Page:Herodotus and the Empires of the East.djvu/47

Rh sense, was used also of the other gods—e. g., of Šamaš, the sun god; and of Sin, the moon god. Furthermore, Merodach, as the chief tutelary deity of Babylon, was also called Lord—i.e, Bel— of Ezida and other temples. Finally, it is well known what confusion there is in Greek representations of Oriental proper names.

Another objection has been raised viz., that, according to Herodotus, the temple of Zeus Belos was situated in the middle of one part of the town, and the citadel in the middle of another part; but Ezida was in Borsippa. This objection can be met as follows: The citadel of Nebuchadrezar was situated, it is true, not exactly in the middle of the eastern half of the town, but to the north of the same; we are not, however, required to hold Herodotus to exact mathematical statements. After the time of Darius I. the walls of Babylon, and probably those of Borsippa, were demolished. In that case Herodotus could easily have supposed that Babylon and Borsippa formed one town. The western half of Babylon might have had close connection with Borsippa, which lay immediately to the south, so that both localities to a stranger might appear as the western part of the town. If Herodotus had reckoned Borsippa as a part of Babylon, then, in his judgment, the Nebo temple would have been in the western part of the town, since the western half of Babylon proper lay to the north of Ezida; and Borsippa, or at least a great portion of it, lay to the south. This hypothesis furnishes an explanation for the high estimate that Herodotus gives of the circuit of Babylon. Oppert is wrong when he states that Nimitti-Bêl once inclosed Babylon and Borsippa; yet both towns were so near each other that Borsippa served