,
cased with a massive wall of sandstone and limestone, in some places
twenty feet thick. There is also a stone or rather marble, staircase
which leads up from the platform to the summit of the first story,
composed of small polished blocks, twenty-two inches long, thirteen
broad, and four and a half thick. The bed of the staircase is made of
sun dried brick, and the marble was fastened to this substratum by copper
bolts, some portion of which was found by Mr. Taylor still adhering to
the blocks. At the foot of the staircase there appear to have stood two
columns, one on either side of it. The construction of these columns is
very singular. A circular nucleus composed of sandstone slabs and small
cylindrical pieces of marble disposed in alternate layers, was coated
externally with coarse lime, mixed with small stones and pebbles, until
by means of many successive layers the pillar had attained the desired
bulk and thickness. Thus the stone and marble were entirely concealed
under a thick coating of plaster; and a smoothness was given to the outer
surface which it would have otherwise been difficult to obtain. The date
of the Abu-Shahrein temple is thought to be considerably later than that
of the other buildings above described; and the pillars would seem to be
a refinement on the simplicity of the earlier times. The use of stone is
to be accounted for, not so much by the advance of architectural science,
as by the near vicinity of the Arabian hills, from which that material
could be readily derived.

It is evident, that if the Chaldaean temples were of the character and
construction which we have gathered from their remains, they could have
possessed no great architectural beauty, though they may not have lacked
a certain grandeur. In the dead level of Babylonia, an elevation even of
100 or 150 feet must have been impressive; and the plain massiveness of
the structures no doubt added to their grand effect on the beholder. But
there was singularly little in the buildings, architecturally viewed, to
please the eye or gratify the sense of beauty. No edifices in the world
--not even the Pyramids--are more deficient in external ornament. The
buttresses and the air-holes, which alone break the flat uniformity of
the walls, are intended simply for utility, and can scarcely be said to
be much embellishment. If any efforts were made to delight by the
ordinary resources of ornamental art, it seems clear that such effor