MikhailT/lj-speech huggingface dataset:
This last victory gave him the finishing stroke to his power and made him all in all with the Babylonians:
accordingly they committed to him the command of their whole army, and put the keys of their city into his hands.
Darius now, still keeping to the plan agreed upon,
attacked the walls on every side, whereupon Zopyrus played out the remainder of his stratagem.
While the Babylonians, crowding to the walls, did their best to resist the Persian assault,
he threw open the Cissian and Belian gates, and admitted the enemy.
Such of the Babylonians as witnessed the treachery took refuge in the temple of Jupiter Belus;
the rest who did not see it kept at their posts, till at last they too learned that they were betrayed.
Thus was Babylon taken for the second time.
Darius having become master of the place, destroyed the wall, and tore down all the gates;
for Cyrus had done neither the one nor the other when he took Babylon.
He then chose out near three thousand of the leading citizens and caused them to be crucified, while he allowed the remainder still to inhabit the city.
Further, wishing to prevent the race of the Babylonians from becoming extinct,
he provided wives for them in the room of those whom (as I explained before) they strangled to save their stores.
These he levied from the nations bordering on Babylonia,
who were each required to send so large a number to Babylon, that in all there were collected no fewer than fifty thousand.
It is from these women that the Babylonians of our times are sprung.
As for Zopyrus he was considered by Darius to have surpassed, in the greatness of his achievements, all other Persians,
whether of former or of later times, except only Cyrus with whom no person ever yet thought himself worthy to compare.
Darius, as the story goes, would often say that "he had rather Zopyrus were unmaimed, than be master of twenty more Babylons."
And he honored Zopyrus greatly; year by year he presented him with all the gifts which are held in most esteem among the Persians;
he gave him likewise the government of Babylon for his life, free from tribute, and he also granted him many other favors.
How much truth there may be in this interesting tale of Herodotus, we may never know,
yet we may be sure that Babylon was taken by Darius only by use of stratagem. Its walls were impregnable.
Cyrus had permitted them to stand, and as long as he made Babylon his home, the city was as strongly protected as ever.
Darius, who besieged the rebellious city twice, weakened it by destroying some of its walls.
During the reign of Xerxes again the city rebelled, and in 484 B.C. he captured it, and completely demolished its defenses.
Yet Babylon continued to live,
for history mentions the names of two of its later rulers. The palace of Nebuchadnezzar was occupied by Alexander the Great,
and there on June 13, 323 B.C., he met his death.
The city then fell to Seleucus,
one of Alexander's generals, who for a time made it his home, but he was a Greek and cared little for things Babylonian.
Therefore, to destroy the power of the old capital, he planned to build Seleucia on the Tigris about fifty miles to the east.
The priests of the temple of Bel, so a story tells us,
learned of his purpose, and when they were consulted as to the most favorable time for beginning the work upon the new city,
they intentionally mentioned a most unfavorable hour.
The priests' deception was unavailing, and in 275 B.C., the inhabitants of Babylon were transported to Seleucia.
Then the world metropolis, stripped of most of its population, became a mere village.
The poor of the surrounding country occupied its dismantled palaces.
The Hebrew exiles, whose ancestors Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem,
settled there, and finally the place was abandoned to the Arabs of the desert.
Slowly the few remaining walls fell, and were buried in their own ruins.
As the centuries passed the mounds into which the city had turned grew higher and higher with the ruins of the huts later built upon them,
until at last the foundations of the temples and palaces were buried fully a hundred feet beneath the surface.
Even the shepherds ceased to graze their sheep there, and the wandering Arabs,
fearing the wild beasts and evil spirits which lurk among all old ruins, refused to pitch their tents there.
The prophecy of the Hebrew Isaiah was fulfilled:
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.
So Babylon was buried and forgotten.
It had become, as Dio Cassius said, "Mounds and legends and ruins."
But the walls of the old city had not yet served their full purpose.
The Sassanian kings of Persia were fond of hunting, and Babylon, then overgrown with trees, was their game preserve.
The old walls were restored to a height sufficient to prevent the escape of the animals, and among the ruins the kings enjoyed their favorite sport.
St. Jerome said:
I was informed by a certain Elamite brother, who came from those regions, and now leads the life of a monk at Jerusalem,
that there is a royal hunting ground at Babylon, and that wild game of every kind is contained within the circuit of its walls.
The statement of St. Jerome is confirmed by the following passage from Zosimus, a Greek writer of the fifth century A.D.:
As the Emperor Julian was marching forward through Babylonia,
he passed other unimportant fortresses, and came at last to a walled enclosure, which the natives pointed out as a royal hunting ground.
It was a low rampart, enclosing a wide space planted with trees of every sort, in which all kinds of beasts were shut up;
they were supplied with food by keepers, and gave the king the opportunity of hunting whenever he felt inclined.
When Julian saw this, he caused a large part of the wall to be overthrown, and as the beasts escaped they were shot down by his soldiers.
The walls of Babylon were destined to serve still another purpose.
The spread of Mohammedanism caused new cities to be built, and Babylon was the quarry for their building material.
The walls of Babylon were transformed into the sacred cities of Kerbela and Nejef.
In the eleventh century, on the site of the southern part of Babylon, the city of Hillah was built.
Hillah might be called a child of Babylon, for it is almost entirely constructed with Nebuchadnezzar's bricks.
The walls of the houses are built of them.
The courtyards and streets are paved with them, and as you walk about the city the name of Nebuchadnezzar everywhere meets your eye.
Many of the ten thousand people living in Hillah still gain their livelihood by digging the bricks from the ruins to sell to the modern builders.
The great irrigating dams across the Euphrates are constructed entirely of them.
The people of Hillah, too, are a survival of Babylonian times.
Some are Arabs of the same tribes which used to roam the desert in Nebuchadnezzar's days. Some are the children of the Hebrew exiles of old.
Some, calling themselves Christians, are the descendants of Babylonians, perhaps of Nebuchadnezzar himself.
There among the ruins they still live in the same kind of houses,
dressing the same, eating the same food as did their ancestors when Nebuchadnezzar built the walls of Babylon.
Among the first of the modern travelers to describe the ruins of Babylon was Anthony Shirley, an Englishman who visited Mesopotamia in 1599.
In his quaint way he says:
All the ground on which Babylon was spread is left now desolate; nothing standing in that Peninsula between the Euphrates and the Tigris,
but only part, and that a small part, of the great tower, which God hath suffered to stand
(if man may speak so confidently of His great impenetrable counsels), for an eternal Testimony of His great work in the confusion of Man's pride,
and that Arke of Nebuchadnezzar for as perpetual a memory of his great idolatry and condigne punishment.
About that same time Pietro della Valle, an Italian, visited Babylon,
and digging from the wall an inscribed square brick bearing the name of Nebuchadnezzar, he took it to Rome where it may still be seen.
That was the first object taken from Babylon to Europe;
it was the beginning of the great collections of Babylonian antiquities in the museums of the Western world.
Among the later visitors to Babylon was the great Niebuhr.
In 1812, James Claudius Rich, the British Resident at Baghdad, made the first complete examination of the ruins.
was begun by the Deutsche Orientgesellschaft, in 1889, and continued till the summer of 1915.
For fifteen years Dr. Koldewey and his assistants, with a force of two hundred native workmen, have labored there winter and summer.
has been removed, and the surrounding city walls have been traced.
The excavations have shown that Babylon, as the ancients told us, was nearly square.
The Euphrates flowed through it, but the greater part of the city was on the eastern shore.
The city walls, of which the ancients were so proud, appear here and there like low ridges far out on the plain;
other parts of them have disappeared entirely.
In the northern part of the enclosure to the east of the river,
the large high mound, which resembles a mountain from a distance, still bears the ancient name Babel.
Arabs, searching for bricks, have burrowed their way down deep into it, revealing massive walls and arches.
The Germans maintain that it is the ruin of the Tower of Babel.
Here, it has been suggested, were the famous hanging gardens which some ancient authors included among the Seven Wonders of the World.
However, it is possible that the hanging gardens existed only in the imagination of the Greek writers,
for none of the many building inscriptions from Nebuchadnezzar mentions them.
Possibly along the terraces of the walls, or upon the stages of some lofty temple tower,
trees and overhanging vines were planted, and thus the travelers' tales arose.
At a distance of about two miles to the south of Babel is the larger and lower mound called the Kasr, or the Fortress,
because great masses of masonry used to project from its surface.
Deep down in the mound the Germans discovered the palace of Nebuchadnezzar with its hundreds of small chambers and its huge surrounding walls.
The mound still farther south is called Amran, because upon its summit stands the tomb of a Mohammedan saint of that name.
There lie the ruins of the famous temple of Esagil, sacred to Marduk.
Upon the little mound Jumjuma farther on, an Arab village has long stood.
All of the ancient writers agree in saying that Babylon was surrounded with both inner and outer walls, and the ruins confirm their statements.
Parts of the walls of Nineveh are still standing to the height of one hundred and twenty-five feet,
but the walls of Babylon have so long been used to supply bricks to the builders of the neighboring cities that only their bases remain.
In places even the bases have disappeared, and their moats have long been filled with the drifting sand.
The outer wall bore the name of Nimitti-Bel. Its direction was northeast and southwest, forming a triangle with the river.
The northeastern section may now be traced for a distance of less than three miles, and the southwestern "for more than a mile,
but both sections originally reached the river.
It seems that the circuit of the outer wall was about eleven miles.
The small portions of it which have been excavated suffice to show its construction.
The moat, ten feet deep, and of a width no longer known, ran close to its base. The wall was double.
Its outer part was about twenty-four feet in thickness, and its foundations, as Nebuchadnezzar said, were carried down to the water level.
Its bricks, measuring about thirteen inches square and three inches in thickness, were burned and stamped with the usual short inscription:
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, the restorer of the temples Esagil and Ezida,
the first-born son of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon.
They were laid in bitumen.
The inner part of the wall was constructed of unburned bricks, and at a distance of about thirty-six feet from the outer part.
The intervening space, which was filled with dirt probably to the upper inner edge of the outer part,
served as an elevated road where several chariots might have been driven abreast.
This inner part was about twenty-four feet wide, and at intervals of about one hundred and forty feet it was surmounted with towers.
The entire width of the outer defense, not including the moat, was therefore about eighty-two feet;
its height was probably more than double its width, but that may never be determined.
The inner wall of Babylon was called Imgur-Bel, and like the outer wall, it was double.
Time has dealt even less kindly with it, for it may be traced only for the distance of about a mile along its eastern side.
Nebuchadnezzar says that he built it of burned bricks, but only sun-dried bricks laid in mud now appear.
Its outer part, about twelve feet in width, was protected with towers at intervals of sixty-five feet.
A space of about twenty-three feet separated it from its inner part, which was about twenty feet in width.
It too was surmounted with towers.
No traces of its moat have appeared.
The entire width of this inner defense was about fifty-five feet; its height is uncertain.
To protect the sun-dried bricks of the inner wall from the winter rains
there were drains of large burned bricks, some of which bore the following long inscription:
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon,
the exalted prince, the protector of Esagil and Ezida, son of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon, am I.
Nabopolassar, the father, my begetter, built Imgur-Bel, the great wall of Babylon,
but I, the devout petitioner, the worshipper of the gods, built the moat, and made its wall of burned brick and bitumen mountain high.
O Marduk, great god, look joyfully upon the precious work of my hands. Be thou my protector.
Grant me as a gift a life of distant days.
The outer and inner defenses of Babylon were so strong and so high that no enemy could hope to take them,
yet the palace of Nebuchadnezzar was protected by a third defense far stronger.
Fortunately its walls have suffered less from the hands of the brick hunters, and the German excavators have been able to reconstruct their plan.
They may best be described by means of the accompanying diagram representing a cross section.
Had the enemy of Babylon succeeded in breaking through the outer and inner defenses of the city the royal palace would have still been far from his reach.
He would have had to cross a deep moat, to scale a wall of burned bricks about twenty feet in thickness and perhaps three times as high,
then a second wall still higher, a third and fourth and a fifth, each stronger and higher than the others,
and surmounted with towers, and then finally a sixth wall
whose summit reached into the sky as far, perhaps, as the tallest of the modern buildings.
Between the several sections were wide spaces where foot soldiers and charioteers might fight.
It must have been an imposing sight to one standing without to have seen the walls, one after another,
rising higher and higher, like a great terraced, turreted mountain.
We do not know their height, for the statements of the ancient writers disagree.
Herodotus says that it was three hundred and thirty-five feet;
Ctesias mentions three hundred feet; probably they were not far from the truth.
The ruins reach the height of about forty feet.
Nor were the walls about the palace a great mass of dull brick masonry.
The Ishtar gateway leading to the palace was encased with beautiful blue glazed bricks,
and decorated here and there with large reliefs representing bulls and lions and dragons,
designed in colors of white and blue and yellow and black.
It seems that the bricks of the reliefs were molded and glazed separately and so accurately that when built into the wall they fitted perfectly.
A modern artist would have difficulty in doing such accurate work.
Some of these decorations, the most valuable objects found in the ruins of the great city, still remain in their places on the walls;
others have been taken to the Berlin Museum.
Nebuchadnezzar speaks of great bronze gates and of images of bronze, but none have been discovered.
Probably their metal was far too valuable for the enemy to leave behind.
Should you walk along the shore of the Euphrates at Babylon, you would still see the embankments which Nebuchadnezzar constructed of bricks bearing his name,
but the river walls have disappeared, and the buttresses of the bridges have been torn or washed away.
Should you cross the river to search for the western inner wall, you would find but a small fragment of it.
The great outer wall seems to have disappeared completely beneath the desert surface.
Such were the walls of Babylon,
the strongest, the thickest, the loftiest, the most intricate, perhaps the most beautiful that ever protected a city,
walls which no ancient army was ever able to take by storm.
It is not strange, then, that they were included among the Seven Wonders of the World,
or that the Babylonian soldier stood confidently upon their summit, and jeering at the Persian army encamped below, shouted:
Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy. The Warren Commission Report. By The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.
Chapter 2. The Assassination: Part 1.
This chapter describes President Kennedy's trip to Dallas, from its origin through its tragic conclusion.
The narrative of these events is based largely on the recollections of the participants,
although in many instances documentary or other evidence has also been used by the Commission.
Beginning with the advance plans and Secret Service preparations for the trip,
this chapter reviews the motorcade through Dallas, the fleeting moments of the assassination,
the activities at Parkland Memorial Hospital, and the return of the Presidential party to Washington.
An evaluation of the procedures employed to safeguard the President, with recommendations for improving these procedures, appears in Chapter 8 of the report.
Planning the Texas Trip
President Kennedy's visit to Texas in November 1963 had been under consideration for almost a year before it occurred.
He had made only a few brief visits to the State since the 1960 Presidential campaign and in 1962 he began to consider a formal visit.
During 1963, the reasons for making the trip became more persuasive.
As a political leader, the President wished to resolve the factional controversy within the Democratic Party in Texas before the election of 1964.
The party itself saw an opportunity to raise funds by having the President speak at a political dinner eventually planned for Austin.
As Chief of State, the President always welcomed the opportunity to learn, firsthand, about the problems which concerned the American people.
Moreover, he looked forward to the public appearances which he personally enjoyed. The basic decision on the November trip to Texas was made at a meeting of President Kennedy,
Vice President Johnson, and Governor Connally on June 5th, 1963, at the Cortez Hotel in El Paso, Texas.
The President had spoken earlier that day at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
and had stopped in El Paso to discuss the proposed visit and other matters with the Vice President and the Governor.
The three agreed that the President would come to Texas in late November 1963.
The original plan called for the President to spend only 1 day in the State, making whirlwind visits to Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston.
In September, the White House decided to permit further visits by the President and extended the trip to run from the afternoon of November 21
through the evening of Friday, November 22.
When Governor Connally called at the White House on October 4 to discuss the details of the visit,
it was agreed that the planning of events in Texas would be left largely to the Governor.
At the White House, Kenneth O'Donnell, special assistant to the President, acted as coordinator for the trip.
Everyone agreed that, if there was sufficient time, a motorcade through downtown Dallas would be the best way for the people to see their President.
When the trip was planned for only 1 day, Governor Connally had opposed the motorcade because there was not enough time. The Governor stated, however, that, quote,
once we got San Antonio moved from Friday to Thursday afternoon, where that was his initial stop in Texas,
then we had the time, and I withdrew my objections to a motorcade. End quote.
According to O'Donnell, quote, we had a motorcade wherever we went, end quote.
particularly in large cities where the purpose was to let the President be seen by as many people as possible.
In his experience, quote, it would be automatic, end quote, for the Secret Service to arrange a route which would, within the time allotted,
bring the President, quote, through an area which exposes him to the greatest number of people, end quote.
Advance Preparations for the Dallas Trip
Advance preparations for President Kennedy's visit to Dallas were primarily the responsibility of two Secret Service agents:
Special Agent Winston G. Lawson, a member of the White House detail who acted as the advance agent, and Forrest V. Sorrels,
special agent in charge of the Dallas office. Both agents were advised of the trip on November 4.
Lawson received a tentative schedule of the Texas trip on November 8 from Roy H. Kellerman, assistant special agent in charge of the White House detail,
who was the Secret Service official responsible for the entire Texas journey.
As advance agent working closely with Sorrels, Lawson had responsibility for arranging the timetable for the President's visit to Dallas
and coordinating local activities with the White House staff, the organizations directly concerned with the visit, and local law enforcement officials.
Lawson's most important responsibilities were to take preventive action against anyone in Dallas considered a threat to the President,
to select the luncheon site and motorcade route, and to plan security measures for the luncheon and the motorcade.
Preventive Intelligence Activities. The Protective Research Section (PRS) of the Secret Service
maintains records of people who have threatened the President or so conducted themselves as to be deemed a potential danger to him.
On November 8, 1963,
after undertaking the responsibility for advance preparations for the visit to Dallas, Agent Lawson went to the PRS offices in Washington.
A check of the geographic indexes there revealed no listing for any individual deemed to be a potential danger to the President
in the territory of the Secret Service regional office which includes Dallas and Fort Worth.
To supplement the PRS files, the Secret Service depends largely on local police departments and local offices of other Federal agencies
which advise it of potential threats immediately before the visit of the President to their community.
Upon his arrival in Dallas on November 12
Lawson conferred with the local police and the local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation about potential dangers to the President.
Although there was no mention in PRS files of the demonstration in Dallas against Ambassador Adlai Stevenson on October 24th,
1963, Lawson inquired about the incident and obtained through the local police photographs of some of the persons involved.
On November 22 a Secret Service agent stood at the entrance to the Trade Mart, where the President was scheduled to speak, with copies of these photographs.
Dallas detectives in the lobby of the Trade Mart and in the luncheon area also had copies of these photographs.
A number of people who resembled some of those in the photographs were placed under surveillance at the Trade Mart.
The FBI office in Dallas gave the local Secret Service representatives the name of a possibly dangerous individual in the Dallas area who was investigated.
It also advised the Secret Service of the circulation on November 21 of a handbill sharply critical of President Kennedy,
discussed in chapter 6 of this report.
Shortly before, the Dallas police had reported to the Secret Service that the handbill had appeared on the streets of Dallas.