ntry of Susiana or Elymais (Elam), while on the other it ran up the
Euphrates at least as high as Carchemish, from thence extending westward
to the Mediterranean, and southward to, or rather perhaps into, Egypt.
The Apocryphal book of Judith enlarges these limits in every direction.
That the Nabuchodonosor of that work is a reminiscence of the real
Nebuchadnezzar there can be no doubt. The territories of that monarch
are made to extend eastward, beyond Susiana, into Persia; northward to
Nineveh; westward to Cilicia in Asia Minor; and southward to the very
borders of Ethiopia. Among the countries under his sway are enumerated
Elam, Persia, Assyria, Cilicia, Coele-Syria, Syria of Damascus,
Phoenicia, Galilee, Gilead, Bashan, Judsea, Philistia, Goshen, and Egypt
generally. The passage of Berosus is of a more partial character. It
has no bearing on the general question of the extent of the Babylonian
Empire, but, incidentally, it confirms the statements of our other
authorities as to the influence of Babylon in the West. It tells us that
Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, and Egypt, were subject to Nabopolassar, and
that Nebuchadnezzar ruled, not only over these countries, but also over
some portion of Arabia.

From these statements, which, on the whole, are tolerably accordant, we
may gather that the great Babylonian Empire of the seventh century
B.C. inherited from Assyria all the southern and western portion of her
territory, while the more northern and eastern provinces fell to the
share of Media. Setting aside the statement of the book of Judith
(wholly unconfirmed as it is by any other authority), that Persia was at
this time subject to Babylon, we may regard as the most eastern portion
of the Empire the district of Susiana, which corresponded nearly with
the modern Khuzistan and Luristan. This acquisition advanced the eastern
frontier of the Empire from the Tigris to the Bakhtiyari Mountains, a
distance of 100 or 120 miles. It gave to Babylon an extensive tract
of very productive territory, and an excellent strategic boundary.
Khuzistan is one of the most valuable provinces of modern Persia. It
consists of a broad tract of fertile alluvium, intervening between the
Tigris and the mountains, well watered by numerous large streams, which
are capable of giving an abundant irrigation to the whole of the low
region. Above this is Luristan, a still more pleasant district, composed
of alternate mountain, valley, and upland plain, abound