A HISTORY
OF
BABYLONIA
FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE MONARCHY
TO THE PERSIAN CONQUEST
BY
LEONARD W. KING, LITT.D., F.S.A.
Assistant Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum
Professor of Assyrian and Babylonian Archæology in
the University of London
WITH MAP, PLANS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
1915
[Pg v]
MERODACH-BALADAN II., KING OF BABYLON, MAKING A GRANT OF
LAND TO BÊL-AKHÊ-ERBA, GOVERNOR OF BABYLON.
The first part of Leonard W. King's History of Babylon is available
as A History of Sumer and Akkad, an Account of the Early Races of
Babylonia from Prehistoric Times to the Foundation of the Babylonian
Monarchy.
PREFACE
In the first volume of this work an account was given of the early races of Babylonia from prehistoric times to the foundation of the monarchy. It closed at the point when the city of Babylon was about to secure the permanent leadership under her dynasty of West-Semitic kings. The present volume describes the fortunes of Babylonia during the whole of the dynastic period, and it completes the history of the southern kingdom. Last autumn, in consequence of the war, it was decided to postpone its publication; but, at the request of the publishers, I have now finished it and seen it through the press. At a time when British troops are in occupation of Southern Mesopotamia, the appearance of a work upon its earlier history may perhaps not be considered altogether inopportune.Thanks to recent excavation Babylon has ceased to be an abstraction, and we are now able to reconstitute the main features of one of the most famous cities of the ancient world. Unlike Ashur and Nineveh, the great capitals of Assyria, Babylon survived with but little change under the Achæmenian kings of Persia, and from the time of Herodotus onward we possess accounts of her magnificence, which recent research has in great part substantiated. It is true that we must modify the description Herodotus has left us of her size, but on all other points the accuracy of his information is confirmed. The Lion Frieze of the Citadel and the enamelled beasts of the Ishtar Gate enable us to understand something of the spell she cast. It is[Pg vi] claimed that the site has been identified of her most famous building, the Hanging Gardens of the royal palace; and, if that should prove to be the case, they can hardly be said to have justified their reputation. Far more impressive is the Tower of Babel with its huge Peribolos, enclosing what has been aptly described as the Vatican of Babylon.
The majority of the buildings uncovered date from the Neo-Babylonian period, but they may be regarded as typical of Babylonian civilization as a whole. For temples were rebuilt again and again on the old lines, and religious conservatism retained the mud-brick walls and primitive decoration of earlier periods. Even Nabopolassar's royal palace must have borne a close resemblance to that of Hammurabi; and the street network of the city appears to have descended without much change from the time of the First Dynasty. The system which Hammurabi introduced into the legislation of his country may perhaps have been reflected in the earliest attempt at town-planning on a scientific basis. The most striking fact about Babylon's history is the continuity of her culture during the whole of the dynastic period. The principal modification which took place was in the system of land-tenure, the primitive custom of tribal or collective proprietorship giving place to private ownership under the policy of purchase and annexation deliberately pursued by the West-Semitic and Kassite conquerors. A parallel to the earlier system and its long survival may be seen in the village communities of India at the present day.
In contrast to that of Assyria, the history of Babylon is more concerned with the development and spread of a civilization than with the military achievements of a race. Her greatest period of power was under her first line of kings; and in after ages her foreign policy was dictated solely by her commercial needs. The letters from Boghaz Keui, like those from[Pg vii] Tell el-Amarna, suggest that, in keeping her trade connexions open, she relied upon diplomacy in preference to force. That she could fight at need is proved by her long struggle with the northern kingdom, but in the later period her troops were never a match for the trained legions of Assyria. It is possible that Nabopolassar and his son owed their empire in great measure to the protecting arm of Media; and Nebuchadnezzar's success at Carchemish does not prove that the Babylonian character had suddenly changed. A recently recovered letter throws light on the unsatisfactory state of at least one section of the army during Nebuchadnezzar's later years, and incidentally it suggests that Gobryas, who facilitated the Persian occupation, may be identified with a Babylonian general of that name. With the fall of Media, he may perhaps have despaired of any successful opposition on his country's part.
Babylon's great wealth, due to her soil and semi-tropical climate, enabled her to survive successive foreign dominations and to impose her civilization on her conquerors. Her caravans carried that civilization far afield, and one of the most fascinating problems of her history is to trace the effect of such intercourse in the literary remains of other nations. Much recent research has been devoted to this subject, and the great value of its results has given rise in some quarters to the view that the religious development of Western Asia, and in a minor degree of Europe, was dominated by the influence of Babylon. The theory which underlies such speculation assumes a reading of the country's history which cannot be ignored. In the concluding chapter an estimate has been attempted of the extent to which the assumption is in harmony with historical research.
The delay in the publication of this volume has rendered it possible to incorporate recent discoveries,[Pg viii] some of which have not as yet appeared in print. Professor A. T. Clay has been fortunate enough to acquire for the Yale University Collection a complete list of the early kings of Larsa, in addition to other documents with an important bearing on the history of Babylon. He is at present preparing the texts for publication, and has meanwhile very kindly sent me transcripts of the pertinent material with full permission to make use of them. The information afforded as to the overlapping of additional dynasties with the First Dynasty of Babylon has thrown new light on the circumstances which led to the rise of Babylon to power. But these and other recent discoveries, in their general effect, do not involve any drastic changes in the chronological scheme as a whole. They lead rather to local rearrangements, which to a great extent counterbalance one another. Under Babylon's later dynasties her history and that of Assyria are so closely inter-related that it is difficult to isolate the southern kingdom. An attempt has been made to indicate broadly the chief phases of the conflict, and the manner in which Babylonian interests alone were affected. In order to avoid needless repetition, a fuller treatment of the period is postponed to the third volume of this work. A combined account will then also be given of the literature and civilization of both countries.
I take this opportunity of expressing my thanks to Monsieur F. Thureau-Dangin, Conservateur-adjoint of the Museums of the Louvre, for allowing me last spring to study unpublished historical material in his charge. The information he placed at my disposal I found most useful during subsequent work in the Ottoman Museum at Constantinople shortly before the war. Reference has already been made to my indebtedness to Professor Clay, who has furnished me from time to time with other unpublished material, for[Pg ix] which detailed acknowledgment is made in the course of this work. With Professor C. F. Burney I have discussed many of the problems connected with the influence of Babylon upon Hebrew literature; and I am indebted to Professor A. C. Headlam for permission to reprint portions of an article on that subject, which I contributed in 1912 to the Church Quarterly Review.
To Dr. E. A. Wallis Budge my thanks are due, as he suggested that I should write these histories, and he has given me the benefit of his advice. To him, as to Sir Frederic Kenyon and Mr. D. G. Hogarth, I am indebted for permission to make use of illustrations, which have appeared in official publications of the British Museum. My thanks are also due to Monsieur Ernest Leroux of Paris for allowing me to reproduce some of the plates from the "Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse," published by him under the editorship of Monsieur J. de Morgan; and to the Council and Secretary of the Society of Biblical Archæology for the loan of a block employed to illustrate a paper I contributed to their Proceedings. The greater number of the plates illustrating the excavations are from photographs taken on the spot; and the plans and drawings figured in the text are the work of Mr. E. J. Lambert and Mr. C. O. Waterhouse, who have spared no pains to ensure their accuracy. The designs upon the cover of this volume represent the two most prominent figures in Babylonian tradition. In the panel on the face of the cover the national hero Gilgamesh is portrayed, whose epic reflects the Babylonian heroic ideal. The panel on the back of the binding contains a figure of Marduk, the city-god of Babylon, grasping in his right hand the flaming sword with which he severed the dragon of chaos.
L. W. KING.
[Pg x]
[Pg xi]
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTORY: BABYLON'S PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITYBabylon as a centre of civilization—Illustrations of foreign influence—Babylon's share in the origin of the culture she distributed—Causes which led to her rise as capital—Advantages of her geographical position—Transcontinental lines of traffic—The Euphrates route, the Royal Road, and the Gates of Zagros—Her supremacy based on the strategic and commercial qualities of her site—The political centre of gravity in Babylonia illustrated by the later capitals, Seleucia, Ctesiphon, and Baghdad—The Persian Gulf as barrier, and as channel of international commerce—Navigation on the Euphrates and the Tigris—Causes of Babylon's deposition—Her treatment by Cyrus, Alexander, and Seleucus—The Arab conquest of Mesopotamia instructive for comparison with the era of early city-states—Effect of slackening of international communications—Effect of restoration of commercial intercourse with the West—Three main periods of Babylon's foreign influence—Extent to which she moulded the cultural development of other races-Traces of contact in Hebrew religion and in Greek mythology—Recent speculation on the subject to be tested by the study of history 1
THE CITY OF BABYLON AND ITS REMAINS: A DISCUSSION OF THE RECENT EXCAVATIONSThe site of Babylon in popular tradition—Observations of Benjamin of Tudela and John Eldred—Exaggerations of early travellers—The description of Herodotus—Modern survey and excavation—Characteristics of Babylonian architecture—The architect's ideal—Comparison of Babylonian and Assyrian architectural design—Difficulties of Babylonian excavation—The extent of Babylon and the classical tradition—Remains of the ancient city—The Walls of Babylon—The Outer City-wall—The Mound Bâbil—The Ḳaṣr—The Inner City-wall—Imgur-Bêl and Nimitti-Bêl—Quay-walls and fortifications—Nebuchadnezzar's river-fortification—Change in the course of the Euphrates—Palaces of Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar—The official courts of the palace—Al-Bît-shar-Bâbili—The Throne-Room and its enamelled façade—The private palace and the women's apartments—The Hanging Gardens of Babylon—The Ishtar Gate[Pg xii] and its Bulls and Dragons—Later defences of the Southern Citadel —The Lion Frieze—The Procession Street—Temples of Babylon—E-makh, the temple of Ninmakh—Altars in the Babylonian and Hebrew cults—The unidentified temple—The temple of Ishtar of Akkad—Religious mural decoration—The temple of Ninib—E-sagila and the Tower of Babylon—The Peribolos or Sacred Precincts—E-zida and the Temple-tower of Borsippa—The Euphrates bridge—Merkes and the street net-work of Babylon—Strata of different periods—Early Babylonian town-planning—Material influence of the West-Semitic Dynasty—Continuity of Babylonian culture 14
THE DYNASTIES OF BABYLON: THE CHRONOLOGICAL SCHEME IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT DISCOVERIESChronology the skeleton of history—Principal defect in the Babylonian scheme—The Dynasties of Nîsin, Larsa and Babylon—Discovery of a List of the kings of Larsa—Introduction of fresh uncertainty—Relationship of the kings of Babylon and Nîsin—Absence of synchronisms—Evidence of date-formula?.—A fresh and sounder line of research—Double-dates supply the missing link for the chronology—The Nîsin era—Explanation of the double-dates—The problem of Rîm-Sin—Method of reconciling data—Another line of evidence—Archæological research and the Second Dynasty of the Kings' List—Date-formulæ of Hammurabi, Samsu-iluna and Iluma-ilum—Methods of fixing period of First Dynasty—Ammi-zaduga's omens from the planet Venus—Combinations of Venus, sun, and moon—Possibility of fixing period of observations—Alternative dates in their relation to historical results—The time of harvest in farming-out contracts of the period—Probable date for the First Dynasty—Re-examination of chronological notices in later texts—The Dynasties of Berossus and the beginning of his historical period—Effect of recent discoveries on the chronological scheme as a whole—Our new picture of the rise of Babylon 87
THE WESTERN SEMITES AND THE FIRST DYNASTY OF BABYLONOriginal home of the Amurru, or Western Semites—Arabia one of the main breeding-grounds of the human race—The great Semitic migrations and their cause—Evidence of diminution of rainfall in Arabia—The life of the pastoral nomad conditioned by the desert—The change from pastoral to agricultural life—Successive stages of Canaanite civilization—The neolithic inhabitants and the Amorite migration—Canaanites of history and their culture—Eastern Syria and the middle Euphrates—Recent excavations at Carchemish and its neighbourhood—Early Babylonian cylinder-seals on the Sajûr—Trade of Carchemish with Northern Babylonia—West Semitic settlements on the Khâbûr—The kingdom of Khana—The Amorite invasion of Babylonia—The Dynasties of Nîsin and Larsa—Recent discoveries at Ashur—Proto-Mitannians—The Western Semites in Babylon and their conflict with Assyria—Early struggles and[Pg xiii] methods of expansion—The Elamite conquest of Larsa—The three-cornered contest of Nîsin, Elam and Babylon—The fall of Nîsin and the duel between Babylon and Elam—Hammurabi's defeat of Rîm-Sin and the annexation of Sumer by Babylon—Extent of Hammurabi's empire—Hammurabi the founder of Babylon's greatness—His work as law-giver and administrator 119
THE AGE OF HAMMURABI AND ITS INFLUENCE ON LATER PERIODSThe energy of the Western Semite and his perpetuation of a dying culture—His age one of transition—Contemporaneous evidence on social and political conditions—The three grades in the social scale of Babylon—The nobles a racial aristocracy—Origin and rights of the middle class—Condition of slaves—Pastoral and agricultural life in early Babylonia—Regulations sanction long-established custom—The corvée for public works—Canals and fishing-rights—Methods of irrigation and their modern equivalents—Survival of the Babylonian plough and grain-drill—Importance of the date-palm and encouragement of plantations—Methods of transport by water—The commercial activities of Babylon and the larger cities—Partnerships for foreign trade—Life in the towns—Family life in early Babylonia—The position of women—Privileges enjoyed by votaries—The administration of justice—Relation of the crown and the priestly hierarchy under the Western Semites—The royal regulation of the calendar and the naming of the year—System of administration—Changes in the religious sphere and revision of the pantheon—Literary activity—The complete semitization of the country unaccompanied by any break in culture—Babylon's later civilization moulded by Hammurabi's age 162
THE CLOSE OF THE FIRST DYNASTY OF BABYLON AND THE KINGS FROM THE COUNTRY OF THE SEACondition of the empire on Samsu-iluna's accession—Early Kassite raid the signal for revolt, assisted by Elamite invasion—Resources of Babylon strained in suppressing the rebellion—Rise of an independent kingdom in the Sea-Country on the littoral of the Persian Gulf—Capacity of the Sea-Country for defence and as a base for offensive operations—Sumerian elements in its population—Babylon's loss of territory and her struggle with the Sea-Country kings—Symptoms of decadence under the later West-Semitic kings of Babylon—The deification of royalty and increased luxury of ritual—Evidence of Babylon's growing wealth and artistic progress under foreign influence—Temporary restoration of Babylon's power under Ammi-ditana—Renewed activity of the Sea-Country followed by gradual decline of Babylon—The close of the West-Semitic dynasty brought about or hastened by Hittite invasion—Period of local dynasties following the fall of Babylon—Continued succession of the Sea-Country kings 197
[Pg xiv]
THE KASSITE DYNASTY AND ITS RELATIONS WITH EGYPT AND THE HITTITE EMPIREThe Kassite conquest of Babylonia—The Kassites probably Aryans by race and akin to the later rulers of Mitanni—Character of their rule in Babylon—Their introduction of the horse into Western Asia—The Kassite conquest of the Sea-Country and its annexation to Babylon—Gap in our knowledge of the Kassite succession—The letters from Tell el-Amarna and Boghaz-Keui—Egypt and Western Asia at the close of the fifteenth century—Diplomacy and the balance of power—Dynastic marriages and international intercourse of the period—Amen-hetep III. and Kadashman-Enlil—Akhenaten and his policy of doles—Babylon's caravans in Syria—The correspondence of Burna-Buriash and Akhenaten—Egypt's loss of her Asiatic provinces—Rise of the Hittite Empire—The Hittites and their civilization—Their capital of Khatti—Their annexation of Mitanni and the Egyptian war—The relations of Khattusil with Kadashman-turgu and Kadashman-Enlil II.—Character of the Hittite correspondence—The growth of Assyria and her relations with Babylon—First phase in the long struggle of the two kingdoms —The later members of the Kassite Dynasty—Its fall to be traced to Elamite invasion—Economic conditions in Babylonia under the Kassites—Kudurru-inscriptions or boundary-stones—Their evidence on the Babylonian system of land-tenure—Gradual disappearance of tribal proprietorship as a result of West-Semitic and Kassite policy—Transition from collective to private ownership 214
THE LATER DYNASTIES AND THE ASSYRIAN DOMINATIONSpoils at Susa from the Elamite invasion—Recovery of her territory by Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar I.—Renewal of conflicts and treaties with Assyria—The devastation of Babylonia by the Sutû—Ephemeral Babylonian dynasties—The state of Sippar typical of the condition of the country—Renaissance of Assyria—The conquests of Ashur-uasir-pal and Babylon's abortive opposition—Babylonian art in the ninth century—Intervention of Shalmaneser III. in Babylonian politics—His campaign in Chaldea—The kingdom of Urartu and its effect on Assyrian expansion—Independence of provincial governments during a relaxation of central control—Temporary recovery of Babylon under Nabonassar—Gradual tightening of Assyria's grasp upon the southern kingdom—Character of her later empire—Tiglath-pileser IV.'s policy of deportation and its inherent weakness—The disappearance of Erartu as a buffer state—Sargon and Merodach-baladan—Sennacherib's attempt to destroy Babylon—Esarhaddon's reversal of his father's policy—The Assyrian conquest of Egypt—Ashur-bani-pal and the revolt of Shamash-shum-ukîn—The sack of Susa—Babylon under the Sargonids—The policies of encouragement and coercion—Effect of their alternation 252
[Pg xv]
THE NEO-BABYLONIAN EMPIRE AND THE PERSIAN CONQUESTNabopolassar and his nascent kingdom—The Scythian invasion and its effects—The sons of Ashur-bani-pal—Nabopolassar and the Medes—The fall of Nineveh—Division of Assyrian territory—Babylon's conflict with Egypt—Nebuchadnezzar II. and the Battle of Carchemish—Capture of Jerusalem and deportation of the Jews—Occupation of Phoenicia and siege of Tyre—Nebuchadnezzar's later campaign in Egypt—Babylon and the Median suzerainty—Lydia under the successors of Ardys—Conflict of Cyaxares and Alyattes on the Halys and the intervention of Babylon—Nebuchadnezzar as builder—Condition of the Babylonian army in Nebuchadnezzar's closing years and under his successors—Gubaru, the general, and the governor of Gutium—Death of Neriglissar—Character of Nabonidus—The decaying empire under Median protection—The rise of Cyrus—His ease in possessing himself of Media, and the probable cause—His defeat and capture of Croesus and the fall of Lydia—His advance on Babylon—Possibility that Gobryas was a native Babylonian—His motive in facilitating the Persian occupation—Defeat and death of Belshazzar—Popularity of Cyrus in Babylon—Tranquillity of the country under Persian rule—Babylon's last bids for independence—Her later history—Survival of Babylonian cults into the Christian era 275
GREECE, PALESTINE, AND BABYLON: AN ESTIMATE OF CULTURAL INFLUENCEInfluence of Babylon still apparent in the modern world—The mother of astronomy, and the survival of her ancient system of time-division—The political and religious history of the Hebrews in the light of Babylonian research—Echoes from Babylonian legends in Greek mythology—The Babylonian conception of the universe—The astral theory and its comprehensive assumptions—Was Babylonian religion essentially a star-worship?—Application of historical test—Evolution of the Babylonian god—Origin of divine emblems and animal symbolism—World Ages and the astral theory—Late evidence and the earlier historical periods—The astral ages of the Twins, the Bull and the Ram—Suggested influence of each age upon the historical literature of antiquity—The Old Testament and the Odyssey under astral interpretation—Astronomical defects of the astral theory—The age of Babylonian astronomy—Hipparchus of Nicæa and the precession of the equinoxes—Hebrews and Babylonian astrology—Contrast of the Babylonian and Hellenic temperaments—Mesopotamia and the coast-lands of Asia Minor—Tales that are told 289
I. A COMPARATIVE LIST OF THE DYNASTIES OF NISIX, LAKSA, AND BABYLON 318
II. A DYNASTIC LIST OF THE KINGS OF BABYLON 320
INDEX 323
[Pg xvi]
[Pg xvii]
LIST OF PLATES
I. Merodach-baladan II., King of Babylon, making a grant of
land to Bêl-akhê-erba, governor of Babylon Frontispiece
II. (i) The temple-tower of E-zida at Borsippa. (ii) The Lion
of Babylon on the Ḳaṣr Mound 18
III. The Throne Room in Nebuchadnezzar's palace at Babylon,
showing the recess in the back wall where the throne
once stood 39
IV. Eastern Towers of the Ishtar Gate, the portions preserved
having formed the foundation of the final gateway 48
V. Trench showing a portion of the Sacred Way of Babylon, to
the east of the Peribolos 61
VI. Two views of the Temple of Ninib in course of excavation 72
VII. Brick of Sin-idinnam, King of Larsa, recording the cutting
of a canal and the restoration of the Temple of the Moon-god
in the city of Ur 90
VIII. Hammurabi, King of Babylon, from a relief in the British
Museum, dedicated on his behalf to the West Semitic
goddess [Ash]ratum by Itur-ashdum, a provincial governor 97
IX. Brick of Warad-Sin, King of Larsa, recording building
operations in the city of Ur 105
X. The Citadel Mound of Carchemish from the north-west 128
XI. Upper portion of the Code of Hammurabi, engraved with a
scene representing the king receiving his laws from the
Sun-god 144
XII.(i) Bronze cone and votive figure, (ii) Stone cylinder with
a votive inscription of Warad-Sin, King of Larsa 153
XIII. Portion of the text of Hammurabi's Code, Columns 6-8 168
XIV. A modern gufa, a form of coracle described by Herodotus
and represented on the monuments 177
XV. (i) A small kelek on the Tigris at Baghdad, (ii) Ferry-boats
on the Euphrates at Birejik 184
XVI. Impressions of Babylonian cylinder-seals, engraved with
mythological subjects 193
XVII. Impressions of Kassite cylinder-seals 199
XVIII. Brick of Sin-gashid, King of Erech, recording the building
of his palace in that city 210
XIX. Head of a colossal statue of Amen-hetep III 220
XX. Hittite hieroglyphic inscription at Carchemish 241
XXI. Kassite kudurrus, or boundary-stones, set up in the reigns of
Meli-Shipak II. and Nazi-maruttash 248
XXII. Divine emblems on the upper part of akudurru, or boundary-stone,
engraved with a charter of privileges granted by
Nebuchadnezzar I 255
XXIII. Memorial-tablet of Nabû-aplu-iddina, King of Babylon,
recording his restoration of the Sun-temple at Sippar 260
XXIV. Shalmaneser III. receiving the submission of the Chaldeans,
from the bronze sheathing of his Gates in the British
Museum 269
XXV. Ashur-bani-pal, represented carrying a builder's basket,
as the restorer of E-sagila, the temple of Marduk at
Babylon 273
XXVI. Bronze door-step from E-zida, the temple of Nabû at
Borsippa, inscribed with the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar
II. 278
XXVII. (i) Baked clay foundation-cylinder of Nabonidus, referring
to the defeat of Astyages by Cyrus, (ii) Baked clay
foundation-cylinder of Cyrus, recording his entry into
Babylon "without battle and without fighting" 287
XXVIII. Impressions of Neo-Babylonian and Persian cylinder-seals 287
XXIX. Limestone statue of the god Nabû at Nimrûd292
XXX. Divine emblems sculptured on the lower portion of the
boundary-stone engraved with a charter of Nebuchadnezzar
I. (cp. Plate XXII.) 297
XXXI. Two views of a clay model of a sheep's liver with the surface
divided up and labelled for purposes of divination 303
XXXII. A Neo-Babylonian treatise on astronomy, inscribed with
classified lists of the principal stars and constellations,
heliacal risings and settings, culminations in the south, etc. 311
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
1. Diagram to illustrate the political centre of gravity in
Babylonia 8
2. Map of the neighbourhood of Babylon and Birs-Nimrûd; after
the India Office Map 16
3. Plan of the ruins of Babylon; after Koldewey and Andrae 24
4. Ground-plan of part of the outer city-wall; after Koldewey
and Andrae 26
5. Conjectural restoration of the Southern Citadel; after Andrae 29
6. Plan of the Southern Citadel; after Koldewey, Reuther, and
Wetzel 31
7. Ground-plan of quay-walls and fortification-walls in the north-west
corner of the Southern Citadel; after Koldewey 32
8. Section of the quay-walls and fortification-walls along the north
front of the Southern Citadel; after Andrae 34
9. Plan of the Throne Room of Nebuchadnezzar II. and part of
the private palace; after Koldewey 42
10. Design in enamelled brick from the façade of the Throne Room 44
11. Plan of the north-east corner of the palace with the Vaulted
Building; after Koldewey 46
12. Bull in enamelled brick from the Ishtar Gate 50
13. Dragon in enamelled brick from the Ishtar Gate 51
14. Ground-plan of the Ishtar Gate; after Koldewey 52
15. Section of the Ishtar Gate; after Andrae 53
16. Diagram to show the arrangement of the beasts of the Ishtar
Gate; after Koldewey 54
17. Enamelled fragment of the Ishtar Gate still in position 56
18. Plan of the later defences of the Citadel upon the north,
showing the walls with the Lion Frieze and the Ishtar Gate 57
19. Lion from the frieze of the Sacred Way to the north of the
Ishtar Gate 59
20. Ground-plan of E-makh, the temple of the goddess Ninmakh;
after Andrae 64
21. Conjectural restoration of E-makh; after Andrae 65
22. Gold plaque, with architectural design, from a Neo-Babylonian
burial; enlargement after photo, by Koldewey 67
23. Ground-plan of the unidentified temple known as "Z"; after
Andrae 68
[Pg xx]
24. Conjectural restoration of the unidentified temple known as
"Z"; after Andrae and Koldewey 69
25. Ground-plan of the temple of Ishtar of Akkad; after Reuther 70
20. Ground-plan of the temple of Ninib; after Andrae 71
27. Ground-plan of E-temen-anki and E-sagila; after Wetzel 74
28. Conjectural reconstruction of E-temen-anki and E-sagila; after Andrae 75
29. Ground-plan of E-zida and the temple-tower of Nabû at
Borsippa; after Koldewey 78
30. Rough engraving of a temple-tower upon a boundary-stone 80
31. Plan of the Merkes Mound, showing part of the street network
of Babylon; after Koldewey 82
32-33. Arabs of the seventh century b.c., from a sculpture in the
Nineveh Gallery of the British Museum 123
34. Head of an archaic limestone figure from Ashur 137
35-30. Heads of archaic figures from Ashur and Tello 138
37-39. Examples of archaic sculpture from Ashur and Tello, exhibiting
the same convention in the treatment of woollen
garments 140
40. The Old Babylonian form of plough in use; after Clay 175
41. Assyrian kelek on the Tigris; after La yard 178
42. The Assyrian prototype of the gufa; from a bas-relief in the
British Museum 179
43. Assyrian raft of logs on the Tigris; from a bas-relief in the
British Museum 181
44. Swamp in Southern Babylonia, or the Sea-Country; after a
bas-relief at Nineveh 201
45. The zebu or humped oxen of the Sea-Country; after a
bas-relief from Nineveh in the British Museum 204
46. Akhenaten, with his queen and infant daughters, on the
balcony of their palace; after N. de G. Davies 223
47-48. Representations of Hittites in Egyptian sculpture; after
Meyer 226
49. Hittite foot-soldiers at the Battle of Kadesh; after Meyer 227
50. Hittite chieftain, a captive of Rameses III.; after Meyer 228
51. Figure, probably of a Hittite king, from the Royal Gate at
Khatti; after a photo, by Puchstein 229
52. The Royal Gate of Khatti, the capital of the Hittites, viewed
from the outside; after Puchstein 231
53. Conjectural restoration of a Hittite gateway viewed from outside; after Puchstein 232
54. Longitudinal section of the Lower Western Gateway at Khatti; after Puchstein 234
55. Transverse section of the Lower Western Gateway at Khatti; after Puchstein 235
[Pg xxi]
56. One of the two sacred boats of Khonsu, the Egyptian Moongod,
who journeyed into Cappadocia to cast out a devil from
a Hittite princess; after Rosellini 238
57. Rameses II. offering incense to one of the boats of Khonsu before he started on his journey; after Rosellini 239
58. Scene representing Nabû-mukîn-apli sanctioning a transfer of landed property 258
59. Marduk and his dragon from a votive offering of Marduk-zakir-shum;
after Weissbach 261
62-63. The tribute of the Chaldeans; from the Gates of Shalmaneser 264
64. Bas-relief of Shamash-rêsh-usur, governor of the lands of
Sukhi and Mari; after a photo, by Weissbach 266
65. The god Adad from a votive offering dedicated in E-sagila by
Esarhaddon; after Weissbach 271
66-68. The weather-god and two goddesses from an Assyrian bas-relief;
after Layard 294
69. Figure of deity in portable shrine; after Layard 295
70. Sumerian harp, with the sound-case surmounted by the figure of a bull 298
71. The guardian lions of the Eastern Gate of Heaven, from the
impression of a cylinder-seal in the Louvre; after Heuzey 299
72. Winged monster on enamelled frieze at Persepolis; after
Dieulafoy 300
[Pg xxii][Pg xxiii]
MAPS AND PLANS
I. Diagram to illustrate the political centre of gravity in Babylonia (Fig. 1) 8
II. Map of the neighbourhood of Babylon and Birs-Nimrûd
(Fig. 2) 16
III. Plan of the ruins of Babylon (Fig. 3) 24
IV. Ground-plan of part of the outer city-wall (Fig. 4) 26
V. Plan of the Southern Citadel (Fig. 6) 31
VI. Ground-plan of quay-walls and fortification-walls in the N.W.
corner of the S. Citadel (Fig. 7) 32
VII. Plan of the Throne Room of Nebuchadnezzar and part of the
private palace (Fig. 9) 42
VIII. Plan of the N.E. corner of the palace with the Vaulted
Building (Fig. 11) 46
IX. Ground-plan of the Ishtar Gate (Fig. 14) 52
X. Plan of the later defences of the Citadel upon the N., showing
the walls with the Lion Frieze and the Ishtar Gate (Fig. 18) 57
XI. Ground-plan of E-makh, the temple of the goddess Ninmakh
(Fig. 20) 64
XII. Ground-plan of the unidentified temple known as "Z"
(Fig. 23) 68
XIII. Ground-plan of the temple of Ishtar of Akkad (Fig. 25) 70
XIV. Ground-plan of the temple of Ninib (Fig. 20) 71
XV. Ground-plan of E-temen-anki and E-sagila (Fig. 27) 74
XVI. Ground-plan of E-zida and the temple-tower of Nabii at
Borsippa (Fig. 29) 78
XVII. Plan of the Merkes Mound, showing part of the street network of Babylon (Fig. 31) 83
[Pg 1]
A HISTORY OF BABYLON
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY: BABYLON'S PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY
The name of Babylon suggests one of the great centres from which civilization radiated to other peoples of the ancient world. And it is true that from the second millennium onwards we have evidence of the gradual spread of Babylonian culture throughout the greater part of Western Asia. Before the close of the fifteenth century, to cite a single example of such influence, we find that Babylonian had become the language of Eastern diplomacy. It is not surprising perhaps that the Egyptian king should have adopted the Babylonian tongue and method of writing for his correspondence with rulers of Babylon itself or of Assyria. But it is remarkable that he should employ this foreign script and language for sending orders to the governors of his Syrian and Palestinian dependencies, and that such Canaanite officials should use the same medium for the reports they despatched to their Egyptian master. In the same period we find the Aryan rulers of Mitanni, in Northern Mesopotamia, writing in cuneiform the language of their adopted country. A few decades later the Hittites of Anatolia, discarding their old and clumsy system of hieroglyphs except for monumental purposes, borrow the same character for their own speech, while their treaties with Egypt are drawn up in Babylonian. In the ninth century the powerful race of the Urartians, settled in the mountains of Armenia around the shores of Lake Van, adopt as their national script the writing of[Pg 2] Assyria, which in turn had been derived from Babylon. Elam, Babylon's nearest foreign neighbour, at a very early period had, like the Hittites of a later age, substituted for their rude hieroglyphs the language and older characters of Babylon, and later on they evolved from the same writing a character of their own. Finally, coming down to the sixth century, we find the Achæmenian kings inventing a cuneiform sign-list to express the Old Persian language, in order that their own speech might be represented in royal proclamations and memorials beside those of their subject provinces of Babylon and Susiania.These illustrations of Babylonian influence on foreign races are confined to one department of culture only, the language and the system of writing. But they have a very much wider implication. For when a foreign language is used and written, a certain knowledge of its literature must be presupposed. And since all early literatures were largely religious in character, the study of the language carries with it some acquaintance with the legends, mythology and religious beliefs of the race from whom it was borrowed. Thus, even if we leave out of account the obvious effects of commercial intercourse, the single group of examples quoted necessarily implies a strong cultural influence on contemporary races.
It may thus appear a paradox to assert that the civilization, with which the name of Babylon is associated, was not Babylonian. But it is a fact that for more than a thousand years before the appearance of that city as a great centre of culture, the civilization it handed on to others had acquired in all essentials its later type. In artistic excellence, indeed, a standard had been already reached, which, so far from being surpassed, was never afterwards attained in Mesopotamia. And although the Babylonian may justly be credited with greater system in his legislation, with an extended literature, and perhaps also with an increased luxury of ritual, his efforts were entirely controlled by earlier models. If we except the spheres of poetry and ethics, the Semite in Babylon, as elsewhere, proved himself a clever adapter, not a creator. He was the prophet of[Pg 3] Sumerian culture and merely perpetuated the achievements of the race whom he displaced politically and absorbed. It is therefore the more remarkable that his particular city should have seen but little of the process by which that culture had been gradually evolved. During those eventful centuries Babylon had been but little more than a provincial town. Yet it was reserved for this obscure and unimportant city to absorb within herself the results of that long process, and to appear to later ages as the original source of the culture she enjoyed. Before tracing her political fortunes in detail it will be well to consider briefly the causes which contributed to her retention of the place she so suddenly secured for herself.
The fact that under her West-Semitic kings Babylon should have taken rank as the capital city does not in itself account for her permanent enjoyment of that position. The earlier history of the lands of Sumer and Akkad abounds with similar examples of the sudden rise of cities, followed, after an interval of power, by their equally sudden relapse into comparative obscurity. The political centre of gravity was continually shifting from one town to another, and the problem we have to solve is why, having come to rest in Babylon, it should have remained there. To the Western Semites themselves, after a political existence of three centuries, it must have seemed that their city was about to share the fate of her numerous predecessors. When the Hittite raiders captured and sacked Babylon and carried off her patron deities, events must have appeared to be taking their normal course. After the country, with her abounding fertility, had been given time to recover from her temporary depression, she might have been expected to emerge once more, according to precedent, under the aegis of some other city. Yet it was within the ancient walls of Babylon that the Kassite conquerors established their headquarters; and it was to Babylon, long rebuilt and once more powerful, that the Pharaohs of the eighteenth Dynasty and the Hittite kings of Cappadocia addressed their diplomatic correspondence. During Assyria's long struggle with the southern kingdom Babylon was[Pg 4] always the protagonist, and no raid by Aramean or Chaldean tribes ever succeeded in ousting her from that position. At the height of Assyrian power she continued to be the chief check upon that empire's expansion, and the vacillating policy of the Sargonids in their treatment of the city sufficiently testifies to the dominant rôle she continued to play in politics. And when Nineveh had fallen, it was Babylon that took her place in a great part of Western Asia.
This continued pre-eminence of a single city is in striking contrast to the ephemeral authority of earlier capitals, and it can only be explained by some radical change in the general conditions of the country. One fact stands out clearly: Babylon's geographical position must have endowed her during this period with a strategical and commercial importance which enabled her to survive the rudest shocks to her material prosperity. A glance at the map will show that the city lay in the north of Babylonia, just below the confluence of the two great rivers in their lower course. Built originally on the left bank of the Euphrates, she was protected by its stream from any sudden incursion of the desert tribes. At the same time she was in immediate contact with the broad expanse of alluvial plain to the south-east, intersected by its network of canals.
But the real strength of her position lay in her near neighbourhood to the transcontinental routes of traffic. When approaching Baghdad from the north the Mesopotamian plain contracts to a width of some thirty-five miles, and, although it has already begun to expand again in the latitude of Babylon, that city was well within touch of both rivers. She consequently lay at the meeting-point of two great avenues of commerce. The Euphrates route linked Babylonia with Northern Syria and the Mediterranean, and was her natural line of contact with Egypt; it also connected her with Cappadocia, by way of the Cilician Gates through the Taurus, along the track of the later Royal Road.[1] Farther north the trunk-route through[Pg 5] Anatolia from the west, reinforced by tributary routes from the Black Sea, turns at Sivas on the Upper Halys, and after crossing the Euphrates in the mountains, first strikes the Tigris at Diarbekr; then leaving that river for the easier plain, it rejoins the stream in the neighbourhood of Nineveh and so advances southward to Susa or to Babylon. A third great route that Babylon controlled was that to the east through the Gates of Zagros, the easiest point of penetration to the Iranian plateau and the natural outlet of commerce from Northern Elam.[2] Babylon thus lay across the stream of the nations' traffic, and in the direct path of any invader advancing upon the southern plains.
That she owed her importance to her strategic position, and not to any particular virtue on the part of her inhabitants, will be apparent from the later history of the country. It has indeed been pointed out that the geographical conditions render necessary the existence of a great urban centre near the confluence of the Mesopotamian rivers.[3] And this fact is amply attested by the relative positions of the capital cities, which succeeded one another in that region after the supremacy had passed from Babylon. Seleucia, Ctesiphon and Baghdad are all clustered in the narrow neck of the Mesopotamian plain, and for only one short period, when normal conditions were suspended, has the centre of government been transferred to any southern city.[4] The sole change has consisted in the permanent selection of the Tigris for the site of each new capital, with a decided tendency to remove it to[Pg 6] the left or eastern bank.[5] That the Euphrates should have given place in this way to her sister river was natural enough in view of the latter's deeper channel and better water way, which gained in significance as soon as the possibility of maritime communication was contemplated.
Throughout the whole period of Babylon's supremacy the Persian Gulf, so far from being a channel of international commerce, was as great a barrier as any mountain range. Doubtless a certain amount of local coasting traffic was always carried on, and the heavy blocks of diorite which were brought to Babylonia from Magan by the early Akkadian king Narâm-Sin, and at a rather later period by Gudea of Lagash,[6] must have been transported by water rather than over land. Tradition, too, ascribed the conquest of the island of Dilmun, the modern Bahrein, to Sargon of Akkad; but that marked the extreme limit of Babylonian penetration southwards, and the conquest must have been little more than a temporary occupation following a series of raids down the Arabian coast. The fact that two thousand years later Sargon of Assyria, when recording his receipt of tribute from Upêri of Dilmun, should have been so far out in his estimate of its distance from the Babylonian coast-line,[7] is an indication of the continued disuse of the waters of the gulf as a means of communication. On this supposition we may readily understand the difficulties encountered by Sennacherib when transporting his army across the head of the gulf against certain coast-towns of Elam, and the necessity, to which he was put, of building special ships for the purpose.
There is evidence that in the Neo-Babylonian period the possibilities of transport by way of the gulf had already begun to attract attention, and Nebuchadnezzar II. is said to have attempted to build harbours[Pg 7] in the swamp at the mouths of the delta.[8] But his object must have been confined to encouraging coastal trade, for the sea-route between the Persian Gulf and India was certainly not in use before the fifth century, and in all probability was inaugurated by Alexander. According to Herodotus[9] it had been opened by Darius after the return of the Greek Scylax of Caryanda from his journey to India, undertaken as one of the surveying expeditions on the basis of which Darius founded the assessment of his new satrapies. But, although there is no need to doubt the historical character of that voyage, there is little to suggest that Scylax coasted round, or even entered, the Persian Gulf.[10] Moreover, it is clear that, while Babylon's international trade received a great impetus under the efficient organization of the Persian Empire, it was the overland routes which benefited. The outcrops of rock, or cataracts, which blocked the Tigris for vessels of deeper draft, were not removed until Alexander levelled them; and the problem of Babylon's sea-traffic, to which he devoted the closing months of his life, was undoubtedly one of the factors which, having now come into prominence for the first time, influenced Seleucus in selecting a site on the Tigris for his new capital.[11]
But that was not the only cause of Babylon's deposition. For after her capture by Cyrus, new forces came into play which favoured a transference of the capital eastward. During the earlier periods of her history Babylon's chief rival and most persistent enemy had lain upon her eastern frontier. To the early Sumerian rulers of city-states Elam had been "the mountain that strikes terror,"[12] and during subsequent periods the cities of Sumer and Akkad could never be sure of immunity from invasion in that quarter. We shall see that in Elam the Western Semites of Babylon found the chief obstacle to the southward extension of their authority, and that in later periods any symptom[Pg 8] of internal weakness or dissension was the signal for renewed attack. It is true that the Assyrian danger drew these ancient foes together for a time, but even the sack of Susa by Ashur-bani-pal did not put an end to their commercial rivalry.
During all this period there was small temptation to transfer the capital to any point within easier striking distance of so powerful a neighbour; and with the principal passes for eastward traffic under foreign control, it was natural that the Euphrates route to Northern Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean coast should continue to be the chief outlet for Babylonian commerce. But on the incorporation of the country within the Persian empire all danger of interference with her eastern trade was removed; and it is a testimony to the part Babylon had already played in history that she continued to be the capital city of Asia for more than two centuries. Cyrus, like Alexander, entered the city as a conqueror, but each was welcomed by the people and their priests as the restorer of ancient rights and privileges. Policy would thus have been against any attempt to introduce radical innovations. The prestige the city enjoyed and the grandeur of its temples and palaces doubtless also weighed with the Achæmenian kings in their choice of Babylon for their official residence, except during the summer months. Then they withdrew to the cooler climate of Persepolis or Ecbatana, and during the early spring, too, they might transfer the court to Susa; but they continued to recognize Babylon as their true capital. In fact, the city only lost its importance when the centre of government was removed to Seleucia in its own immediate neighbourhood. Then, at first possibly under compulsion, and afterwards of their own freewill, the commercial classes followed their rulers to the west bank of the Tigris; and Babylon suffered in proportion. In the swift rise of Seleucia in response to official orders, we may see clear proof that the older city's influence had been founded upon natural conditions, which were shared in an equal, and now in even a greater degree, by the site of the new capital.
FIG. 1.
DIAGRAM TO ILLUSTRATE THE POLITICAL CENTRE OF GRAVITY IN BABYLONIA.
The circle marks the limits within which the capital shifted from the period
of the First Dynasty onwards. It was only under the abnormal conditions produced
by the Moslem conquest that Kûfa and Basra became for five generations
the twin capitals of 'Irâk; this interval presents a parallel to the earlier period
before the rise of Babylon.
The last of the great Semitic migrations from Arabia had resulted in the conquests of Islam, when, after the death of Mohammed, the Arab armies poured into Western Asia in their efforts to convert the world to their faith. The course of the movement, and its effect upon established civilizations which were overthrown, may be traced in the full light of history; and we find in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates a resultant economic condition which forms a close parallel to that of the age before the rise of Babylon. The military occupation of Mesopotamia by the Arabs closed for a time the great avenues of transcontinental commerce; and, as a result, the political control of the country ceased to be exercised from the capital of the Sassanian kings and was distributed over more than one area. New towns sprang into being around the permanent camps of the Arab armies. Following on the conquest of Mesopotamia, the city of Basra was built on the Shatt el-'Arab in the extreme south of the country, while in the same year, 638 A.D., Kûfa was founded more to the north-west on the desert side of the Euphrates. A third great town, Wâsit, was added sixty-five years later, and this arose in the centre of the country on both banks of the Tigris, whose waters were then passing along the present bed of the Shatt el-Hai. It is true that Madâin retained a measure of local importance, but during the Omayyad Caliphate Kûfa and Basra were the twin capitals of 'Irâk.[13]
Thus the slackening of international connections led at once to a distribution of authority between a north and a south Babylonian site. It is true that both capitals were under the same political control, but from the economic standpoint we are forcibly reminded of the era of city-states in Sumer and Akkad. Then, too, there was no external factor to retain the centre of[Pg 11] gravity in the north; and Erech more than once secured the hegemony, while the most stable of the shifting dynasties was the latest of the southern city of Ur. The rise of Babylon as the sole and permanent capital of Sumer and Akkad may be traced, as we shall note, to increased relations with Northern Syria, which followed the establishment of her dynasty of West-Semitic kings.[14] And again we may see history repeating herself, when Moslem authority is removed to Baghdad at the close of the first phase in the Arab occupation of Mesopotamia. For on the fall of the Omayyad dynasty and the transference of the Abbasid capital from Damascus to the east, commercial intercourse with Syria and the west was restored to its old footing. Basra and Kûfa at once failed to respond to the changed conditions, and a new administrative centre was required. It is significant that Baghdad should have been built a few miles above Ctesiphon, within the small circle of the older capitals;[15] and that, with the exception of a single short period,[16] she should have remained the capital city of 'Irâk. Thus the history of Mesopotamia under the Caliphate is instructive for the study of the closely parallel conditions which enabled Babylon at a far earlier period to secure the hegemony in Babylonia and afterwards to retain it.
From this brief survey of events it will have been noted that Babylon's supremacy falls in the middle period of her country's history, during which she distributed a civilization in the origin of which she played no part. When she passed, the culture she had handed on passed with her, though on Mesopotamian soil its decay was gradual. But she had already delivered her message, and it has left its mark on the[Pg 12] remains of other races of antiquity which have come down to us. We shall see that it was in three main periods that her influence made itself felt in any marked degree beyond the limits of the home-land. The earliest of these periods of external contact was that of her First Dynasty of West-Semitic rulers, though the most striking evidence of its effect is only forthcoming after some centuries had passed. In the second period the process was indirect, her culture being carried north and west by the expansion of Assyria. The last of the three epochs coincides with the rule of the Neo-Babylonian kings, when, thanks to her natural resources, the country not only regained her independence, but for a short time established an empire which far eclipsed her earlier effort. And in spite of her speedy return, under Persian rule, to the position of a subject province, her foreign influence may be regarded as operative, it is true in diminishing intensity, well into the Hellenic period.
The concluding chapter will deal in some detail with certain features of Babylonian civilization, and with the extent to which it may have moulded the cultural development of other races. In the latter connexion a series of claims has been put forward which cannot be ignored in any treatment of the nation's history. Some of the most interesting contributions that have recently been made to Assyriologieal study undoubtedly concern the influence of ideas, which earlier research had already shown to be of Babylonian origin. Within recent years a school has arisen in Germany which emphasizes the part played by Babylon in the religious development of Western Asia, and, in a minor degree, of Europe. The evidence on which reliance has been placed to prove the spread of Babylonian thought throughout the ancient world has been furnished mainly by Israel and Greece; and it is claimed that many features both in Hebrew religion and in Greek mythology can only be rightly studied in the light thrown upon them by Babylonian parallels from which they were ultimately derived. It will therefore be necessary to examine briefly the theory which underlies most recent speculation on this subject, and to ascertain, if possible, how far it may be relied on to furnish results of permanent value.
[Pg 13]
But it will be obvious that, if the theory is to be accepted in whole or in part, it must be shown to rest upon a firm historical basis, and that any inquiry into its credibility should be more fitly postponed until the history of the nation itself has been passed in review. After the evidence of actual contact with other races has been established in detail, it will be possible to form a more confident judgment upon questions which depend for their solution solely on a balancing of probabilities. The estimate of Babylon's foreign influence has therefore been postponed to the closing chapter of the volume. But before considering the historical sequence of her dynasties, and the periods to which they may be assigned, it will be well to inquire what recent excavation has to tell us of the actual remains of the city which became the permanent capital of Babylonia.
[1] Cf. Hogarth, "The Nearer East," pp. 212 ff., and Ramsay, "The
Historical Geography of Asia Minor," pp. 27 ff. Herodotus (V, 52-54)
describes the "Royal Road" of the Persian period as passing from Ephesus
by the Cilician Gates to Susa, and it obtained its name from the fact that all
government business of the Persian Court passed along it; the distances,
given by Herodotus in parasangs and stages, may well be derived from some
official Persian document (cf. How and Wells, "Commentary on Herodotus,"
II, p. 21). But it followed the track of a still earlier Royal Road, by which
Khatti, the capital of the old Hittite Empire, maintained its communications
westward and with the Euphrates valley.
[2] At the present day this forms the great trunk-road across the highlands
of Persia, by way of Kirmanshah; and, since the Moslem conquest, it has
been the chief overland route from the farther East for all those making the
pilgrimage to Mecca.
[3] Cf. Hogarth, op. cit., p. 200 f.
[4] See below, pp. 9 ff.
[5] It is not improbable that the transference from one bank to the
other was dictated by the relations of the ruling empire with Persia and
the West.
[6] See "Sumer and Akkad," p. 242.
[7] Cf. Delitzsch, "Paradies," pp. 178 ff., and Meyer, "Geschichte des
Altertums," 1., ii.; p. 473.
[8] See below, Chap. IX., p. 280.
[9] IV., 44.
[10] Cp. Myres, "Geographical Journal," Mil. 1896, p. 623, and How
and Wells, "Commentary on Herodotus," Vol. I., p. 320.
[11] See Bevan, "House of Seleucus," I., pp. 242 ff., 253.
[12] Cf. "Sum. and Akk.," p. 149.
[13] As such the two cities were known as 'Al-'Irâkân, or Al-'Irâkayn,
meaning "the two capitals of 'Irâk"; cf. G. Le Strange. "The Lands of the
Eastern Caliphate," p. 25.
[14] See further, Chap IV. The fact that from time to time other cities of
Akkad had secured the leadership, suggests that the forces which eventually
placed Babylon at the head of the country were already beginning to be felt.
They were doubtless checked in no small degree by the absence of an internal
administration of any lasting stability during the acute racial conflict which
characterized the period.
[15] The city was founded by the second Abbasid Caliph in 762 A.D.
[16] For a period of fifty-six years (336-392 A.D.) the Caliphate was removed
to Sâmarrâ. The circumstances which led to the transference may be traced
directly to the civil war which broke out on the death of Harûn-ar-Rashîd;
cf. Le Strange, op. cit., p. 32.
[Pg 14]
[Pg 14]
CHAPTER II
THE CITY OF BABYLON AND ITS REMAINS: A DISCUSSION OF THE RECENT EXCAVATIONS
The actual site of Babylon was never lost in popular tradition. In spite of the total disappearance of the city, which followed its gradual decay under Seleucid and Parthian rule, its ancient fame sufficed to keep it in continual remembrance. The old Semitic name Bâb-ilî, "the Gate of the Gods," lingered on about the site, and under the form Babil is still the local designation for the most northerly of the city-mounds. Tradition, too, never ceased to connect the exposed brickwork of Nebuchadnezzar's main citadel and palace with his name. Ḳaṣr, the Arab name for the chief palace-mound and citadel of Babylon, means "palace" or "castle," and when in the twelfth century Benjamin of Tudela visited Baghdad, the Jews of that city told him that in the neighbouring ruins, near Hilla, the traveller might still behold Nebuchadnezzar's palace beside the fiery furnace into which Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah had been thrown. It does not seem that this adventurous rabbi actually visited the site,[1] though it is unlikely that he was deterred by fear of the serpents and scorpions with which, his informants said, the ruins were infested.In the sixteenth century an English merchant traveller, John Eldred, made three voyages to "New Babylon," as he calls Baghdad, journeying from Aleppo down the Euphrates. On the last occasion, after describing his landing at Faluja, and how he secured a[Pg 15] hundred asses for lack of camels to carry his goods to Baghdad, he tells us that "in this place which we crossed over stood the olde mightie citie of Babylon, many olde ruines whereof are easilie to be scene by daylight, which I, John Eldred, have often behelde at my goode leisure having made three voyages between the New Citie of Babylon and Aleppo over this desert."[2] But it would seem probable from his further description that "the olde tower of Babell," which he visited "sundry times," was really the ruin of 'Akarkûf, which he would have passed on his way to Baghdad. Benjamin of Tudela, on the other hand, had taken Birs-Nimrûd for the Tower of Babel,[3] and had noted how the ruins of the streets of Babylon still extend for thirty miles. In fact, it was natural that several of the early travellers should have regarded the whole complex of ruins, which they saw still standing along their road to Baghdad, as parts of the ancient city; and it is not surprising that some of the earlier excavators should have fallen under a similar illusion so far as the area between Bâbil and El-Birs is concerned.[4] The famous description of Herodotus, and the accounts other classical writers have left us of the city's size, tended to foster this conviction; and, although the centre of Babylon was identified correctly enough, the size of the city's area was greatly exaggerated. Babylon had cast her spell upon mankind, and it has taken sixteen years of patient and continuous excavation to undermine that stubborn belief. But in the process of shrinkage, and as accurate knowledge has gradually given place to conjecture, the old spell has reappeared unchanged. It may be worth while to examine in[Pg 16] some detail the results of recent work upon the site, and note to what extent the city's remains have thrown light upon its history while leaving some problems still unsolved.
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