entifique_, vol. i. p. 86) gives a description
of one of these storms that he encountered in the neighbourhood of Bagdad
on the 26th of May.

[148] LAYARD, _Nineveh and its Remains_, vol. ii. p. 119. When one of these
mounds is attacked from the top, the excavators must work downwards until
they come to this paved platform. As soon as it is reached no greater depth
need be attempted; all attention is then given to driving lateral trenches
in every direction. In Assyria the mass of crude bricks sometimes rests
upon a core of rock which has been utilized to save time and labour
(LAYARD, _Discoveries_, &c., p. 219).

[149] See HERODOTUS, i. 181-184; and DIODORUS, ii. 9.

[150] By such means M. OPPERT arrives at a height of 250 Babylonian feet,
or about 262 feet English for the monument now represented by the mound in
the neighbourhood of Babylon known as Birs-Nimroud. _Expedition
scientifique de Mesopotamie_, vol. i. pp. 205-209, and plate 8.

[151] Homologeitai d' hupselon gegenesthai kath' huperbolen.--DIODORUS, ii.
9, 4.

[152] The mound called Babil on the site of Babylon (Plate I. and Fig. 37)
is now about 135 feet high, but the Birs-Nimroud, the highest of these
ruins, has still an elevation of not less than 220 feet (LAYARD,
_Discoveries_, p. 495).

[153] See LAYARD'S account of his excavation in the interior of the
pyramidal ruin occupying a part of the platform which now surmounts the
mound of Nimroud. From two sides trenches were cut to the centre; neither
of them encountered a void of any kind (_Nineveh and its Remains_, vol. ii.
p. 107). At a later period further trenches were cut and the rest of the
building explored (_Discoveries_, pp. 123-129). The only void of which any
trace could be found was a narrow, vaulted gallery, about 100 feet long, 6
wide, and 12 high. It was closed at both ends, and appeared never to have
had any means of access from without.

[154] See LENORMANT, _Histoire Ancienne_, vol. ii. pp. 228 and 233.
Translations of several texts in which these restorations are spoken of are
here given.

[155] tou kataskeuasmatos dia tou chronou diapeptokotos (ii. 9, 4).

[156] STRABO, xvi. 5.

[157] DIODORUS, after describing the treasures of the temple, confines
himself to saying generally, "all this was afterwards spoiled by the king
of Persia" (ii. 9, 19).

[158] According to the personal experience of M. Place, the ancient
arrangements were more suited to the climate of this country th