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title sometimes applied to Babylon as to other cities in Babylonia. Ka-dimirra, the Semitic Bab-ili, probably denoted at first E-Saggila, " the See also:

house of the lofty See also:

head," the See also:

temple dedicated to See also:

Bel-Merodach, along with its immediate surroundings. Like the other See also:

GREAT

great sanctuaries of Babylonia the temple had been founded in pre-Semitic times, and the future Babylon See also:

GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew up around it. Since Merodach was the son of See also:

Ea, the culture god of See also:

ERIDU

Eridu near Ur on the See also:

Persian Gulf, it is possible that Babylon was a See also:

COLONY (Lat. colonia, from colonus, a cultivator)

colony of Eridu. Adjoining Babylon was a See also:

TOWN

town called See also:

BORSIPPA (Barsip in the Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions; Borsif in the Talmud; mod. Birs or Birs-Nimrud)

Borsippa (q.v.).

The earliest mention of Babylon is in a dated tablet of the reign of See also:

SARGON

Sargon of See also:

AKKAD (Gr. versions apxat and hXab)

Akkad (3800 B.c.), who is stated to have built sanctuaries there to Anunit and Ae (or Ea), and H. Winckler may be right in restoring a mutilated passage in the See also:

ANNALS (Annales, from annus, a year)

annals of this See also:

king so as to make it mean that Babylon owed its name to Sargon, who made it the See also:

capital of his See also:

EMPIRE

empire. If so, it See also:

fell back afterwards into the position of a See also:

mere provincial town and remained so for centuries, until it became the capital of " the first See also:

DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

dynasty of Babylon " and then of Khammurabi's empire (2250 B.e.). From this See also:

time onward it continued to be the capital of Babylonia and the holy city of western See also:

ASIA

Asia. The claim to supremacy in Asia, however real in fact, was not admitted de jure until the claimant had " taken the hands " of Bel-Merodach at Babylon, and thereby been accepted as his adoptedson and the inheritor of the old Babylonian empire. It was this which made Tiglath-pileser III, and other Assyrian See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings so anxious to possess themselves of Babylon and so to legitimize their See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power. See also:

SENNACHERIB (Ass. Sin-akhi-erba, " the Moon-god has increased the brethren ")

Sennacherib alone seems to have failed in securing the support of the Babylonian priesthood; at all events he never underwent the ceremony, and Babylonia throughout his reign was in a See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant See also:

state of revolt which was finally suppressed only by the See also:

COMPLETE

complete destruction of the capital. In 689 B.C. its walls, temples and palaces were razed to the ground and the rubbish thrown into the Arakhtu, the See also:

canal wliich bordered the earlier Babylon on the See also:

south. The See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act shocked the religious See also:

conscience of western Asia; the subsequent See also:

MURDER

murder of Sennacherib was held to be an expiation of it, and his successor Esarhaddon hastened to rebuild the old city, to receive there his See also:

CROWN

crown, and make it his See also:

RESIDENCE (Latin residere, to remain behind, to dwell, reside)

residence during See also:

PART

part of the See also:

YEAR

year. On his See also:

DEATH

death Babylonia was left to his See also:

elder son Samas-sum-yukin, who eventually headed a revolt against his See also:

BROTHER

brother See also:

Assur-bani-See also:

PAL, KRISTO DAS (1839–1884)

pal of See also:

ASSYRIA

Assyria. Once more Babylon was besieged by the Assyrians and starved into surrender. Assur-bani-pal purified the city and celebrated a " service of reconciliation," but did not venture to " take the hands " of Bel.

In the subsequent overthrow of the Assyrian empire the Babylonians saw another example of divine vengeance. With the recovery of Babylonian See also:

independence under Nabopolassar a new era of architectural activity set in, and his son See also:

NEBUCHADREZZAR, or NEBUCHADNEZZAR

Nebuchadrezzar made Babylon one of the wonders of the ancient See also:

WORLD

world. It surrendered without a struggle to See also:

Cyrus, but two sieges in the reign of See also:

DARIUS (Pers. Darayavaush; Old Test. Daryavesh)

Darius Hystaspis, and one in the reign of See also:

XERXES (the Greek form of the Pers. Khshayarsha; Old Testament Ahasverus, Akhashverosh—i.e. Ahasuerus (q.v.)—with wrong vocalization and substitution of y for v, instead of Akhshavarsh; in Aramaic inscriptions and papyri from Egypt the name is written Khs

Xerxes, brought about the destruction of the defences, while the monotheistic See also:

RULE

rule of See also:

PERSIA

Persia allowed the temples to fall into decay. Indeed part of the temple of E-Saggila, which like other ancient temples served as a fortress, was intentionally pulled down by Xerxes after his See also:

CAPTURE (from Lat. capere, to take; Fr. prise maritime; Ger. Wegnahme)

capture of the city. See also:

Alexander was murdered in the See also:

PALACE (Lat. Palatium, the name given by Augustus to his residence on the Palatine Hill)

palace of Nebuchadrezzar, which must therefore have been still See also:

STANDING

standing, and See also:

CUNEIFORM (from Lat. cuneus, a wedge)

cuneiform texts show that, even under the Seleucids, E-Saggila was not wholly a ruin.. The See also:

FOUNDATION (Lat. fundatio, from fundare, to found)

foundation of See also:

SELEUCIA (Gr. EeXeimeta)

Seleucia in its neighbourhood, however, See also:

drew away the See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population of the old city and hastened its material decay. A tablet dated 275 B.C. states that on the 12th of Nisan the inhabitants of Babylon were transported to the new town, where a palace was built as well as a temple to which the ancient name of E-Saggila was given. With this event the See also:

HISTORY

history of Babylon comes practically to an end, though more than a See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century later we find sacrifices being still performed in its old See also:

SANCTUARY (from the late Lat. sanctuarium, a sacred place)

sanctuary. Our knowledge of its See also:

topography is derived from the classical writers, the inscriptions of Nebuchadrezzar, and the excavations of the Deutsche Orientgesellschaft, which were begun in 1899. The topography is necessarily that of the Babylon of Nebuchadrezzar; the older Babylon which was destroyed by Sennacherib having left few, if any, traces behind. Most of the existing remains See also:

lie on the E. bank of the Euphrates, the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal being three vast mounds, the Babil to the See also:

north, the Qasr or " Palace " (also known as the Mujelliba) in the centre, and the Ishan `Amran See also:

ibn `See also:

Ali, with the outlying See also:

SPUR (A.S. spura, spora, related to spornan, spurnan, to kick, spurn; cf. M.H.G. sporn, mod. Ger. Sporn)

spur of the Jumjuma, to the south. Eastward of these come the Ishan el-Aswad or " See also:

Black See also:

MOUND

Mound " and three lines of rampart, one of which en-closes the Babil mound on the N. and E. sides, while a third forms a triangle with the S.E. See also:

ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

angle of the other two.

W. of the Euphrates are other ramparts and the remains of the ancient Borsippa. We learn from See also:

HERODOTUS (c. 484-425 B.C.)

Herodotus and See also:

CTESIAS

Ctesias that the city was built on both sides of the See also:

RIVER

river in the form of a square, and enclosed within a See also:

double See also:

ROW, JOHN (c. 1525—1580)

row of lofty walls to which Ctesias adds a third. Ctesias makes the outermost See also:

wall 36o stades (42 m.) in circumference, while according to Herodotus it measured 48o stades (56 m.), which would iryclude an See also:

AREA

area of about 200 sq. m. The estimate of Ctesias is essentially the same as that of Q. See also:

Curtius (v. i. 26), 368 stades, and Clitarchus (ap. Diod. Sic. ii. 7), 365 stades; See also:

STRABO (born c. 63 n.c.)

Strabo (xvi. 1. 5) makes it 385 stades. But even the estimate of Ctesias, assuming the See also:

stade to be its usual length, would imply an area of about too sq. m.

According to Herodotus the height of the walls was about 335 ft. and their width 85 ft.; according to Ctesias the height was about 300 ft. The measurements seem exaggerated, but we must remember that even in See also:

XENOPHON

Xenophon's time (Anab. iii. 4. to) the ruined wall of See also:

NINEVEH (Heb. m}'?, in classical authors Nivos, Ninus; LXX. Ntsetni, Nnveun: Assyrian Nind or Ninua)

Nineveh was still 150 ft.. high, and that the spaces between the 250 towers of the wall of Babylon (Ctes. 417, ap. Diod. ii. 7) were broad enough to let a four-See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse See also:

CHARIOT (derived from an O. Fr. word, formed from char, a car)

chariot turn (See also:

Herod. i. 179). The See also:

clay dug from the See also:

MOAT

moat served to make the bricks of the wall, which had too See also:

GATES, HORATIO (1728-1806)

gates, all of See also:

BRONZE

bronze, with bronze lintels and posts. The two inner enclosures were faced with enamelled tiles and represented See also:

HUNTING (the verbal substantive from " hunt "; O. Eng. huntian, hunta; apparently connected with O. Eng. hentan, Gothic hinpan, to capture, O.H.G. hunda,booty)

hunting-scenes. Two other walls ran along the See also:

banks of the Euphrates and the quays with which it was lined, each containing 25 gates which answered to the number of streets they led into. See also:

Ferry-boats plied between the landing-places of the gates, and a movable drawbridge (30 ft. broad), supported on See also:

stone piers, joined the two parts of the city together. The See also:

account thus given of the walls must be grossly exaggerated and cannot have been that of an See also:

eye-See also:

witness.

Moreover, the two-walls—Imgur-Bel, the inner wall, and Nimitti-Bel, the See also:

OUTER

outer —which enclosed the city proper on the site of the older Babylon have been confused with the outer ramparts (enclosing the whole of Nebuchadrezzar's city), the remains of which can still be traced to the See also:

east. According to Nebuchadrezzar, Imgur-Bel was built in the form of a square, each See also:

side of which measured " 30 aslu by the great cubit "; this would be See also:

EQUIVALENT

equivalent, if See also:

PROFESSOR (the Latin noun formed from the verb profiteri, to declare publicly, to acknowledge, profess)

Professor F. Hommel is right, to 2400 metres. Four thousand cubits to the east the great rampart was built " See also:

mountain high," which surrounded both the old and the new town; it was provided with a moat, and a See also:

RESERVOIR

reservoir was excavated in the triangle on the inner side of its south-east corner, the western wall of which is still visible. The Imgur-Bel of Sargon's time has been discovered by the See also:

German excavators See also:

RUNNING

running south of the Qasr from the Euphrates to the Gate of See also:

ISHTAR

Ishtar. The German excavations have shown that the Qasr mound represents both the old palace of Nabopolassar, and the new palace adjoining it built by Nebuchadrezzar, the wall of which he boasts of having completed in 15 days. They have also laid See also:

BARE

bare the site of the " Gate of Ishtar " on the east side of the mound and the little temple of Nin-Makh (Beltis) beyond it, as well as the raised road for See also:

SOLEMN (Lat. sollemnis, sollemnis, less correctly solennis, yearly, annual; from sollus = totus, whole, entire, Gr. Mos., and annus, year)

solemn processions (A-ibur-sabu) which led from the Gate of Ishtar to E-Saggila and skirted the east side of the palace. The road was paved with stone and its walls on either side lined with enamelled tiles, on which a procession of lions is represented. North of the mound was a canal, which seems to have been the Libilkhegal of the inscriptions, while on the south side was the Arakhtu, " the river of Babylon," the See also:

BRICK (derived according to some etymologists from the Teutonic bricke, a disk or plate; but more authoritatively, through the French brique, originally a " broken piece," applied especially to bread, and so to clay, from the Teutonic brikan, to break)

brick quays of which were built by Nabopolassar. The site of E-Saggila is still uncertain. The German excavators assign it to the `Amran mound, its See also:

TOWER (Lat. turris; Fr. tour, clocker; Ital. torre; Ger. Thurm)

tower having stood in a depression immediately to the north of this, and so See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place it south of the Qasr ; but E. Lindl and F.

Hommel have put forward strong reasons for considering it to have been north of the latter, on a part of the site which has not yet been explored. A tablet copied by See also:

George See also:

Smith gives us interesting details as to the See also:

plan and dimensions of this famous temple of Bel; a plan based on these will be found in Hommel's Grundriss der Geographie and Geschichte See also:

des See also:

ALIEN (Lat. alienus)

alien Orients, p. 321. There were three courts, the outer or great See also:

court, the See also:

MIDDLE

middle court of Ishtar and Zamama, and the inner court on the east side of which was the tower of seven stages (known as the House of the Foundation of See also:

HEAVEN (0. Eng. hefen, heofon, heofone; this word appears in O.S. hevan; the High. Ger. word appears in Ger. Himmel, Dutch hemel; there does not seem to be any connexion between the two words, and the ultimate derivation of the word is unknown; the sugges

Heaven and See also:

Earth), 90 metres high according to Hommel's calculation of the measurements in the tablet; while on the See also:

west side was the temple proper of Merodach and his wife Sarpanit or Zarpanit, as well as chapels of See also:

Anu, Ea and Bel on either side of it. A winding ascent led to the See also:

SUMMIT

summit of the tower, where there was a See also:

CHAPEL

chapel, containing, according to Herodotus, a See also:

COUCH, DARIUS NASH (1822-1897)

couch and See also:

GOLDEN

golden table (for the showbread),but no See also:

IMAGE (Lat. imago, perhaps from the same root as imitari, copy, imitate)

image. The golden image of Merodach 40 ft. high, stood in the temple below, in the sanctuary called E-Kua or " House of the See also:

ORACLE (Lat. oraculum, from ora' to pray; the corresponding Greek word is uavreiov or Xpnuri7pwov)

Oracle," together with a table, a See also:

mercy-seat and an altar—all of See also:

gold. The deities whose chapels were erected within the precincts of the temple enclosure were regarded as forming his court. Fifty-five of these chapels existedaltogether in Babylon, but some of them stood independently in other parts of the city. There are numerous gates in the walls both of E-Saggila and of the city, the names of many of which are now known. Nebuchadrezzar says that he covered the walls of some of them with See also:

BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue enamelled tiles " on which bulls and dragons were pourtrayed," and that he set up large bulls and serpents of bronze on their thresholds. The Babil mound probably represents the site of a palace built by Nebuchadrezzar at the See also:

NORTHERN

northern extremity of the city walls and attached to a defensive outwork 6o cubits in length. Since H.

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