on, to those triumphs of
historical synthesis in which no attempt is made to narrate events as they
occurred and in all their details, but in which a whole people lives, and
the character of a whole century is summed up, in a picture whose every
line and colour is borrowed from reality.[451]

In spite of their apparent variety, all the buildings we shall describe in
the present chapter may be referred to a single fundamental type. They are
each formed of several cubic masses superimposed one upon another and
diminishing in volume in proportion to their height in the monument. We
have already explained how such a system came to be adopted.[452] It was
determined by the limitations of the only material at the architect's
disposal, and it had at least this advantage, that it enabled him to
relieve the monotony of the Chaldaean plains with artificial mountains whose
vast size and boldness of line were calculated to impress the minds of the
people, and to give them a great idea of their master's power and of the
majesty of the deities in whose honour they were raised.

[Illustration: FIG. 168.--View of the Birs Nimroud; after Felix Thomas.]

Mesopotamia was covered, then, by buildings resembling a stepped pyramid in
their general outlines. We find them in the reliefs (Fig. 10), and in the
oldest cities we can frequently recognize the confused ruins of their two
or three lower stories. Our only doubt is connected with the possible use
of these buildings, the _zigguratts_ of the Assyrian texts. We shall not
here stop to recapitulate the evidence in favour of their religious
character; it will suffice to quote the description given by Herodotus of
the temple of Bel or Belus at Babylon. As to whether the ruins of that
building are to be identified with _Babil_ (Fig. 37) or the _Birs-Nimroud_
(Fig. 168) we shall inquire presently. This is the description of
Herodotus:--

"In the other (fortress) was the sacred precinct of Jupiter Belus, a square
inclosure two furlongs each way with gates of solid brass; which was also
remaining in my time. In the middle of the precinct there was a tower of
solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon which was raised a
second tower, and on that a third, and so on up to eight. The ascent to the
top is on the outside, by a path which winds round all the towers. When one
is about half way up one finds a resting-place and seats, where persons are
wont to sit some time on their way to the su