Chapter II

THE CITY OF BABYLON AND ITS REMAINS: A DISCUSSION OF THE
RECENT EXCAVATIONS

The 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
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