The thrones and palaces of Babylon and Ninevah from sea to sea; a thousand miles on horseback .. . hreading its narrow, winding ravines, clam-bering its steep, rugged sides, we were convinced that it iscomposed of the remains of many different edifices, suchas belonged to a great palace. Not a hundred and fiftyfeet from its base, on the northern and western sides, arelow mounds, the traces of the triple walls which once in-closed the royal palace of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baby-lon. The view from the summit of the mound was ex-ceedingly impressive, and filled the mind with thoughts Rich. BABYL
The thrones and palaces of Babylon and Ninevah from sea to sea; a thousand miles on horseback .. . hreading its narrow, winding ravines, clam-bering its steep, rugged sides, we were convinced that it iscomposed of the remains of many different edifices, suchas belonged to a great palace. Not a hundred and fiftyfeet from its base, on the northern and western sides, arelow mounds, the traces of the triple walls which once in-closed the royal palace of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baby-lon. The view from the summit of the mound was ex-ceedingly impressive, and filled the mind with thoughts Rich. BABYLON AND NINEVEH. 135 of the miglity past. On our right, and not far away, theEuphrates flowed majestically through verdant banks,until lost to sight amidst the palm-groves of Hillah,whose mosques and minarets were seen five miles to thesouthward ; while six miles beyond appeared the Towerof Babel, now a fragment of one of the greatest struct-ures reared by the hand of man. A mile to the southof us were the remains of the once beautiful HangingGardens, constructed to please the Median queen, and. BELSHAZZAR S PALACB. justly considered one of the Seven Wonders of theWorld. Before us, stretching far aw^ay to the northwardand to the southward, were lofty banks of ancient ca-nals that fret the country like natural ridges; and here,there, and everywhere were shapeless mounds, coveredwith fragments of glass, marble, pottery, and inscribedbricks, mingled with a white nitrous soil, whose blanchedappearance completed the picture of desolation. We were standing on the platform, on which stoodthe superb palace of Nebuchadnezzar, the magnificence of 136 THRONES AND PALACES OF which excited the admiration of all who beheld it. Atonce a castle and a palace, it was surrounded by a triplewall, whose inner gates were made of the brass takenfrom Jerusalem, and once composed the sacred vessels inthe Temple of Solomon.* The outer wall was high andstately, six miles in circumference, and constructed
Size: 2637px × 948px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbabylon, bookyear1876
