BAB 



eovered with hides, and guided by two oars or parldlcs. 

 They had neither head nor fteni ; but bsinir of difterent 

 fizes, they ferved for carry injr various quantities of their 

 commodities to Babylon, whence they returned by land, the 

 rapidity of the ftrcam not allowing tliem to return by water. 

 The government of Babylon, like that of AiTyria, was dtf- 

 potic, and the fceptre feems to have been heredilar)-. Their 

 potentates, however, who afTumcd divine titles, and who 

 received divine honours, adminiftered their government by 

 a variety of officers, civil and military ; a;id thefe were 

 divided into three clafles : the firllhad the charge of vir>.-ins, 

 and of their difpofal in marriage, and were to judge in cafes 

 of adultery, and limilar matters ; the fecond took cognizance 

 of thefts ; ar-.d the third of all other crimes. The chief 

 officers of the king's houfhoid were the captain of his guard, 

 who had the execution of his arbitraiy and fanguinary 

 commands ; the prince of the eunuchs, who had the charge 

 of the education and fubfiftence of the youth of the palace ; 

 and the prime minifter, refembling the Turkifh vizier, who 

 fat in the king's gate, as it was called, to hear complaints, 

 and to pafs judgment. Befides thefe, there was alfo a mafter 

 ot the magicians, whofe province it was to fatisfy the king 

 on fubjefts that refpeded the prognoftication of futurity. 

 Among their laws, wiiich v>ere vague and variable, one of 

 the beft feems to have been that which refpefted marriao-e, 

 and which was calculated to increafe the number of inha- 

 bitants ; for which, fee Assyria. Their puniihments 

 were arbitrary, and depended upon the will of a capricious 

 monarch. Beheading, cutting to pieces, turning the 

 houfe of the criminal into a dunghill, and burning in a fiery 

 furnace, were penalties, which were executed by order of 

 the kings of Babylon. The religion and boafted learning of 

 the Babylonians were fo blended together, that they are not 

 cafily feparated : for the Chaldees, properly fo called, were 

 not only their priells, but alfo their lear.^cd men ; whofe 

 whole fcience feems to have been fubfervient to the purpofes 

 of fuperftition. (See Belus, and Sabaism.) As the 

 Babylonians gave rife to all the idolatries and fuperftitions 

 that prevailed among the neighbouring nations, tliey are 

 charged with having introduced the horrible cuftom of fa- 

 crificing human vi<£lims, in order to appeafe or conciliate 

 their deities. The Babyloniansweremuch addiclcd to iudicial 

 allrology ; and afcribed an influence to the ftars and planets, 

 in the exphcation of which their chief fcience confiilcd. 

 Aftronomy was with them fubfervient to aftrology, and 

 the former was cultivated in fubordination to the latter. 

 Indeed, the principal part, if not the whole, of their philo- 

 tophy and learning, confided in the application of this fan- 

 ciful and unfounded fcience. However, fome have diftin- 

 guifhed, with juftice, between the Chaldees, and Babylonians, 

 afcribing to the latter a more accurate and extenfive ac- 

 quaintance with the principles of aftronom.y, mathematics, 

 and mechanics, than the former. (See Chald;ean Philo- 

 sophy.) Of their mulic and poetry, we have few certain 

 records. They are faid to have excelled in architefture 

 and fculpture, in the arts of dehgning, and of carting metals, 

 as the ornaments of their metropohs feem to teilify. Their 

 raanufatlures, particularly of rich embroideries, fumptuous 

 vertments, magnificent carpets, and fine linen, were famous ; 

 and they fent their purple into the eallem parts asanaiticle 

 of traffic. Their commerce, efpecially when Babylon was 

 in the meridian of her glory, muil have been coniiderable. 

 The metropolis was advantageoufly iituated for this pur- 

 pofc ; being as it were in the midft of the world, and having, 

 by means of the Euphrates and Tigris, an eafy communica- 

 tion with the weftern and northern parts, and alfo with the 

 eallern by means of the Perfian gulf. With regard to their 



BAB 



cuftoms, we may mention in particular thc-r mode of treat- 

 ing fick perfons. Having no phyfician?, tney cxpofed 

 them publicly in the moft freqiientc'd places, tli.it all who 

 faw them might offer their advice, if they had, either 

 from their own experience or that of others, any knowledge 

 of their cafe. Their dead they embalmed with honev and 

 wax, and their manner of mourning refemblcd that of the 

 Egyptians. The Babylonians were, in a high degree, 

 credulous and fupcrftitious : andm.uch addifttd tohceiitiouf- 

 nefs and debauchery in their general condnft. In their 

 drefs, they aflefted pride and effeminacy. Their under 

 garment was a linen vcft, which hung duwn to their heels ; 

 over this they had another of woollen ; and their outer 

 garment was a white mantle or cloak. They fuiiered their 

 hair to grow ; adorned their hejds with a turban or mitre ; 

 and anointed their bodies with the oil of fcfame. Every 

 individual wore a ring with a feal on his finger, and bore ia 

 his hand a carved ftaff or fceptre, the head of which wa» 

 adorned with fome figure, as that of an apple, rofe, lilr, 

 eagle, or fome fuch emblem. On their feet thsy wore'a 

 kind of flippers. The inhabitants of this country were 

 divided not only into two great tribes, the Babylonians, and 

 Chaldaatis, properly fo called, but into other fubordinate 

 feds. Three of thefe are faid to have fed upon nothing but 

 nfh, which they dried in the fun, and formed into pafte, 

 thus fupplying the want of bread. 



As to the hiiloiy of the kingdom of Babylon, diftinguifhed 

 from the kingdom of Affyria, the firft king of this country- 

 mentioned in Ptolemy's Aftronomical Canon, is Nabonaffcr, 

 to whom Pul or Phul bequeathed it, as he did that of AlTy- 

 ria to Tiglatli-Pilefer, in the year 747 B. C. The latter 

 rehded at Nineveh ; and the former at Babylon. From 

 this period, commonly denominated the ara of Nabonaffer, 

 to the year 625, B. C. when Nabopolaflar began his reign| 

 nothing remarkable occurs in the liiftory of the kin^s of 

 Babylon ; excepting that Adaradinus or Effarhudon,"\ing 

 of Affyria, the brother and fucccflbr of Scnacherib, took 

 polTcfiion of the kingdom of Babylon, B. C. 680 ; and that 

 upon his death, thefe kingdom's of Affyria and Babylon 

 were again feparated, B. C. 668. In the twentieth year 

 of Nabopolaffar, B.C. 606, Nineveh was taken and dcllroyed 

 by the united armies of Cyaxares and Nabopolaffar, and the 

 feat of the empire transferred to Babylon. This Nabopo- 

 laffar, fometimes called Nebuchadnezzar, was the father of 

 the famous Nebuchadnezzar, or Nabocolaffar, whofe hiftory 

 occurs in the facrcd writings, and who commenctd his rei'rn 

 in the year 604 B. C. From this period, to the conquefl 

 of Babylon by Cyrus, in the reign of Nabonadius, Laby- 

 nitus of Herodotus, and Btlfliazzar of Scripture, the fon 

 of Evil-J.Ierodach by Nitocris, and the grandfon of Ncbu- 

 chadnezzar, in the year 538 B. C. the hillory of Babylon 

 prefents nothing worthy of particular notice. For an ac- 

 count of the conquell of Cyrus, which terminated the 

 Babylonian empire and fubietted it to the Perfians, fee 

 Babylon. From this time. Babylonia was never erefted 

 into a diftinft kingdom, but has fliared the vicilfituJes of 

 the great conquerors who have at different times appeared 

 in Aha. It is now frequently the object of contention be- 

 tween the Turks and Perfians. Anc. Un. Hill, vol.iii. p. 367 

 — 437. Rollin's Anc. Hifl. vol. ii. p. i — 153. 



BABYLONIAN, BABVLONicor Babylonish, Capti- 

 vity, Empire, Epocha, Gemara, Hour, Talmu.i, Tear, (^c. 

 See the leveral articles. 



BABYLONICA Texta, in ^niiquiiy, detiote a rich 

 fort of weavings, or hangings, denominated from the city of 

 Babylon, where the pradice of interweaving divers colours 

 in their hangings iirll obtained. Piin. H. N. lib.viij. c. 48. 



Hccce 



