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Babel from this place." It was visited about the end of the 12th | cent. by Benjamin of Tudela, who observed only a few ruins of what he conceived to be Nebuchadnezzar's palace still remaining; but so full of venomous reptiles that it was dangerous to inspect them closely. A similar account is given by other travellers; by Texeira, a Portuguese; by Rauwolf, a German traveller in 1574; by Petrus Vallensis in 1616; by Tavernier, and by Hanway. But so very slight were the vestiges of ancient B., that it was thought impossible to ascertain exactly the spot on which it stood: so completely had been fulfilled the prediction of Isaiah,-" Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there: and the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces." The striking accomplishment of scripture-prophecies, in the conquest, decline, and desolation of B. is fully illustrated in Rollin's Ancient History, Newton's Dissertations, and Prideaux's Connections.

In more recent times Niebuhr, Beauchamp, and Olivier, successively visited Hillah, and described the surrounding ruins; but it is to Mr. Rich that we owe the first laborious examination of them. Mr. Rich has identified the locality of ancient Babylon with Hillah and the surrounding country on the following grounds. 1st. The whole district has been known from the most ancient times by the name of El-aredh Babel, i. e., 'the Land of Babel.' 2d. The distances given by Herodotus from the bituminous fountains of Is, or Hit, and by Strabo, from Seleucia, correspond with the position thus assigned to B. 3d. The nature of the soil, the enormous masses of ruins with which it is covered, the peculiar composition of these ruins, and the extensive use of brick in them, the extent to which they are scattered over the circumjacent country, and the relative position of the larger masses. "From the accounts of modern travellers," says Mr. Rich, "I had expected to have found on the site of B. more or less than I actually did. Less, because I could have formed no conception of the prodigious extent of the whole ruins, or of the size, solidity, and perfect state of some of the parts of them; and more, because I thought that I should have distinguished some traces, however imperfect, of many of the principal structures of B. I was completely deceived. Instead of a few insulated mounds, I found the whole face of the country covered with vestiges of building, in some places consisting of brick walls surprisingly fresh, in others merely of a vast succession of mounds of rubbish, of such undeterminate figures, variety and extent, as to involve the person who should have formed any theory in inextricable confusion."

These ruins commence at the village of Muhawil or Mahowel, and extend 12 m. S all the way to Hillah. At the distance of 6 m. W of Hillah stands a vast mound, which Mr. Rich identifies with the ruins of the Birs Nemroud, or the ancient temple of Belus; if an equal extent to the E of the Euphrates be admitted, the measures of Herodotus are fully justified, who assigns a square of 480 stadia to ancient B., or 144 sq. m.,-an enclosed space equal to nine times that occupied by London in the commencement of this century. All this enclosed space is full of mounds, remains of ancient walls, deserted water-courses, and ancient embankments. The principal masses on the E side of the river extend from a point about 2 m. N of Hillah, for a space of 3 m. in the same direction, and are chiefly embraced by a long narrow mound (a a) which, commencing near the Mujelibe (m), takes a wide detour to the E, and terminates at the SE corner of an eminence called the hill of Amran (a). Mr. Buckingham has sug

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gested that this may be the wall which Jerome describes as the wall of the city: for it is much more likely that this wall, which was probably perfect 15 centuries ago, should have been the boundary of the hunting-park of the Parthian kings, than the ancient walls of B. of 44 m. in extent. The river bank, to the SW of the hill or tomb of Amran, is skirted by a ruin extending nearly 800 yards from b to k. From the E angle of the river b, commences another mound similar to a a, but broader and flatter, which is the most southerly of all the ruins, and is continued beyond the village of Jumjuma (I). The whole area within these mounds is 2 m. 600 yds. from E to W, and 2 m. 1,000 yds. from N to S. There are three great masses of ruins on the eastern side of the Euphrates which particularly arrest attention: the Mujelibe or Mukallibe,-the Kasr, or palace,-and the Amran-hill. The last of these is a mass of ruin 1,400 yds. long on the SW face, 1,100 on the E face, and 850 on the N face, of a triangular figure, and rising in some places to 60 ft. above the plain. This vast mass is composed of earth mixed with fragments of brick, broken pottery, vitrifications, mortar, and bitumen; the foot at every step upon it sinks in the loose dust and rubbish of the mass which has been successively emptied of its bricks for modern buildings.-The Kasr (H) is a vast mound 550 yards N of this, and divided from it by a valley covered with tufts of rank grass, and crossed by a low ridge of ruins. The Kasr is 2,100 yds. in circumf., and rises full 70 ft. above the general level. It appears to have been composed of buildings far superior to all the others on the eastern side, as it is one entire mass of furnace-burnt bricks, whereas those of the others are of sun-dried bricks. This large pile of ruin is supposed both by Rich and Porter to have been the terraced palace of Nebuchadnezzar; but it has been so much cut up into ravines, and burrowed into by parties in search of bricks, that it is impossible to guess at the original plan of the structure. In the excavations made here, fragments of alabaster vessels, fine earthenware, marble, and varnished tiles are found; and Mr. Rich disinterred in one part of it an image of a lion or an elephant, rudely sculptured in dark grey stone, and of colossal dimensions. The subjoined cut represents the E face of the Kasr.

On a ridge of its mouldering ruins still flourishes a solitary tree called Atheleh, of a species foreign to Babylonia, but recognised as the Arabian atle, a species of tamarisk. It seems to have been originally of enormous size; but only a part of its trunk, about 5 ft. in circumf., now remains, which still supports its evergreen and wide-spreading branches. It must be at least 1,200 years old, as tradition records its existence as far back as the days of Ali, sonin-law of Mahommed, and it is revered by the Arabs as its shade afforded him shelter and repose when faint with fatigue from the battle of Hillah. Perhaps this tree may be a germ from the terraced gardens of B. which once covered the space where it now grows. The embankment on the river side is separated from the hill of Amran, and the Kasr, by a winding valley or ravine 150 yds. broad, and covered at the bottom with nitrous efflorescence. Towards the river it shows an abrupt and perpendicular face; and at the top have been found urns filled with human bones.A mile and a half to the N of the Kasr, stands the vast mass of the Mukallibe, or Mujelibe, that is, 'the overturned.' It is of an oblong figure, 200 yds. long on the N side, 219 on the S, 182 on the E, and 136 on the W: the elevation of the SE angle is 141 ft. It is nearly visible all the way from Mahawil. It is worthy of observation that in Pietro della Valle's time, the alt. of this ruin was 200 ft., and the base measured about 2,600,-a circumstance proving the liability of the B. ruins to gradual decrease. In the space of 200 years, this mound has diminished 60 ft. in height, and nearly 500 ft. in circumf. Let us suppose its decrease in each preceding cent. to have been at only half of this rate, and the size of the original building would exceed the account given of it by any ancient author. [Keppel.] This ruin is supposed by Pietro della Valle, and by Rennell, to have been the ancient temple of Belus; but this opinion has been controverted by Rich and Porter. This ruin abounds with fragments of all kinds, as bricks both sun-dried and furnace-baked, pottery, bitumen, pebbles, vitrified scoriæ, bits of glass, and mother-of-pearl. In this mass numbers of wild beasts have made their lairs; and in most of its ravines are multitudes of bats and owls; thus literally exemplifying the truth of the prediction that the houses of B. should be full of "doleful creatures; that owls should dwell there, and satyrs dance there."

Except the Birs Nemroud the ruins on the W side of the river do not correspond in magnitude to those on the E side.-The Birs Nemroud is 64 m. SW of Hillah, and 9 m. SE of the Mujelibe. It is called by the modern Jews the prison of Nebuchadnezzar.' This mass is surrounded by a ruined wall 2,286 ft. in circumf. It stands by itself, distinct from all the other ruins, in the centre of a now solitary waste like the awful figure of Prophecy herself, pointing out the complete fulfilment of her solemn denunciation. The height of the mass on the W side is 198 ft. It is crowned by

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a solid mass of brick-work rising 37 ft. higher still, and 28 ft. broad. The whole mass is of the finest brick-work, presenting the appearance of an angle of a structure originally quadrangular. It is rent half-way to the bottom; whether by the hand of man, or visitation of the elements, Porter cannot determine, but thinks it to have been effected by lightning. The other parts of the summit are occupied by immense fragments of brick-work, tumbled together, and converted into solid vitrified masses. The subjoined view of the Birs Nemroud. as seen from NNW, is from Captain Mignan's interesting work.

A large triangular mound, equal in height to the Kasr, and 1,242 ft. broad, by 1,935 ft. long, stands 270 ft. to the E of the eastern face of the Birs. To the NW of the village of Anana (0) stands another mound 300 yds. long, by 14 ft. high; and 2 m. farther NW is an assemblage of mounds, the most considerable of which is 35 ft. high, extending 3 m. in length. There, in Ker Porter's opinion, are the ruins of the lesser and older palace of the Babylonish kings. A mile beyond this, a number of minor mounds appears; and 3 m. first S, and then SE, towards the Birs, is another vast space covered with ruins extending 14 m. in length. All the mounds now mentioned appear to have been within the circuit of the ancient B., and demonstrate its amazing magnitude. They are all, without exception, of brick; no stone exists in the alluvial soil of the Babylonian delta.-Other large mounds have been explored in the immediate vicinity, as those of Al-Heimar and others, E of Hillah,-the mound of Akerkouf 10 m. NW of Bagdad,-the mounds of Bursa, 4 leagues below Hillah,-besides two other large mounds 3 leagues S of the same place. Indeed the whole tract from Bagdad SW to Hillah, and from Hillah SE to the marsh of Lemlum, is full of ruins, attesting former population and opulence; but all now a dreary waste. Mr. Buckingham in some of the straight lines of mounds in this quarter thought he beheld the remains of the rectilinear streets of B., but Mr. Fraser inclines to regard them as marking the lines of the ancient canals whose banks generally rise above the surface of the ground over which they were led.

"The chief objection to the descriptions given of B. by the ancient writers, has been made to its vast size, and to the difficulty of supporting its enormous population, in a country, one part of which (Arabia) was far from fertile, and in an inland situation, difficult of access to distant countries, and with very imperfect means of obtaining their production. To take the latter part of the objection first;-we are perfectly willing to admit that a maritime capital is capable of far greater extension in proportion to the whole country, than a metropolis which is far removed from the coast, or is deprived of the benefit of water carriage; but it must be remembered that Babylon, although not a sea-port, was by no means destitute of this advantage. The productions of Mesopotamia, and a great part of Persia, might be conveyed by the Tigris, and thence into the Euphrates by the Nahr-Malcha, and other canals, which were dug at various periods, from the time of Nebuchadnezzar downwards, to connect those rivers at different points above Babylon; while the produce of the countries to the north of the Persian gulf, might pass up the Euphrates, together with the food derived from Babylonia itself, at that time one of the most fertile districts of the East. True it is, that rich country is now a desert. The sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof; her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness; a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.' 'The Arabian shall not pitch his tent there. I will make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts!' But in the days of Babylon's prosperity, the surrounding country abounded with the fruits of the earth; it was productive as a garden, and in the time of Herodotus, was regarded as the richest part of the most fertile district of Asia. So that, taking into account the small quantity of animal food consumed by the inhabitants of southern climates, as compared with those of northern latitudes, we shall find that Babylonia itself might afford vegetable supplies for a population as great as that of Babylon is supposed to have been. In fact, it is impossible in this respect to compare Babylon with London, as some authors have done, and to say, because it requires so many acres to furnish food for the inhabitants of London, that therefore Babylon, containing so many more, must have wanted a greater extent of cultivated ground than the immediate vicinity afforded. The nature of the food required, and the wants of the consumers, were totally different-the fertility, beyond all comparison, greater in favour of Babylonia. The population, too, instead of being compressed into crowded streets, as in modern cities, was scattered over a space that rather resembled an enclosed district, where each house is a villa, than a closely-built town; and even the area, which, according to Quintus Curtius, was built upon, did not very greatly exceed that upon which

London stands, measuring from the end of Whitechapel to Tyburn turnpike, in one direction, and from Pentonville to the southern extremity of Southwark, in the other; and this, too, exclusive of Knightsbridge, Kensington, Bayswater, Kentish town, and the other suburbs, which might fairly be taken into London, when comparing it with a city built as Babylon was. Then, with respect to the kind of houses-From Herodotus' specifying that there were many of three and four stories high, it is obvious, that by far the greater number were of one or two. No man, describing London or Paris, would say they abounded with houses of three and four stories, when in fact they contain nothing else; besides, in almost all Eastern cities, the houses seldom exceed two stories in height. If the houses of Babylon were generally low, and in the form of courts, it would not only account for the great space of ground required, but also for their speedy decay, as mud and sun-dried bricks, although sufficient for houses of that description, would immediately fall to pieces when uninhabited and exposed to the action of the weather, and the inundations, which were the consequences of the Euphrates overflowing its banks. The same causes would also account for the total disappearance of the walls. Whatever may have been their original height, we know that in Strabo's time they did not exceed 50 cubits, or 75 feet. The great reduction which they underwent from the time of Herodotus, inclines us to believe that the brickwork was not carried to the top, but that the wall was a breast work of earth, with a casing or retaining wall of brick at its base. When the wall was reduced by Xerxes, the first operation would be to remove the brick facing, and the earth, having then lost its support, would gradually crumble down, till exposure to the rains would in process of time reduce the mound to the level of the desert. Certain it is, that no traces of the wall have been found by any traveller in that country; and equally certain is it, that the walls of Nineveh, 480 stadia in extent, and 100 feet high, according to Diodorus, are now levelled with the ground, and no vestige of them can be discovered. One word upon the number of inhabitants-Major Rennell thinks the authorities carry them beyond 2,000,000, which he thinks incredible. Now, to say nothing of the number of inhabitants of China-70,000,000 in two provinces alone-we learn from the Bible, and from all ancient records, that the countries of the East were formerly very thickly peopled. While it appears, therefore, that 2,000,000 is by no means so vast as to be incredible, we are inclined to believe that the inhabitants of Babylon, in its most populous time, fell short of that number. From what Strabo says of that city, when comparing it with Seleucia, the greater part was in his time a desert, and Seleucia was larger than what remained of Babylon. Now, seventy years after Strabo wrote, Pliny describes Seleucia as a very large city, containing 600,000 inhabitants. But Seleucia was at this time rapidly decreasing, from Ctesiphon having become the winter residence of the Parthian kings; and therefore, when it contained 600,000 inhabitants, it was probably considerably less than one-half of Babylon in its original state, which would make the population of Babylon under 2,000,000."-Edin. Rev., vol. xlviii.

The principal opponent of the theory which identifies the plain of Shinar with that of Babylon is Dr. Beke, who in his Origines Biblica contends that at the period when the tower of Babel was built the plains of B. were actually covered by the waters of the Persian gulf! Dr. Beke founds his opinion on the supposed geological features of the district; but Mr. Ainsworth has furnished proof that while Dr. Beke's Shinar in Upper Mesopotamia agrees in no particular with the description of that district given in the Bible, the alluvial formations of Babylonia did not, at the period when the tower of Babel was built, differ greatly in extent or appearance from their condition at the present day; and that the increase of land, by the deposition of alluvium at the head of the Persian gulf, has certainly not exceeded 30 ft. per annum.

Strabo says the Euphrates was a stadium [500 ft.] in breadth at B. Rich found it to be 450 ft., with an average depth of 24 fath., and a current of 2 knots an hour. Mignan, in May 1828, found the Euphrates flowing past Hillah at 7 knots an hour. Mr. Buckingham was struck with the general resemblance of the stream at B. to the Nile above Cairo. Its banks were lined with date-groves, and in the centre were some sand-banks covered with rushes.

Authorities.] Rich's First and Second Memoirs on the Ruins of B., 1815 and 1818.-Sir R. K. Porter's Travels. Lond., 1822.-Mignan's Travels in Chaldæa. Lond., 1829.-Buckingham's Travels in Mesopotamia.-Ainsworth's Researches in Babylonia. Lond., 1838. -Fraser's Mesopotamia in Cabinet Library. Edin.-Kepper's Personal Narrative. Lond., 1834.-A curious dissertation on the material of the B. structures will be found in the 58th vol. of the Quarterly Review; and the 48th vol. of the Edinburgh Review contains an interesting article on the ruins of B.

BACA (PUNTA LENGUA DE), a headland on the coast of Chili, in S lat. 30° 20' 3", W long. 71° 49'. BACA. See BAZA.

BACACAY, a town on the W coast of the island of Negros, one of the Philippines.

BACAIM, a town on the island of Salsette, 24 m. N of Bombay.

BACALAN, a town of Great Bukharia, 45 m. W of Anderab.-Also a hamlet of France, in the dep. of Gironde, com. of Bandeaux.

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BACALAR, a town of Yucatan, on a stream flowing from a lake of the same name, 36 m. SW of Valladolid.

BACALHA'O, a river of Brazil, in the prov. of Goyaz, which passes Tocantins, and flows into the Bagagem.

BACK POINT, a headland of Arctic America, at the extremity of Gwydyr bay, in N lat. 70° 20′, W long. 149°.

BACKERGUNGE, a district of Hindostan, in the eastern Sunderbunds, bounded on the E by the Puddah or Great Ganges; on the S by the bay of Bengal; and on the W by the Hooringotta; and comprising a superficies of 4,564 sq. m. This terri

BACAMARTE, a village of Brazil, in the prov. of Parahiba, 12 m. from Campina-Grande.-Also a sierra in the same prov., connected with the Cordil-tory, notwithstanding its proximity to the sea, is relera Borborema.

BACANOF, a town of Poland, in the gov. of Cracovia, 6 m. SE of Stobnica.

BACCALLAO, or BACALIEU, an island off the SE coast of Newfoundland, the N point of which is in N lat. 48° 9', W long. 52° 44′ 46′′. It is about 3 m. in length from N to S, and 14 m. broad. The chan-jungle infested with tigers of the most formidable nel between it and the main is 2 m. wide. It is supposed to have been the first land of North America sighted by Cabot, on the 24th of June, 1497.-There is another island of the same name in the bay of Notre Dame, in N lat. 49° 41′ 50′′, W long. 54° 28'48".

BACCANO, a town in the States-of-the-Church, 21 m. N by W of Rome, on a lake of the same name, which discharges itself into the Tiber. It is situated on the NW side of the crater of an extinct volcano.

BACCARAT, a canton and commune of France, in the dep. of Meurthe, arrond. of Luneville.-The cant. comprises 30 com.-The com. and v. is on the Meurthe, 27 m. ESE of Nancy. Pop. 2,809. The most extensive flint-glass works in France are established here.

BACCHIGLIO'NE, a river in Venetian Lombardy, which, rising in the Alps, flows in a SE direction past Vicenza, then passes Padua, and enters the Adriatic at Brondolo, opposite Chioggia, after a course of 90 m. It was the Medoacus Minor of the Romans. It is connected by a canal with the Brenta. BACH, a river of Arctic America. BACHANT, a commune of France, in the dep. of Nord, cant. of Berlaimont. Pop. 674.

BACHARACH, a town of Prussia, in the prov. of the Lower Rhine, 22 m. SE of Coblentz, on the 1. bank of the Rhine. Pop. 1,650. It is celebrated for its red and white wines. It is encircled by antique walls; and the castle of Stahleck, the ancient seat of the counts palatine, crowns a hill behind the town. BACHELLERIE (LA), a commune of France, in the dep. of Dordogne, cant. of Tarrasson, on the Cerne. Pop. 1,446.

BACHI. See BASHEE.

BACHIAN, one of the Molucca islands, in S lat. 0° 30', E long. 127° 30'. It is 54 m. in length, and 20 m. in breadth, and is separated by a narrow channel from Gilolo. The inhabitants are Malay Mahommedans. Their chief town is called Zabongo.

BACHMUTH, or BAKMUD, a town of Russia, in the gov. of Ekaterinoslav, on a tributary to the Donetz, in N lat. 48° 30'. It conducts a considerable trade in salt and horses.

markable for its fertility. Periodically overflowed by the waters of the Ganges, and enriched by their alluvium, it produces annually two rice crops of such abundance as to render it the principal granary of Calcutta both for exportation and consumption. Considerable tracts, however, are still covered with dimensions, and the rivers swarm with alligators. The district has suffered much from inundations. An invasion of the Mughs formed a desolating sequel to one of those calamities which occurred in 1574. Another great inundation took place in 1822, in which 10,000 of the inhabitants lost their lives, and a great amount of property was destroyed. The climate is generally insalubrious. In 1801 the pop. was estimated at 926,723, of whom five-eighths were Hindus, and the majority of the remainder Mahommedans. Some Portuguese colonists, descendants of those who in 1666 were invited by the Nabob Hagta Khan to enter his service, still exist near the coast, but in a deplorable state of degradation. They are remarkable for the darkness of their hue. The Dacoits, a piratical horde by whom the rivers were formerly greatly infested, have of late years been brought under the restraints of legislative authority.—The town of Backergunge, formerly the cap. of the district, is situated on a small inosculation of the Ganges to which it gives its name, 87 m. S of Decca, in N lat. 22° 42', and E long. 90° 26'. It has considerably declined since 1801, when, in consequence of the separation of the district from Dacca Jelalpur, the courts of judicature and of revenue were removed to Burrishol. B. has extensive commerce in rice, salt, and cotton fabrics.

BACKFORD, a parish of Cheshire, 4 m. N by W of Chester. Area 3,320 acres. Pop. 556.

BACKNANG, a town of Wurtemberg, in the Neckar circle, on the Murr. Pop. 4,100. A celebrated horse-market is annually held here.

BACKOFEN, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of Bunzlau, on the 1. bank of the Iser, 6 m. NE of Jung-Bunzlau. Pop. 1,100.

BACKSTAIRS PASSAGE, the channel leading from Encounter bay into the gulf of St. Vincent, between Kangaroo island, and Cape Jervis in S Australia.

BACKWELL, a parish in Somersetshire, 8 m. SW of Bristol. Area 2,750 acres. Pop. 1,161. BACKWORTH, a township in Earsdon p., Northumberland, 5 m. NW of North Shields. Pop. 413. BACO, a town on the NW coast of Mindoro, one of the Philippines, the cap. of the island. The en

BACHTA, a river of Siberia, flowing into the virons are well-watered by springs from the adjacent Jenisei to the S of Inbatskoi.

BACHTIYARI. See BAKHTIYARI.
BACHU. See BAKU.

BACHY, a town of Guinea, in N lat. 6° 55', 7 m. NE of Jenna.

BACILLY, a commune of France, in the dep. of Manche, cant. of Sartilly. Pop. 1,623.

BACK, a river in co. Baltimore, Maryland, U. S., flowing into the Chesapeake 4 m. N of Patasco. Also a creek of the Chesapeake, in co. Cecil, into which the Dalaware and Chesapeake canal opens. Also a river in Arctic America, flowing into the S arm of Coronation gulf, in N lat. 66° 30′.

mountains, which are covered by the sarsaparilla tree. BACON, a town of Persia, in the prov. of Sistan, 80 m. NNE of Zahreng.

BACONGEN, a town on the W coast of Sumatra, in N lat. 2° 55'.

BACONO, a river of South America, in Venezuela. It issues from the mountains in the vicinity of Truxillo, and, after leaving their narrow defiles, serves as a line of demarcation to the provinces of Varinas and Venezuela; thereafter, passing through the plains, where it irrigates some fertile estates of cocoa, indigo, and sugar-cane, it enters the Guanare, which discharges its waters into the Portugueza.

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