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T. G. PINCHES, LL.D., M.R.A.S., ON 



these were popular deities during the period of native rule, but 

 with Nabonidus and his son Belshazzar, native dominion came 

 to an end, and foreigners ruled the land — first the Medo-Per- 

 sians, then the Seleucidae, and finally the Arsacidae. At what 

 date the Babylonians forsook the worship of the " merciful 

 Merodach ," is unknown, but the later inscriptions, which are 

 large and fine tablets, show personal names compounded almost 

 exclusively with those of Anu (the great deity of the place), 

 Istar, and Nana (the goddesses worshipped with him). With 

 the fall of Babylon, its patron-deity, Merodach, together with 

 his consort, ceased to exist for Erech — they had failed 

 to defend the independence of the land, and though their shrines 

 were retained in the temple, with the people Merodach and his 

 companions — his manifestations — lost their influence. " Baby- 

 lon the Great " — the old and renowned capital of Shinar, the 

 beginning of Nimrod's kingdom — had indeed fallen — she had 

 lost her position not only among the nations, but also in the 

 land to which she belonged. But the famed Tower of 

 Babylon, the rallying point of the nation after "they left off to 

 build the city," still retained its place in their minds, if not in 

 their estimation, as we shall presently see. Perhaps they hoped 

 that it would again become a rallying point, and Alexander, had 

 he lived, would undoubtedly have tried to realize this, but it 

 was not to be. With his passing, the influence and the 

 importance of Babylon passed away, never to return. 



VI. — Tower of Babel at Babylon. 



The history of the rediscovery of the description of the Tower 

 of Babylon has an interest which is not without its 

 sadness. 



Before his last journey to the Semitic East, where, in former 

 years, he had seen some success, George Smith, the Assyriologist, 

 had in his hands, for a time, an inscription which, with his usual 

 sharpsightedness, he recognized as a detailed account of the great 

 Temple of Belus at Babylon, and the Zikkurat or Temple-tower 

 connected therewith. Knowing its importance, he published a 

 short but exceedingly valuable abstract of the tablet's contents 

 {AtJuMceum, Feb. 12th, 1876), doubtless with the hope of being 

 able to turn his attention to the document again on the comple- 

 tion of his work in Babylonia. This hope, however, was never 

 fulfilled, for he died in the East, and is buried in the Christian 

 churcliyard at Aleppo. 



Scholars naturally recognized tlie importance of his description 



