merely to restrain the floods: there was likewise the proper irrigation of the soil to be cared for. The whole of Babylonia was intersected by a variety of large and small canals, some running right across the country from one river to the other, and answering the double purpose of a communication between these and the irrigation of the soil, while others were formed solely for the latter object. These canals began above Babylonia Proper, or Mesopotamia; four of the largest, running from the Tigris to the Euphrates, being formed north of the Median wall, about two miles and a half apart, and sufficiently broad and deep to be navigable for ships of burden. It is impossible to determine the number of these canals, for, according to the testimony of Herodotus, the whole land was every where intersected by them, from their being every where indispensable for the watering of the soil. He relates as a curious fact that the Euphrates, which had formerly flowed to the sea almost in a direct line, had been rendered so serpentine in its windings by the number of canals dug above and in the neighbourhood of Babylon, that in its passage to the city, it passed three times the Assyrian village of Ardericca."

By the great works which the Babylonians accomplished of digging canals, lakes, and marshes, the Euphrates was drained of the greater part of its waters before they reached the sea; instead of increasing in its course, it sensibly diminished, several of its channels were lost in the sand, and its mouth was so shallow as to be utterly unnavigable. Yet in those ancient times it did not lose itself altogether in the Tigris, as it now does, sixty miles above the sea, at a place called Corna, but retained its own proper mouth. The country of Babylonia, thus inclosed by these rivers, exhibited an immense uninterrupted level which they irrigated and fertilized. To facilitate this, on the banks of the canals and ditches were wheels and engines for raising the water and spreading it over the soil, the heat of the climate and the almost constant dryness

rendering such operations absolutely necessary; for, although the air of the country was generally temperate and salubrious, it was occasionally visited by the extraor dinary hot and pestilential wind called the simoom, as great a scourge as the other with which it is inflicted-the Bedouin Arabs. The soil was rich, the inhabitants were industrious, and the labours of man were rewarded by such a luxuriant crop, that historians have refrained from describing it lest they should be suspected of exaggeration. Herodotus compares Babylonia and Egypt, and says that with regard to the productions of the former in corn, it was reckoned equal to a third part of the Persian Empire, and that it generally yielded two hundred and sometimes three hundred fold. As the country was low, flat, and well watered, it abounded with willows, and was sometimes termed the valley of willows, Isa. xv. 7. The palm-tree, especially the date kind, also flourished, and afforded bread, wine, and honey. Cypresses, and sesame for the fabrication of oil, were common, and sources of naphtha were also very frequent. But the fertility of Babylonia in corn was counterbalanced by a dearth of wood: the fig-tree, olive, and vine, were not found; and these were poorly compensated by the palm-trees with which the country was completely covered, and which still grow on the banks of the Euphrates, although they are not found in the plains nor on the Tigris. Of lofty trees Babylonia was entirely destitute, and consequently the want of wood must have been severely felt, which would have a considerable influence on the architecture and navigation of the inhabitants. Like other steppe regions, the country was as destitute of stone as of wood; and the free-stone of which the Babylonians made use in their public buildings must have been brought down the Euphrates from the northern countries, near a place called Corsote, beyond the Median Wall, the quarries of which supplied them with mill-stones. But the vicinity of the city of Babylon furnished an inexhaustible supply of superior clay, which when dried

by the sun, or burnt in kilns, became so firm and durable, that their remains exist to this day, and even retain the arrowheaded inscriptions with which they were covered. Nature had not been forgetful of the mortar. A few days' journey from the city brought the builders to the little river Is, where there was a plentiful supply of bitumen or naphtha, and the modern town of Hit, where the pits or wells whence the bitumen was obtained still smoke and boil, and where Herbelot tells us a tradition still exists, that it was of this bitumen that Babylon was built. It must not, however, be supposed that Hit was the only place where naphtha or bitumen could be obtained. It is found in abundant quantities near the Tigris, and so common, that it is an amusement of the sailors upon that river to set fire to the masses which float on its surface. Such was the character or general appearance of Babylonia. "If nature," says Professor Heeren, " on one side had done much towards assisting the labours of the inhabitants, she had on the other thrown incredible obstacles in their way. The perception of the first urged them to overcome the latter. Yet all this, perhaps, would have been in vain, without the still greater advantage derived from the favourable position of the country. In consequence of this Babylon became the principal state of Western Asia, nature herself seeming to have formed it for the great seat of the international commerce of Asia. Situated between the Indus and the Mediterranean, it was the natural staple of such precious wares of the East as were esteemed in the West. Its proximity to the Persian Gulf, the great highway of trade, which nature seems to have prepared for the admission of the seafaring nations of the Indian seas into the midst of Asia, must be reckoned as another advantage, especially when taken in connection with its vicinity to the two great rivers, the continuation, as it were, of this great highway, and opening a communication with the nations dwelling on the Euxine and the Caspian. Thus favoured by nature, this country necessarily

became the central point where the mer chants of nearly all the nations of the civilised world assembled; and such we are informed by history it remained, as long as the international commerce of Asia flourished. Neither the devastating sword of conquering nations, nor the heavy yoke of Asiatic despotism, could tarnish, though for a time they might dim, its splendour. It was only when the Europeans found a new path to India across the ocean that the royal city on the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris began to decline. Then, deprived of its commerce, it fell a victim to the twofold oppression of anarchy and despotism, and sunk, as the voice of prophecy had predicted, to its original state-a stagnant morass, and a barren steppe."

66 their hair they

We now take a general view of the productions of Babylonian skill and industry before we enter on its commerce, and the customs of its people. The peculiar dress of the Babylonians consisted partly of woollen and partly of linen or cotton stuffs. "Their clothing," says Herodotus, "is of this kind: they have two vests, one of linen, which falls to the feet, another over this, which is made of wool; a white sack covers the whole. The fashion of their shoes is peculiar to themselves, though somewhat resembling those worn by the Thebans." Then, as to their personal appearance, wear long, and covered with a turban, and are lavish in their use of perfumes. Each person has a seal, ring, and a cane or walking-stick, upon the top of which is carved an apple, a rose, a lily, an eagle, or some figure or other, for to have a stick without a device is unlawful." The dress of the ancient Babylonians, as described by Herodotus, must have been too warm for such a climate, and was probably assumed from ostentation, or was altered with the weather. Their carpets were splendid, and were exported into foreign countries from Babylon where they were woven. Babylonian garments were not less esteemed. It was one of those garments which tempted Achan to commit the crime for which he and

his family were signally punished, Josh. vii. 21. Such garments were ornamented with figures of various creatures in the most lively colours. The large weaving establishments were not confined to the capital, but extended to other cities and towns in Babylonia. Borsippa, situated on the Euphrates, fifteen miles from Babylon, and mentioned in history before the time of Cyrus, and Arech, situated on the Tigris, were celebrated as manufacturing towns. All kinds of apparel and every article of luxury appear to have been manufactured by the Babylonians; sweet waters, walking sticks delicately chased with figures, and elegantly engraven stones, were in general use. These last, when the Babylonian cylinders became less rare, would serve for seal rings; for in the East the seal supplies the place of a signature, or at least makes it valid. Their various manufactures and works of art, in short, necessarily infer an extensive commerce, because the materials must have been imported from foreign countries.

Our information is scanty respecting the nature and construction of the Babylonian vessels, and it is probable that the country was rather a place of resort for foreign nations than one whose "merchants were princes." M. Sabbathier thus describes their boats in which they sailed along the river to Babylon:-"These boats were invented by the Armenians, whose country lay north from Babylonia. They made them with poles of willow, which they bent and covered with skins; the bare side of the skin they put outwards, and they made them so tight that they resembled boards. The boats had neither prow nor stern, but were of a round form like a buckler. They put straw in the bottom. Two men, each with an oar, rowed these down the river, laden with different wares, but chiefly with palm-wine. Of these boats some were very large and some very small; the largest carried the weight of five hundred talents. There was room for an ass in one of their small boats; they put many into a large one. When they

had unloaded after their arrival at Babylon, they sold the poles of their boats and the straw, and, loading their asses with the skins, returned to Armenia, for they could not sail up the river, its current was so rapid."

The commerce and trade of the Babylonians extended by sea over the Persian Gulf, and by land over Persia to Little Bucharey, and perhaps even to China. The Persian and Median nobility decorated their houses with the productions of the Babylonians. The Persian kings were accustomed to spend a part of the year in Babylon: the satraps exhibited in that city a pomp little short of royal magnificence, and on that account all the country between it and the imperial city of Shushan, which was distant twenty days' journey, became as well cultivated and populous as any in Western Asia. The Babylonians also imported many of their most valuable and costly commodities from the countries towards the east beyond Persia, namely, Persian India, or the present Belur-land. From this region they obtained precious stones, the use of which for seal-rings was very general among them. Ctesias says that these stones came from India, and that onyxes, sardines, and other stones used for seals, were obtained in the mountains bordering on the sandy desert. "Emeralds and jaspers," says Theophrastus, "which are used as objects of decoration, come from the Desert of Bactria (Cobi). They are sought for by persons who go thither on horseback at the time of the north wind, which blows away the sand, and so discovers them;" and to this day large quantities of onyxes are found in that region. The Babylonians also imported Indian dogs, which are described as having been the largest and fiercest of their breed, peculiarly suited for hunting wild beasts, and even lions, which they will readily attack. The ancient Persian noblemen kept great numbers of these animals for the pleasures of the chase, and they generally took them with them in their military expeditions. Herodotus assures us that Xerxes was followed

by an innumerable multitude of dogs when he marched against Greece; and he mentions a satrap of Babylon who, he says, "had so immense a number of Indian dogs, that four large towns in the vicinity of Babylon were exempted from all other tax but that of maintaining them." Ctesias tells us that the native country of these dogs was that in which the precious stones were obtained, an account which has been confirmed by another traveller (Marco Polo) in his account of those regions, who mentions large dogs which were able to overcome even lions.

From this quarter of the world—the sandy desert of Cobi, bounding Tangut on the west, and China on the north, which Ctesias describes as being extremely desolate-the Babylonians (and the Persians also) obtained various dyes, amongst which was the cochineal, or, more correctly, Indian lacca, the production of an insect so called, which when bruised produces a beautiful red. The Indians, we are told, used it for the purpose of dyeing their garments, to which it gave a colour surpassing in beauty the dyes of the Persians. These finely coloured Indian robes were articles of commerce with Western Asia, and as the mountainous countries of Cashmere and Candahir were the same with those in which the rearing of sheep formed the principal occupation of the inhabitants, it is evident that the same parts of Asia, which to this day are celebrated for their woollen cloths, and produce those shawls so highly prized in modern times, anciently enjoyed the same advantages, and that the harems of Babylon and Shushan were ornamented with those splendid productions of the loom.

Another branch of the Babylonian commerce was in a northern direction, and especially towards Armenia. We have already given M. Sabbathier's description of the vessels by which the Euphrates was navigated to convey the various wares, chiefly wines, to Babylon. Although we have no information concerning the vessels which the Babylonians

themselves possessed, it is evident that they cultivated maritime affairs when their empire was at the height of its grandeur, from the predictions of the Prophet Isaiah. "Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles (in the Hebrew bars), and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships," Isa. xliii. 14. This certainly refers to a people who were as proud of their ships as of their gates and ramparts. But the allusion of the sacred writer is confirmed by Eschylus. In his play of the Persians, after enumerating all the nations who composed the army of the great king, he says, "Babylon, too, that abounds in gold, sends forth a promiscuous multitude, who both embark in ships and boast of their skill in archery." The Babylonians also received pearls from the Persian Gulf, cotton from the islands in the Indian Ocean, ivory, ebony, and Indian spices, especially cinnamon, from Ceylon, and Arabian frankincense. These are at least the commodities mentioned by historians, which formed the chief articles of Babylonian commerce, but there can be no doubt, from our want of a complete catalogue, that many articles are omitted which used to be offered to strangers who came to the several countries, and upon which they set a considerable value. It would be tedious to inquire here into the probable routes, as related by the ancient historians, by which these valuable commodities reached Babylon. The preceding general sketch at once proves that the Babylonian commerce was both extensive and important; and, perhaps, from the enterprise, ingenuity, and public spirit of the people, Babylon may in another sense be called "the glory of kingdoms, the praise of the whole earth."

The reader has already been sufficiently informed of the architecture of the Babylonians. Their buildings appear to have been constructed with a view to durability rather than to elegance, for it is impossible to conceive that immense

his family were signally punished, Josh. vii. 21. Such garments were ornamented with figures of various creatures in the most lively colours. The large weaving establishments were not confined to the capital, but extended to other cities and towns in Babylonia. Borsippa, situated on the Euphrates, fifteen miles from Babylon, and mentioned in history before the time of Cyrus, and Arech, situated on the Tigris, were celebrated as manufacturing towns. All kinds of apparel and every article of luxury appear to have been manufactured by the Babylonians; sweet waters, walking sticks delicately chased with figures, and elegantly engraven stones, were in general use. These last, when the Babylonian cylinders became less rare, would serve for seal rings; for in the East the seal supplies the place of a signature, or at least makes it valid. Their various manufactures and works of art, in short, necessarily infer an extensive commerce, because the materials must have been imported from foreign countries.

mer

Our information is scanty respecting the nature and construction of the Babylonian vessels, and it is probable that the country was rather a place of resort for foreign nations than one whose " chants were princes." M. Sabbathier thus describes their boats in which they sailed along the river to Babylon:-" These boats were invented by the Armenians, whose country lay north from Babylonia. They made them with poles of willow, which they bent and covered with skins; the bare side of the skin they put outwards, and they made them so tight that they resembled boards. The boats had neither prow nor stern, but were of a round form like a buckler. They put straw in the bottom. Two men, each with an oar, rowed these down the river, laden with different wares, but chiefly with palm-wine. Of these boats some were very large and some very small; the largest carried the weight of five hundred talents. There was room for an ass in one of their small boats; they put many into a large one. When they

had unloaded after their arrival at Babylon, they sold the poles of their boats and the straw, and, loading their asses with the skins, returned to Armenia, for they could not sail up the river, its current was so rapid."

The commerce and trade of the Babylonians extended by sea over the Persian Gulf, and by land over Persia to Little Bucharey, and perhaps even to China. The Persian and Median nobility decorated their houses with the productions of the Babylonians. The Persian kings were accustomed to spend a part of the year in Babylon: the satraps exhibited in that city a pomp little short of royal magnificence, and on that account all the country between it and the imperial city of Shushan, which was distant twenty days' journey, became as well cultivated and populous as any in Western Asia. The Babylonians also imported many of their most valuable and costly commodities from the countries towards the east beyond Persia, namely, Persian India, or the present Belur-land. From this region they obtained precious stones, the use of which for seal-rings was very general among them. Ctesias says that these stones came from India, and that onyxes, sardines, and other stones used for seals, were obtained in the mountains bordering on the sandy desert. "Emeralds and jaspers," says Theophrastus, "which are used as objects of decoration, come from the Desert of Bactria (Cobi). They are sought for by persons who go thither on horseback at the time of the north wind, which blows away the sand, and so discovers them;" and to this day large quantities of onyxes are found in that region. The Babylonians also imported Indian dogs, which are described as having been the largest and fiercest of their breed, peculiarly suited for hunting wild beasts, and even lions, which they will readily attack. The ancient Persian noblemen kept great numbers of these animals for the pleasures of the chase, and they generally took them with them in their military expeditions. Herodotus assures us that Xerxes was followed