the number of streets they led
into. Ferry-boats plied between the landing-places of the gates, and a
movable drawbridge (30 ft. broad), supported on stone piers, joined the two
parts of the city together.

The account thus given of the walls must be grossly exaggerated and cannot
have been that of an eye-witness. Moreover, the two walls--Imgur-Bel, the
inner wall, and Nimitti-Bel, the outer--which enclosed the city proper on
the site of the older Babylon have been confused with the outer ramparts
(enclosing the whole of Nebuchadrezzar's city), the remains of which can
still be traced to the east. According to Nebuchadrezzar, Imgur-Bel was
built in the form of a square, each side of which measured "30 _aslu_ by
the great cubit"; this would be equivalent, if Professor F. Hommel is
right, to 2400 metres. Four thousand cubits to the east the great rampart
was built "mountain high," which surrounded both the old and the new town;
it was provided with a moat, and a reservoir was excavated in the triangle
on the inner side of its south-east corner, the western wall of which is
still visible. The Imgur-Bel of Sargon's time has been discovered by the
German excavators running south of the _Qasr_ from the Euphrates to the
Gate of Ishtar.

The German excavations have shown that the _Qasr_ mound represents both the
old palace of Nabopolassar, and the new palace adjoining it built by
Nebuchadrezzar, the wall of which he boasts of having completed in 15 days.
They have also laid bare the site of the "Gate of Ishtar" on the east side
of the mound and the little temple of Nin-Makh (Beltis) beyond it, as well
as the raised road for solemn processions (_A-ibur-sabu_) which led from
the Gate of Ishtar to E-Saggila and skirted the east side of the palace.
The road was paved with stone and its walls on either side lined with
enamelled tiles, on which a procession of lions is represented. North of
the mound was a canal, which seems to have been the Libilkhegal of the
inscriptions, while on the south side was the Arakhtu, "the river of
Babylon," the brick quays of which were built by Nabopolassar.

The site of E-Saggila is still uncertain. The German excavators assign it
to the 'Amr[=a]n mound, its tower having stood in a depression immediately
to the north of this, and so place it south of the _Qasr_; but E. Lindl and
F. Hommel have put forward strong reasons for considering it to have been
north of the latter, on a part of the site which