Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1852-02-24
ACCOUNT OF BABYLON AND
NINEvEH.


by the comparatively modern town Of lille.
q small Asiatic hamlet which derives much
Of its support from visitors to the spot once
famous as the seat Of power of the Assyrian
Empire. These wonderful ruins present en-
ormous masses, like bills of bricks and rub.
Dish. The largest o. these is lao feet high,
and above geo feet in circumference The
date usually assigned to the building Of Bah
ylon is about 1000 years before the birth of
Christ and 2, 000, 600 men and all the architects
and artists of the vast Assyrian empire we're
called to take part in the work. The town
wall was $50 feet high and 20 feet broad,
defended by 800 towers, and closed by 100
gates. 1t was divided by the Euphrates in
to two parts, and on either bank stood mag
nifcent palace connected by bridge. Ac-
cording to tradition there was even tunnel
beneath the bed Of the river aud three col
lossal figures Of wrought gold adorned the
tower Of the Temple Of Belus Six hundred
and thirty years before Christ. Babylon was
still fourishing in splendor. The temple Of
Belus was destroyed by Xerxes, and Alex.
auder wished to restore it; bat as it took
10000 men two months--seme say two years
merely to clear away the rubbish. be got
tired the work Ofthe two palaces, one is
conjecfured to have been a castle, and the
other the residence OF the monarch; but they
are fallen so completely to ruins, that there
is nothing to afford the antiquarian any clew.
An English mile from them you come upon
another vast mound Of rubbish, Ell ksar, and
here the Temple of Baal is supposed to have
stood. There is still some massive frag-
ments of walls, and columns, and line Of dark
colored granite, SO large that | at first took
it for an elephant. 1t is much mutilated and
to judge from what remains not the work Of
a very skilleul artist The bricks in all these
rims are of reddish yellow color. . foot
long, and the same in breadth, and three and
half inches thick. In the ruins Of FL kasr
stands single withered tree Of the fir kind,
which is quite unknown in these regions.
which the Arabs regard as sacred, and OF
which many wonders are told-how it utters
melancholy sounds when the wind means
through its branches, and so fourth. Of
course it is considered to date from the days
OF ancient Babylon; but that crippled
looking tree, scarcely eighteen feet high and
nine inches thick, should last 5000 years,
does seem, with all possible inclination to be-
licve, somewhat too marvellous. The envi-
rons of Babylon once so fertile that they
have been called the Paradise Of Chaldea,
are now entirely barren and desolatc.
According to Strabo, Nincvoh was still
larger than Lady lon--and the greatest city
in the world the circumference of its walls
was three days journey. and the wall was de-
fended by fifteen hundred towers, Now all
is covered with earth, aud only occasionally
when the peasants pillow makes furrow in
the field. does fragment of brick-Work OF
marble come to sight. Whole rangcs Of bills
that extend across the boundless plain on
the left bank of the Tigris, and lose them
selves in the distance cover, as is now known
with certainty, the ruins Of that city. In
In the year 1916, the celebrated Mr.. Lay
ard began here the excavations, which have
been crowned with distinguished success -
Passages were dug in the hills. and soon the
excayators came to large and stately apart
msnts whose walls were of marble, covered
from top to bottom with reliefs. There were
kings with their crowns and sceptres, gods
with vast pinions, warriors with their arms
and shields; there were representations Of
hunts, Of battles. of the storming Of fortress
SEES, Of triumphal prccessions-bu unfortu-
natcly, proportion, perspective, and correct
drawings arc wanting. The hilisar scarce
ly three times higher than the men, the fields
reach to the clouds, the trees arc no. bigger
than the lotus flowers, and the heads Of men
and animals, are all after tie same models,
and in profile. On many walls is that club
shaped sign or letter which distinguishes what
is called the cuneiform character. and which
is only found on Persian and Babylonian
monuments. Among all the chambers that
were brought to light. only one had walls,
not of marble, but of fine painted cement
But these walls, Notwithstanding the utmost
care could not be preserved, As soon as
the air reached them, the cement, cracked aud
fell off, The marble also had in many pla-
ces been changed into lime by the terrific
confagration which laid the whole city in
ashes. Many marble slabs with reliefs and
cuneiform Inscriptions have however, been
taken from the walls, and sent to England.