nning away through the arches. The earth laid hereon was so deep, that
the greatest trees might take root in it; and with such the terraces were
covered, as well as with all other plants and flowers, that were proper to
adorn a pleasure-garden. In the upper terrace there was an engine, or kind
of pump, by which water was drawn up out of the river, and from thence the
whole garden was watered. In the spaces between the several arches, upon
which this whole structure rested, were large and magnificent apartments,
that were very light, and had the advantage of a beautiful prospect.

Amytis, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, having been bred in Media, (for she
was the daughter of Astyages, the king of that country,) had been much
delighted with the mountains and woody parts of that country.(991) And as
she desired to have something like it in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, to
gratify her, caused this prodigious edifice to be erected: Diodoras gives
much the same account of the matter, but without naming the persons.

V. _The Temple of Belus._(_992_)--Another of the great works at Babylon was
the temple of Belus, which stood, as I have mentioned already, near the
old palace. It was most remarkable for a prodigious tower, that stood in
the middle of it. At the foundation, according to Herodotus, it was a
square of a furlong on each side, that is, half a mile in the whole
compass, and (according to Strabo) it was also a furlong in height. It
consisted of eight towers, built one above the other, decreasing regularly
to the top, for which reason Strabo calls the whole a pyramid. It is not
only asserted, but proved, that this tower much exceeded the greatest of
the pyramids of Egypt in height. Therefore we have good reason to believe,
as Bochart asserts,(993) that this is the very same tower which was built
there at the confusion of languages; and the rather, because it is
attested by several profane authors, that this tower was all built of
bricks and bitumen, as the Scriptures tell us the tower of Babel was. The
ascent to the top was by stairs on the outside round it; that is, perhaps,
there was an easy sloping ascent in the side of the outer wall, which,
turning by very slow degrees in a spiral line eight times round the tower
from the bottom to the top, had the same appearance as if there had been
eight towers placed upon one another. In these different stories were many
large rooms, with arched roofs supported by pillars. Over the whole,