justly connected with the marvels of Babylon by
all ancient writers. But even his reign of fifty-five years did not
suffice for the completion of all his undertakings, and many details
still remained imperfect at his death in the beginning of 562 B.C.
Though of Kaldu origin, and consequently exposed to the suspicions
and secret enmity of the native Babylonians, as all of his race, even
Mero-dach-Baladan himself, had been before him, he had yet succeeded
throughout the whole of his reign in making himself respected by the
turbulent inhabitants of his capital, and in curbing the ambitious
pretensions of the priests of Merodach. As soon as his master-hand
was withdrawn, the passions so long repressed broke forth, and
proved utterly beyond the control of his less able or less fortunate
successors.*

* The sequel of this history is known from the narrative of
Berosus. Its authenticity is proved by passages on the
_Cylinder of Nabonidus_. Messer-schmidt considers that Amil-
marduk and Labashi-marduk were overthrown by the priestly
faction, but a passage on the _Cylinder_, in which Nabonidus
represents himself as inheriting the political views of
Nebuchadrezzar and Nergal-sharuzur, leads me to take the
opposite view. We know what hatred Nabonidus roused in the
minds of the priests of Merodach because his principles of
government were opposed to theirs: the severe judgment he
passed on the rule of Amil-marduk and Labashi-marduk seems
to prove that he considered them as belonging to the rival
party in the state, that is, to the priestly faction. The
forms of the names and the lengths of the several reigns
have been confirmed by contemporary monuments, especially by
the numerous contract tablets. The principal inscriptions
belonging to the reign of Nergal-sharuzur deal only with
public works and the restoration of monuments.

[Illustration: 460.jpg THE STONE LION OF BABYLON]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph furnished by
Father Scheil.

As far as we are able to judge by the documents which have come down to
us, two factions had arisen in the city since the fall of Nineveh, both
of which aspired to power and strove to gain a controlling influence
with the sovereign. The one comprised the descendants of the Kalda who
had delivered the city from the Assyrian yoke, together with those
of the ancient military nobility. Th