perfection; makes it an idol, places it in heaven; and as the enthusiasm of devotion borrows the language of love, the enthusiasm of love also borrows the language of devotion:-the lover beholds nothing but paradise, angels, the virtues of saints, and the felicities of heaven." Thus was the love of Leila and Mijnoon (the Romeo and Juliet of the East) according to Mahomedan accounts. The Sufi when thus contemplating the image of his Maker is insensible to every object around him; he conceives himself united with him, and changed into his essence:—thus St. Paul saith, “But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord." The various religions and contentions thereabouts are equally indifferent to him; he sees not and knows not the difference, by this Persian distich and beautiful simile :

"He who is maddened to the heart with the arrow of love, knows not the infidel or believer; What does the precious signet know of the engraving thereon, whether it is reversed or not?" As he is in love and full of perfect and divine love which has no fear, so God is in him by this Hudees Koodsee.

"He (the Lord) is not contained in the heaven or earth, but he is contained in the heart of the true believer and worshipper." Also

"The heart is the house of the Lord, and the light thereof is of the Lord."―Here the Sûfi is lost in Deity absolute; being led by the spirit, he is not under the law :-thus St. Paul, Gal. ch. v. ver. 18. He sees God "in every appearance and form;” and by this Arabic saying, "By and in unity he sees not any thing except God*."

* If any pious reader should be alarmed by some of the parallels attempted between extracts of Sufi writers and texts of the Christian Scriptures, he may be assured that his own mind is not more pure from intentional irreverence than that of the author of the above paper; though he has not always employed that caution in language, of which his long residence in the East has prevented him from learning the usefulness.

IX.

ACCOUNT OF THE PRESENT, COMPARED WITH THE ANCIENT, STATE OF BABYLON.

By Captain EDWARD FREDERICK, of the Bombay Establishment.

Read 30th March, 1812.

In the course of the year 1811 having been called by my official duties to reside for some time at Bagdad, the vicinity of Babylon, added to the description which Major Rennell gives of the masses of rubbish which still indicate its site, induced me to undertake a journey for the purpose of examining the present state of the ruins of that celebrated city: this resolution was strengthened by the opinion which he expresses, that the discovery of the position and extent of the walls and ditch might still be hoped for*, and that traces of them might still be found, were researches diligently pursued for that purpose. To have succeeded even partially in the attainment of such an object would have yielded me no small degree of satisfaction. For a detail of the reasonings on which Major Rennell appears to doubt the accounts of the ancient authors relative to its extent, I refer to his accurate and learned work on the Geography of Herodotus:―he agrees with D'Anville in assigning to it an area of thirty-two miles in circumference, instead of the enormous one of seventy-two given it by Herodotus.

My sole object in committing the following remarks to paper is to note what I saw while at Hillah, and to indicate how far it differed on examination from the descriptions given by travellers. I have sometimes felt myself obliged to point out certain errors which former travellers have fallen into,-errors the less to be wondered at, as such as had visited the place had in general but little time for examination, and must have been * See Rennell's Geog. of Herodotus, from page 336 to 338.

ON THE PRESENT, COMPARED WITH THE ANCIENT, STATE OF BABYLON. 121

under considerable solicitude for their personal safety from the wandering Arabs.

Babylon, the capital of Chaldæa and one of the most ancient cities in the world, is said to have been founded by Belus, and embellished by Semiramis the warlike queen of the East, and afterwards to have been particularly repaired, enlarged, and beautified by Nebuchadnezzar. It is described by Herodotus as situated in an extensive plain, forming a perfect square, which is bisected by the Euphrates running from north to south; each side he states as being one hundred and twenty furlongs in length, and the whole compass four hundred and eighty furlongs, or above seventy-two miles. It was also, he informs us, surrounded by a wide and deep ditch full of water, and a wall two hundred royal cubits (or three hundred feet) in height, and fifty (or seventy-five feet) wide. The earth or clay dug out to form the ditch was made into bricks, and after being baked in a furnace served to compose this enormous rampart; and at every thirtieth course of bricks a layer of heated bitumen and reeds was introduced. The side of the ditch was also lined or faced with the same materials; and at the top of the wall, opposite to each other, were erected small towers of one story in height; between which, adds Herodotus, a chariot and four horses could pass and turn. Along each bank of the river ran a wall less high than the outer one, but of great strength, and which joined the outer walls where they formed an angle with the river. In the centre of the western division of the city was a large and well fortified space: on this side also Diodorus states the pensile or hanging gardens to have been situated; and on the opposite bank stood the temple of Jupiter Belus, whose enormous gates of brass were still seen in the time of Herodotus: the square inclosure around the temple measured two furlongs each face, or a mile in circumference, and in the midst of this space rose an immense tower, on which was placed another, and on the second a third, and so successively to the number of eight, each successive turret diminishing in size: on the outside were winding stairs to ascend from one tower to another; in the middle of the ascent were seats to allow such as mounted to rest themselves. In the highest tower was a

R

chapel, which contained the bed of the mistress of the god; lower down another chapel, in which was a golden statue of Jupiter.

The Euphrates is said to have been made to wind greatly, by artificial canals, a considerable distance above, at Arderrica, but to have run straight through Babylon; its breadth was five stadia.

Babylonia is described as flat and low, the major part of the lands producing prodigious crops of corn, millet, and sesamum; but wood or timber seems not to have been abundant or even procurable of any size, as appears from the statement of the ancient writers, who agree that the palm-trees (of the date kind) were used for the construction of the platform of the bridge said to have been thrown across the Euphrates by Nitocris.

Herodotus adds that very little rain falls in this country, and that the lands are almost entirely fertilized, and the fruits of the earth nourished, by means of the river, and that its waters are raised and dispersed over the fields by hydraulic engines. Neither the vine, fig, nor olive* thrive in this soil; but the palm is a common plant, producing bread, wine, and honey.

But above all the curiosities of this country, the boats used in the river attracted the attention of Herodotus: he describes them as of a circular form, the outside made of skins and the interior of willows and reeds, able to carry from one to many asses, besides merchandise. They were constructed in the upper parts of Armenia; and being laden with articles of trade and asses, they floated down the stream to Babylon, where, on their arrival, the merchants disposed of their cargo, and also of the materials of which their boats were made, except the skins; these they put their asses, asses, and returned northward by land, as the strength and rapidity of the stream prevented them going back the same way they came†. * Of these I shall speak hereafter.

upon

+ The future desolate state of Babylon is strongly delineated by the ancient prophets. "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." Isaiah, chap. xiii. ver. 19.

"Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called The lady of kingdoms." Ibid. chap. xlvii. ver. 5.

Having premised these few general observations relative to the position and ancient state of Babylon, which seem to be necessary for the better understanding of the subsequent remarks, I shall now state the result of my own researches during a stay of six days at Hillah, which I dedicated to the examination of these ruins.

After a ride of fourteen hours and a half, with the intermission of only one quarter of an hour, I arrived at Hillah, in March 1811, at half past nine o'clock at night, from Bagdad, having travelled almost the whole time in a straight line. Rennell makes the distance between these places upwards of sixty miles, a bird's flight:-were I to form a conjecture from the time which I spent on the road and my rate of travelling, I should be disposed to allow fifty-three miles *.

The whole country from Bagdad to Hillah is extremely flat and barren, and in most parts liable, from its lowness, to the inundations of the two rivers. Cultivation is entirely confined to the banks of the river, except a little above Hillah, where it may extend a couple of miles in-land, but that only during the season the river swells; and those splendid accounts of the Babylonian lands yielding crops of grain two and three hundredfold, compared with the modern face of the country, afford a remarkable proof of the singular desolation to which it has been subjected; for so wretchedly provided are the present inhabitants of a village about twentyfive miles before you reach Hillah, with that necessary article of life, water, that they have not at any period of the year a single blade of vegetation in the vicinity of their huts, and are obliged to bring from the distance of some miles the water which they use for drinking. These people are induced to remain in their present miserable habitation from being situated midway between two caravanserais, from which circumstance they gain their livelihood by selling corn, flour, dates, cattle, and asses to the cara

"And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant." Jeremiah, chap. li. ver. 37.

"Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire." Ibid. ver. 58.

* Irvin, fifty miles; Sir Harford Jones, sixty-five; and Rennell, sixty.