a or Warka, in which shape the name given by
Nimrod still attaches to the second of his cities. The ruins stand in
lat. 31 deg. 19', long. 45 deg. 40', about four miles from the nearest
bend of the Euphrates, on its left or east bank. They form an irregular
circle, nearly six miles in circumference, which is defined by the traces
of an earthen rampart, in some places forty feet high. A vast mass of
undulating mounds, intersected by innumerable channels and ravines,
extends almost entirely across the circular space, in a direction, which
is nearly north and south, abutting at either end upon the rampart. East
and west of this mass is a comparatively open space, where the mounds are
scattered and infrequent; while outside the rampart are not only a number
of detached hillocks marking the site of ancient buildings, but in one
direction--towards the east--the city may be traced continuously by means
of ruined edifices, mounds, and pottery, fully three miles beyond the
rampart into the desert. The greatest height of the ruins is about 100
feet; their construction is very rude and primitive, the date of some
buildings being evidently as early as that of the most ancient structures
of either Mugheir or Senkereh.

Sixty miles to the north-west of these ruins, still on the left or
eastern bank of the Euphrates, but at the distance of thirty miles from
its present course, are the remains of another city, the only Chaldaean
ruins which can dispute, with those already described, the palm of
antiquity. They consist of a number of separate and distinct heaps,
which seem to be the remains of different buildings, and are divided into
two nearly equal groups by a deep ravine or channel 120 feet wide,
apparently the dry bed of a river which once ran through the town.
Conspicuous among the other hillocks is a conical heap, occupying a
central position on the eastern side of the river-bed, and rising to the
height of about seventy feet above the general level of the plain.
Further on in this direction is a low continuous mound, which seems to be
a portion of the outer wall of the city. The ruins are of considerable
extent, but scarcely so large as those at either Senkereh or Warka. The
name which now attaches to them is Niffer: and it appears, from the
inscriptions at the place, that the ancient Semitic appellation was but
slightly different. This name, as read on the bilingual tablets, was
Nipur; and as there can be little doubt t