DISCOVERIES i:^ BABYLONIA AND THE NEIGHBOURING LANDS. 105 



Turning to Elani's western neighbour, Babylonia, we find 

 again that inucli has been done, this time by the Germans, 

 whose discoveries on the site of Babylon practically make the 

 city live once more, and the time is not far distant when it will 

 be the objective of the modern tourist as much, for instance, as 

 the cities of India with their wonderful remains. According 

 to Delitzsch, Babylon was a comparatively small city, not 

 larger, in his opinion, than Dresden or Munich. The outer 

 w^all is shown by the plan now on the screen. At the top is 

 the north palace on the east of the Euphrates, which at present 

 flows from the north-west. Some distance down begins the 

 Arahtu-canal, which, running in a southerly direction, passed 

 through the southern wall and entered the Euphrates again 

 near the point where it began to resume its southern course. 

 The wall on the left bank of the river was continued on the 

 right bank, and has, on its north side, the middle palace, and 

 on its south the south palace. At this point lie the ruins of 

 the Istar-gate, near the east end of which is the temple called 

 E-mah. Canals protected the two adjoining palaces on the 

 north and the south, the former being called the Merodach- 

 canal, and the latter Libil-hegala, " (the canal) ' may it bring 

 fertility.' " The square some distance south of the south palace 

 marks the position of the great temple-tower E-temen-an-ki, 

 " the House of the foundation of Heaven and Earth," explained 

 by the Babylonians as " the Tower of Babylon." South of that 

 lie the ruins of the great temple E-sagila, the renowned 

 Temple of Belus. Running parallel with the Arahtu-canal is 

 the royal street, called, at its northern end, Aa-ibur-sabu. This 

 was used for processions, especially that of the Xew Year, when 

 the gods were solemnly taken to greet their king, Merodach, as 

 one of the inscriptions brought back from Babylonia by the 

 late George Smith states. The ceremonies at these x^Tew Year 

 festivities apparently symbolize the visit of the king of the 

 heavenly host to the captive gods, whom lie comforted and 

 released, much to the discontent of Xergal, god of war and 

 disease, and also, as we may suppose, of death — whether he 

 was identical with Ugga, the god of death par excellence or not,, 

 we do not at present know. The gods in prison were the- 

 followers of Tiawath, the Dragon of Chaos at the beginning of 

 the world, and when Merodach destroyed her — the Dragon — - 

 her followers were placed in prison and bound. Tins ceremony 

 of the release of the captive gods to ^k place on the 8th of 

 Nisan, the first month of the Babylonian year, corresponding 

 partly with March and April. At the same tim.e 



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