324 
TOWER OF BABEL 
accident, and various sorts of violences; and all are thickly 
embedded with fragments of bricks, tiles, vitrifications, bitumen, 
&c., the remnants of superstructures now no more. The Tower 
of Belus, having always been represented as the Olympus of 
Babylonia, we do not look here for his altar alone, but also for 
those of his attendant gods ; and the Sabian idolatry multiplied 
them to a number equal, and of like characters, with those of 
Greece and Egypt. Hence, within the precincts of the great 
Temple of Belus, that is, within the vast quadrangular boundary 
which contained the ground sacred to his honour, and in the 
midst of which stood the ancient tower, his own peculiar sacel- 
lum crowned; within those comprehensive precincts, we must 
expect to find minor temples, dedicated to the moon, and other 
planetary gods and goddesses, the satellites of Belus; whether 
we regard him as the sun or Nimrod. Besides, a station for 
the dwelling of the sovereign pontiff, and the numerous priest¬ 
hood attendant on the worship of the supreme deity, would, 
doubtless, be found of answering dignity to the altar before which 
they officiated ; an altar adorned with the spoils of Nineveh, and 
of Jerusalem. From the Holy Scriptures we learn, that when 
Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, and levelled most of the 
city with the ground, “ he brought away the treasures of the 
temple, and the treasures of the king’s house; and put them all 
into the Temple of Bel, at Babylon.” It has been said, (and, I 
think, by Josephus,) that the brazen sea, and other vessels, 
which Solomon had caused to be made for the service of 
Jehovah, were broken up by order of the Assyrian monarch, 
and formed into the famous gates of brass, which were so long 
the superb entrances into the great area of the Temple of Belus. 
Both Strabo and Herodotus speak largely of the immense riches 
