s that of the Kasr mound with the palace built
by Nebuchadnezzar. The tradition which has attached the name of Kasr or
"Palace" to this heap is confirmed by inscriptions upon slabs found on
the spot, wherein Nebuchadnezzar declares the building to be his "Grand
Palace." The bricks of that part of the ruin which remains uncovered
bear, one and all, the name of this king; and it is thus clear that
here stood in ancient times the great work of which Berosus speaks as
remarkable for its height and splendor. If a confirmation of the fact
were needed after evidence of so decisive a character, it would be found
in the correspondence between the remains found on the mound and the
description left us of the "greater palace" by Diodorus. Diodorus
relates that the walls of this edifice were adorned with colored
representations of hunting scenes; and modern explorers find that the
whole soil of the mound, and especially the part on which the fragment
of ruin stands, is full of broken pieces of enamelled brick, varied in
hue, and evidently containing portions of human and animal forms.

But if the Kasr represents the palace built by Nebuchadnezzar, as is
generally allowed by those who have devoted their attention to the
subject, it seems to follow almost as a certainty that the Amran mound
is the site of that old palatial edifice to which the erection
of Nebuchadnezzar was an addition. Berosus expressly states that
Nebuchadnezzar's building "adjoined upon" the former palace, a
description which is fairly applicable to the Amran mound by means of a
certain latitude of interpretation, but which is wholly inapplicable to
any of the other ruins. This argument would be conclusive, even if it
stood alone. It has, however, received an important corroboration in the
course of recent researches. From the Amran mound, and from this part
of Babylon only, have monuments been recovered of an earlier date than
Nebuchadnezzar. Here and here alone did the early kings leave memorials
of their presence in Babylon; and here consequently, we may presume,
stood the ancient royal residence.

If, then, all the principal ruins on the east bank of the river, with
the exception of the Babil mound and the long lines marking walls
or embankments, be accepted as representing the "great palace" or
"citadel" of the classical writers we must recognize in the remains west
of the ancient course of the river-the oblong square enclosure and
the important building at