nqueting rooms, which were made under the River Euphrates and were
constructed entirely of brass; and then, as one of the seven wonders
of the world, were the famous hanging gardens; they were 400 feet
square and were raised 350 feet high, one terrace above the other, and
were ascended by a staircase ten feet wide. The terraces were
supported by large vaultings resting upon curb-shaped pillars and
were hollow and filled with earth, to allow trees of the largest size
to be planted, the whole being constructed of baked bricks and
asphalt. The entire structure was strengthened and bound together by a
wall twenty-two feet in thickness. The level of the terrace was
covered with large stones, over which was a bed of rushes, then a
thick layer of asphalt, next two courses of bricks likewise cemented
with asphalt, and finally plates of lead to prevent leakage, the earth
being heaped on the platform and terrace and large trees planted. The
whole had the appearance from a distance of woods overhanging
mountains.

The great work is affirmed to have been effected by Nebuchadnezzar to
gratify his wife, Anytis, daughter of Astyages, who retained strong
predilection for the hills and groves which abounded in her native
Media.

Babylon flourished for nearly 200 years in this scale of grandeur,
during which idolatry, pride, cruelty, and every abomination prevailed
among all ranks of the people, when God, by His prophet, pronounced
its utter ruin, which was accordingly accomplished, commencing with
Cyrus taking the city, after a siege of two years, in the year 588
Before Christ, to emancipate the Jews, as foretold by the prophets. By
successive overthrows this once "Glory of the Chaldees' Excellency,"
this "Lady of Kingdoms," has become a "desolation" without an
inhabitant, and its temple a vast heap of rubbish.

The ancient Tower of Babel is now a mound of oblong form, the total
circumference of which is 2,286 feet. At the eastern side it is cloven
by a deep furrow and is not more than fifty or sixty feet high, but on
the western side it rises in a conical figure to the elevation of 198
feet, and on its summit is a solid pile of brick thirty-seven feet in
height and twenty-eight in breadth, diminishing in thickness to the
top, which is broken and irregular and rent by large fissures
extending through a third of its height; it is perforated with small
holes.

The fire-burnt bricks of which it is built have inscriptions on them,
and