380 
RUINS OF BABYLON 
to the north-west of the village of Anana, rises a rather consi¬ 
derable ridge of mounded earth, 14 feet high, running due north 
for 300 yards, then forming a right angle due east, takes that 
direction till it meets the river. * All around was very low and 
marshy; and the mounds in question were nearly all I could see 
for a good way up, along this bank of the stream. On the face 
of the ridge, terminating at the water-side, the courses of the 
sun-dried brick are distinctly visible; but the level of the land 
is now so equal with that of the river, that any more abundant 
traces of a corresponding embankment to that on the opposite 
shore, must be confessed to be no longer discernible; yet the 
discovery of one link is sufficient for concluding that others 
have been formerly there to complete the chain. But why this 
western dyke has been so much more nearly totally demolished 
than its eastern neighbour, we cannot conjecture: the fact only 
is certain ; and the consequence, probably, has been that the 
want of any protection from the superflux of the river has ren¬ 
dered its “ besom of destruction” more completely sweeping 
over this levelled tract. Some trifling mounded hillocks, how¬ 
ever, are perceivable a little to the south of the village, f 
Having traversed the plain north-west for some time, in 
search of farther mounds in that direction, I turned, disap¬ 
pointed, and bent my way south-west, keeping Birs Nimrood 
in my eye. After riding onward about a mile, I found the little 
vegetation which cheered the waste gradually disappear, and the 
ground become perfectly sterile. All over this surface evident 
marks are visible of its having been formerly covered with build- 
ings; these indications increased at every step, till, after such 
# 
See Plate LXXV. 
f Ibid. (Q). 
