846 
RUINS OF BABYLON. 
name with which some writers would distinguish it, —- that of 
being the remains of the Temple of Belus; its size considerably 
exceeds the single stadium, specified by the ancients as the base 
of that tower. Besides, there are no traces whatever of any 
buildings near it; which seems necessary to make its 
adjacent ruins answer to the structures dedicated by Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar to the great central worship of his favourite deity. 
Another remark I made, while exploring the ground about, 
which also bears against this having been the Temple of Belus : 
the high embankment described on three sides of the Mujelibe, 
is no complete inclosure of that pile; neither has it been in¬ 
tended for such especial appropriation, but is, evidently, only a 
part of a very extensive line of wall, which comprehends not 
merely this edifice, but a vast stretch around the Kasr and 
Amran ruins besides. But with regard to what the Mujelibe 
really was, my ideas are to be drawn from what I saw, when 
compared with certain representations I have read concerning 
Babylon. All ancient authors who have written on the subject, 
speak of its “ Fortified Palace.” In which title we must under¬ 
stand a fortified space, of sufficient extent to contain the terraced 
habitation of the sovereign, with his courts of pomp and cere¬ 
mony, his private temples to the gods, his personal treasury, 
and residences for his officers of state ; and, besides strong 
lodgments on the embattled surrounding walls, a fortress, or 
citadel, to garrison the royal body-guard. 
The situation and style of the Mujelibe seem to mark it out, 
to have been the citadel of this embattled palace. Not only its 
superior magnitude presents it as the fittest platform for military 
erections and exercises, but its contiguity to the river, and its 
commanding power of observation on all sides, proclaim it, of 
all others now traceable, to be that of most extensive com- 
