Washington sentinel., 1899-01-21
TT - SENTINEL
Babylon the Great.
ktbBincotPs Magazine.

rounded by a high wall. which was
pierced by one hundred gates,
twenty-five on each side. From
each OF these gates street one
hundred feet wide ran across the
city in a straight line to the CORE
spending gate in the opposite side.
These fifty streets, thus crossing
the city az right angles from wall
to wall, divided 1t into great
squares, There were six hundred
and seventy six OF these squares,
each OF which was about two and
a quarter miles in circumference,
or as large IS good sized modern
town. The plan OF Babylon was,
accordingly, that OF a chessboard,
equally regular and equally vari-
egated. The great wide streets,
each fifteen miles long, were pro-
fusely ornamented. Great build
ings rose along their fronts, three
and four stories high, and often
Very ornamental, while in the rear,
Inning the centre Of the squares,
were beautiful gardens with ioun-
tai1s and sculptures. Tne build
ings, thus hanked by ornamental
streets on one side and parks on
the other, presented as a whole the
appearance ofa paradise constantly
repeating itself. Great spaces were
LETT inside the walls for a succession
Of public grounds, like parks and
bOulevards, which were so great
that n time Of siege grain enough
could be raised upon them to feed
the whole population The city
was thus, by its vast gardens and
commons, made to appear like a
province within walls, in which
many OF the streets looked like
long roads through the country.
The dwellings, instead OF being
continuous, were often set at great
distances apart with ornamental
grounds between them, so that
under the palm trees and rich
shrubbery OF the south the city
appeared like a mammoth garden.
Through this Oriental iaIryland
the great river Euphrates flowed
legendary, romantic, and deiied-
a wide, deep. and winding ST. cam,
walled thr ough its whole length,
and lined by quaYs, whose massive
masonry. laid in bitumen, seemed
like another city wall sunk in the
water. On this river boats Inuum-
cradle piled. carving the immense
multitudes up and down the stream
and ferrying them from shore to
shore. The scene Of aquatic life
presented here was no unlike that
Of Venice. Each Of the great
streets crossing the city passed, on
reaching the river, through a gate
IN the walled bank, and descended
on an incline to the waters edge,
whence it reascendcd on the oppo-
site shore. A bridge three thou
sand feet broad, with a palace at
each end, spanned the river, and
with its great towers was deemed
one oi the marvels of Babylon. A
great tunnel also passed under the
river, through which the people
could cross beneath the water;
while several enormous reservoirs,
or artificial lakes, with dlkes and |
dams, were built to receive and
control the water in times Of food. |
The city oil Babylon thus made the |
most of the gigantic members Of |
which it was composed. laying the
foundation Of its magnihcence in
its works of necessity walls,it9
street fronts, its river, and its res
erVoirs-which are the most prom
Inent elements ofa city, and should
receive the artistic establishment,
rather than the details OF life in !
doors, which few can see. Exter
nal magni6cence, which has com
paniOnship with the sky and noun
talus, is always the greatest, and |
they who feed their imaginations
with such food are most exalted
by the pleasures Of art.
The walls OF Babylon were one
Of the Seven Wonders Of the
World. They we're about sixty
miles in length, surrounding the
entire city, which, as we have seen.
formed a square fifteen miles each
way. They were estimated bV
to be three hundred and
thirty FIVE feet high. or higher
than Trinity Church steeple in
New York; and rising above this
height were two hun
dred and fifty towers farther pro-
jectIng into the clouds. This vast
ridge seemed like a mountain
range With its peaks at regular in /
rervais. From any part Of the city
they could be seen, like the Alps
Lucerne. The wall were
eighty. seven feet thick, and their
tops as wide as one OF our streets,
so that a four horse chariot could |
turn on them. A vast population |
lived upon them and slept within
towers, so that in time of battle
they swarmed with their own 1op-
ulation AS a fortress they were
and when the city
was taken by Cyrus it was done
notify sailing or battering them,
but by turning the current Of the
so that his besieg .ng
army could pass through its bed.
These enormous walls, as we have
said, were pierced by one hundred
gates. These gates were all made
Of solid brass, which swung on
their great hinges like the groan-
inp portals Of Pandemonium de. |