old sanctuary.

Our knowledge of its topography is derived from the classical writers, the
inscriptions of Nebuchadrezzar, and the excavations of the _Deutsche
Orientgesellschaft_, which were begun in 1899. The topography is
necessarily that of the Babylon of Nebuchadrezzar; the older Babylon which
was destroyed by Sennacherib having left few, if any, traces behind. Most
of the existing remains lie on the E. bank of the Euphrates, the principal
being three vast mounds, the _Babil_ to the north, the _Qasr_ or "Palace"
(also known as the _Mujelliba_) in the centre, and the Ish[=a]n 'Amran ibn
'Ali, with the outlying spur of the Jumjuma, to the south. Eastward of
these come the Ish[=a]n el-Aswad or "Black Mound" and three lines of
rampart, one of which encloses the _Babil_ mound on the N. and E. sides,
while a third forms a triangle with the S.E. angle of the other two. W. of
the Euphrates are other ramparts and the remains of the ancient Borsippa.

We learn from Herodotus and Ctesias that the city was built on both sides
of the river in the form of a square, and enclosed within a double row of
lofty walls to which Ctesias adds a third. Ctesias makes the outermost wall
360 stades (42 m.) in circumference, while according to Herodotus it
measured 480 stades (56 m.), which would include an area of about 200 sq.
m. The estimate of Ctesias is essentially the same as that of Q. Curtius
(v. 1. 26), 368 stades, and Clitarchus (_ap._ Diod. Sic. ii. 7), 365
stades; Strabo (xvi. 1. 5) makes it 385 stades. But even the estimate of
Ctesias, assuming the stade to be its usual length, would imply an area of
about 100 sq. m. According to Herodotus the height of the walls was about
335 ft. and their width 85 ft; [v.03 p.0099] according to Ctesias the
height was about 300 ft. The measurements seem exaggerated, but we must
remember that even in Xenophon's time (_Anab._ iii. 4. 10) the ruined wall
of Nineveh was still 150 ft high, and that the spaces between the 250
towers of the wall of Babylon (Ctes. 417, _ap._ Diod. ii. 7) were broad
enough to let a four-horse chariot turn (Herod. i. 179). The clay dug from
the moat served to make the bricks of the wall, which had 100 gates, all of
bronze, with bronze lintels and posts. The two inner enclosures were faced
with enamelled tiles and represented hunting-scenes. Two other walls ran
along the banks of the Euphrates and the quays with which it was lined,
each containing 25 gates which answered to