Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1817-01-08

i'll. for the following interesting commu,
lnication
RUINS OF BABYLON.
The arrival OF Captain Henry Austen,
of the ship Persia, from Asia, has afford
ed most curious aud uncommon treat
+ to our biblican antiquarians and kistori-
ans This gentleman is equal in in,eili.
gencc and enterprise to any traveller that
ever went forth to foreign parts. While
he was navig4 ting the Persian Gult, he
conceived the hold design Of ascending
The river Euphrates. from Basra to Bag
dad. With great sxpence aud labor. and
at the risk oil his life, from the difficulties
of the ascent, aud the barbarous charsc-
ter Of the inhabitants, he penetrated Per.
STA for 5 or 600 siles.
Z! During this expedition he visited the
territory on which ancient Babylon is
supposed to have stood, aud succeeded
IN bringing away fragments of the ruias
which eyer.pread the ground. These
consist IF several Of the bricks which are
Supposed to have been materials in the
! Temple of Belus, some Of the cement
with which they were connected. and a
parcel VT the broken reeds which were
with The mortar, 10 render
the structure mure firm and durable.
The bricks are IN .oud condition. even
Ialier the lanse OF thnse Thousand Years
aud more. they rect large SIZE. being
IS inches squ -, ard four inches thick.
Being now 81 the softer quality, thew ap
lp,ar 10 have undergone some process Of
dscaY : but thes bear race, of fire, that
| is, Uf having been kiia burned, as vel! a.
tsan burned. Near the initdle of each
IA para!elasram Of four and half
inches, by six, impressed with literal or
ihieFoglyphiCai Character and bnauhf.ll,
done, The characters are di8erest from
cverv known alphabet. All The Inee ave
straight. aud there are 40 crooked strokes.
they are evidently arranged in perpen.
dicular columns. Al! the bricks seem IN
be marked with tina sane signs. c.
jahese signs o. characters are seven yer.
ocal rows and seven distinct marks in
each row. making iorty nine in thewhole.
snwe OF them are repeated several
times.
i, IS believed that they are not su' :
eeptiDle Of Interpretation 5, any mar
living hui that they exteaJ CIR researches
far osyend the era Of history or the pc.
ri"i NJ known symbols. This conc.a
>i9u. is derived from he face Of the al.
Iticles, and coh6rm the eensipeaess Of TIE
"tvriss. Captain Austin has made 70 the
iearaed World, by bringing homs those
~ondertul remains. The scholar NAY
Irehect that tne materials survive both
zoe language spoken at the time they
we're moulded, and the characters which
represented the spdnds Of that language.
RE may even look back through the visa
Of agss to the tims when ths = whole
earth was Of one language" aud when
IS the city and tower" of Babe were be
gun when tue sons of men said Ose to
another "lat US make brick and bu n
them tho, oughly s" and when " they had
brick for stone, and SHINE had they tor
mortar" All may without any violation
OF probability, suppose these relics to be
parcels OF the primitive brick and
the inscriptions or ,ather impressions
upon their su,iaces, to bs the memorials
Of That rem tie time when the whole
earth was OF one language and Of one
Speech And he may further conjecture
that they. both the language and writing
are iliegibie and unknown, because the
=. Lord did there confound the language
of all the earth" Monuments Of this
kind are now submitted to the view Of
oar admiring citizens, with all the cen
hrnatory evidence
Tue pilgrims of Persia, by permission
la.eIy obtained from the military depot
OF the country, made devout visits to the
tomb OF the prophet Daniel, situated
many miles in the desert. Our intrepid
and intelligent countrymsn, has brought
to New York, brick, with its inscription
from the door Of that resort of the reli'
lgious. Its of secondary moment whether
the legend is true or fabulous. Such a
place is at this day famous in the East,
and reflex Of it is presented to the
curiosity of the West
; There are various ether remnants OF
oriental antiquities, which the writer for
bears at this moment to mention.
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