icks, enamelled tiles, and inscribed tablets are brought to light--in
fine, all those numberless objects which bear witness to the presence
of man and to his long sojourn on the spot. But these vestiges are so
mutilated and disfigured that the principal outlines of the buildings
cannot be determined with any certainty, and afford us no data for
guessing their dimensions. He who would attempt to restore the ancient
appearance of the place would find at his disposal nothing but vague
indications, from which he might draw almost any conclusion he pleased.

[Illustration: 030.jpg PLAN OF THE RUINS OF BABYLON]

Prepared by Thuillier, from a plan reproduced in G.
Rawlinson, _Herodotus_

Palaces and temples would take a shape in his imagination on a plan
which never entered the architect's mind; the sacred towers as they rose
would be disposed in more numerous stages than they actually possessed;
the enclosing walls would reach such an elevation that they must have
quickly fallen under their own weight if they had ever been carried
so high: the whole restoration, accomplished without any certain data,
embodies the concept of something vast and superhuman, well befitting
the city of blood and tears, cursed by the Hebrew prophets. Babylon was,
however, at the outset, but a poor town, situated on both banks of the
Euphrates, in a low-lying, flat district, intersected by canals and
liable at times to become marshy. The river at this point runs almost
directly north and south, between two banks of black mud, the base of
which it is perpetually undermining. As long as the city existed, the
vertical thrust of the public buildings and houses kept the river within
bounds, and even since it was finally abandoned, the masses of _debris_
have almost everywhere had the effect of resisting its encroachment;
towards the north, however, the line of its ancient quays has given
way and sunk beneath the waters, while the stream, turning its course
westwards, has transferred to the eastern bank the gardens and mounds
originally on the opposite side. E-sagilla, the temple of the lofty
summit, the sanctuary of Merodach, probably occupied the vacant space in
the depression between the Babil and the hill of the Kasr.*

* The temple of Merodach, called by the Greeks the temple of
Belos, has been placed on the site called Babil by the two
Rawlinsons; and by Oppert; Hormuzd Rassam and Fr. Delitzsch
locate it between the