hall be led away captive, she shall be
brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
tabering upon their breasts.... Draw thee waters for the siege,
fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make
strong the brick-kiln. There shall the fire devour thee; the sword
shall cut thee off.... Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy
nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the
mountains, and no man gathereth them. There is no healing of thy
bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall
clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed
continually?[544]

The doom of Babylon was also foretold:

Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth.... Come down, and sit in the
dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no
throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans.... Stand now with thine
enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein
thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to
profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the
multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the
star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee
from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be
as stubble; the fire shall burn them.... Thus shall they be unto
thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy
youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save
thee.[545]

Against a gloomy background, dark and ominous as a thundercloud, we
have revealed in the last century of Mesopotamian glory the splendour
of Assyria and the beauty of Babylon. The ancient civilizations
ripened quickly before the end came. Kings still revelled in pomp and
luxury. Cities resounded with "the noise of a whip, and the noise of
the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the
jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and
the glittering spear.... The valiant men are in scarlet."[546] But the
minds of cultured men were more deeply occupied than ever with the
mysteries of life and creation. In the libraries, the temples, and
observatories, philosophers and scientists were shattering the
unsubstantial fabric of immemorial superstition; they attained to
higher conceptions of the duties and responsibilities of mankind; they
conceived of divine love and divine guidance;