratively 

 given by the facred writers, particularly by St. Peter, 1 Ep. 

 ch.v. V. 13. and by the author of the Revelations, ch. xvii. 

 and xviii. and alfo by the fathers, to Rome ; partly on ac- 

 count of her greatnefs, pride, and opprefiion of God's people, 

 and partly for her rei'emblance of it in idolatry ; that king- 

 dom fo fully reprefenting the idolatry of the church of 

 Rome in the defcription given of it in the fixth chapter of 

 Baruch, that fcarcely any real difference betwixt them can 

 be obferved. Whitby's Paraphrafe, vol. ii. p. 661. p. 753. 



BABYLONIA, or Chaldxa, an ancient kingdom of 

 Afia, was founded by Nimrod, the graiidfon of Ham, and 

 continued dillinft and feparate from that of Affyria, till 

 Ninus conquered Babylon, and made it tributary to the 

 Affyrian empire. (See Assyria.) This country was known, 

 in ancient times, by the names of Shinar, and Shinaar, 

 which appellation it fcems to have retained even in the 

 time of Daniel. The name of Babylon is univerfally fup- 

 pofed to have been derived from that of the tower of Babel ; 

 and the name of Chaldsa arofe from the Chaldaeans, or 

 Chafdim. (Jofeph. Ant. 1. i. c. 7.) Thefe two names 

 fometimes exter.d to the whole coimtr)-, being indif- 

 ferently taken for each other ; and fometimes they are 

 limited to certain parts. By Babylon, or Babylonia, is 

 meant the country more immediately in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the city of Babylon ; and by Chaldaea, that 

 which extends fouthward to the Perfian gulf. Chaldiea b 



ufed by the writers of the Old Teftament for the whole 

 country (Jer. xxiv. 5. xxv. 12. 1.8. Ezek. xii. 13.) ; and 

 Babylonia, generally fpeaking, by profane authors. ( Diodor. 

 Sic. 1. ii. c. 1 1, 12. Strabo, 1. xvi. fub init.) It hes between 

 thirty and thirty-five degrees of north latitude ; and v.'as 

 bounded, accordii:g to Ptolemy, on the noith by Mefopo- 

 tamia, on the eaft by the Tigris, on the weft by Arabia 

 Dcferta, and on the fouth by the Pcrfian gulf and part 

 of Arabia Felix. In Babylonia, properly fo called aid 

 confidered as a diftindl province from Chaldiea, were the 

 follovi'ing cities ; viz. Babylon, the metropolis, (See Baby- 

 lon); Vologefia, or Vologefocerta, built on the Euphrates 

 by Vologcfis, king of the Parthians, in the time of Vef- 

 pafian ; Barfita, probably Strabo's Borfippa, facred to 

 Diana and Apollo, famous in the time of this geographer 

 for a woollen manufafture, and for being the habitation of 

 a certain feci of Chaldieans, thence called Borifippen- ; 

 Idiccara, on the Euphrates and the borders of Arabia Deferta; 

 Coche, in the ifland Melene, formed by the Tigris ; Sura ; 

 and Pombeditha, of which the fituation is very uncertain. 

 In ancient times the Babylonian name, extending far 

 beyond the limits both of Babylonia and Chaldxa, cora- 

 prifed all, or the greater part of the provinces fubjeifl to 

 the Babylonian empire. See Empire. 



The air of this country was generally temperate and 

 falubrious ; though it was occafionally fubjeft to extraor. 

 dinary heat and a peftilential wind. As it feldom rained, 

 the inhabitants were under a neceflity of watering their 

 lands by means of wheels and engines, and of trenches and 

 canals, which flowed from the Euphrates to the Tigris. 

 The foil was rich, the climate was for the moft part excel- 

 lent, and the inhabitants were induftrious ; and therefore 

 this country vied, in refpeft of fertility, with any other fpot 

 on the face of the earth. The fouthern parts of it, between 

 the rivers, have been compared with the Delta of Egypt, 

 which it refembles by its natural and artificial illands, and 

 by being almoft under the fame parallel of latitude ; and 

 the other part of it, or Chaldasa properly fo called, between 

 the Euphrates and the mountains of Babylon, as they are 

 commonly termed, is not much lefs watered by rivers and 

 canals condufted from the Euphrates, and large refervoirs of 

 lakes borrowed from the fame river. Hence Herodotus 

 (1. i. c. 193), compares this country' with Egypt ; and he 

 fays, that, with regard to the plenty of its produftions, it 

 was reckoned to be equal to a third part of Afia, or of the 

 Pcrfian empire ; and that, in the fame year, it yielded 300 

 fold, but generally 200. As it was low, fiat, and well- 

 watered, it abounded with willows, and was called " the val- 

 ley of willows," as Fridcaux (Conn. p'.i. b. i. p. 1C5.), after 

 Bochart, corrects the text. If. xv. 7. The palm alfo tlourifhed 

 nr.turally every where, and particularly the date kind, which 

 affordt-d bread, wine, and honey; but the vine, olive, and fig- 

 tree, did not fucceedhere any more than in Egypt. But as to 

 grain, it exceeded ever)- other land ; the m.illet a:id fefame (hot 

 up to the fize of trees ; and the leaves of the haricy and 

 wheat were ufually four fingers broad. The fefame afforded 

 oil, inftead of the olive ; and the palm yielded wine inftead 

 of the grape. This fertility was owing in a great mcafure 

 to the inundations of the Euphrates and Tigri?, in the 

 months of June, July, and Auguft ; the fnow of the moun- 

 tains of Armenia melting in thofe months : and to guard 

 againft injury from thefe inundations, the inhabitants formed 

 artificial rivers and canals, by which they diftributed the 

 waters, and maintained an eafy communication with one 

 another. For the purpofe of mutual intercourfe, and par- 

 ticularly of navigating the Euphrates, they had boats, of a 

 round form, coaftrufted Uke wicker-bafkets, which were 



covered 



