364 
RUINS OF BABYLON. 
22 feet in thickness. The level of each terrace, or garden, 
was then constructed in this way : the top of the piers was 
first laid over with flat stones, 16 feet in length, and four in 
width ; (specimens of stones answering to this description have 
already been pointed out as still existing in the subterraneous 
passage at the southern end of the ravine in the Kasr Hill;) on 
these stones, (in the construction of the garden,) were spread reeds 
or matting ; then a thick layer of bitumen ; after which came two 
courses of bricks, strongly cemented together with mortar ; and 
last of all they were covered with sheets of solid lead. This 
platform formed, the earths were heaped upon it, which were 
to constitute the beds for planting; and in order to admit the 
roots of immense trees intended for the groves of this artificial 
paradise, (many of which, according to Quintus Curtius, grew 
to the circumference of eight cubits:) prodigious hollow piers 
were built, and correspondingly filled with mould. From the 
Euphrates, which flowed close to their foundation, water was 
drawn up by means of an aqueduct, and a machine fixed on the 
top of the upper terrace, which thence dispersed its genial in¬ 
fluence over the whole garden. 
Such, then, was the completion of Nebuchadnezzar’s work, 
when he “ found himself at rest in his house, and flourished in 
his palace : and he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Ba¬ 
bylon. The king spoke, and said, Is not this Babylon, that I 
have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my 
power, and the honour of my majesty !” Dan. chap. iv. How 
well do the descriptions of the heathen writers bear out this fine 
actual scene pourtrayed by the sacred penman ! Where could 
the king of Babylon have taken so comprehensive a view of the 
city he had so magnificently built for the house of his kingdom , as 
