privileges.
It was at once a sacerdotal and a learned body. It had a literature,
written in peculiar language, which its members were bound to study.
This language and this literature were probably a legacy from the old
times of the first (Turano-Cushite) kingdom, since even in Assyria it
is found that the literature was in the main Turanian, down to the very
close of the empire. Astronomy, astrology, and mythology were no doubt
the chief subjects which the priests studied; but history, chronology,
grammar, law, and natural science most likely occupied some part of
their attention. Conducting everywhere the worship of the gods, they
were of course scattered far and wide through the country; but they had
certain special seats of learning, corresponding perhaps in some sort to
our universities, the most famous of which were Erech or Orchoe (Warka),
and Borsippa, the town represented by the modern Birs-i-Nimrud. They
were diligent students, not wanting in ingenuity, and not content merely
to hand down the wisdom of their ancestors. Schools arose among them;
and a boldness of speculation developed itself akin to that which we
find among the Greeks. Astronomy, in particular, was cultivated with a
good deal of success; and stores were accumulated of which the Greeks in
later times understood and acknowledged the value.

In social position the priest class stood high. They had access to the
monarch: they were feared and respected by the people; the offerings of
the faithful made them wealthy; their position as interpreters of the
divine will secured them influence. Being regarded as capable of civil
employment, they naturally enough obtained frequently important offices,
which added to their wealth and consideration.

The mass of the people in Babylonia were employed in the two pursuits
of commerce and agriculture. The commerce was both foreign and domestic.
Great numbers of the Babylonians were engaged in the manufacture of
those textile fabrics, particularly carpets and muslins, which Babylonia
produced not only for her own use, but also for the consumption of
foreign countries. Many more must have been employed as lapidaries in
the execution of those delicate engravings on hard stone, wherewith the
seal, which every Babylonian carried, was as a matter of course adorned.
The ordinary trades and handicrafts practised in the East no doubt
flourished in the country. A brisk import and export trade was
constantly kept up, and