Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/445

399 399

Babenhausen Babylon

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

inV

&6l paNn -]1 ^>KT ppNS ^S '1TK ("As many peas as have been thrown upon the child, so many pocks " Mif'alot Elohim," shall it have, not more " p. 94,

speedily rose to prominence, and its history is practically the history of Babylonia. The ruins which have been identified with an-

Lemberg,

cient



1872).

Among

other treatises containing similar prescriptions is: "Toledot Adam," a collection of remedies by several cabalists, edited by Joel Heilprin (Ba'al Shem), Wilmersdorf, 1784. See Folk Medicine. Bibliography: S. Rubin, Ma'ase Ta'atu'im, § v., 120-U2, Vienna, 1887. h. h.



The

(<?22,

LXX.

lie

about 50 miles south of the

city-

and between 32° and 33° north latitude, a,nd extend, over five miles from north to south. The ruins consist of several distinct portions: (a) The most northerly of the ruins consists of a vast mound covering 120,000 square feet and reaching a height of 64 feet.

A. Ha.

BABYLON Data

Babylon

Bagdad and on the east bank of the Euphrates. They are located between 44° and 45° east longitude,

of

Ba/3wUn>).— Biblical

It

now bears the name of " Babil " or " El-Ma glubeh "

and near

chief city of Babylonia, long the capi-

it



are the remnants of a once formidable-

View op the Ruins of Babylon. (From Perrot and

Chipiez, "

kingdom and empire that controlled the whole or a large part of the valley of the Tigris and tal of the

Euphrates. This city has several names or appellatives in the native inscriptions, the chief being " Ka-dingira " and " Babu-ili " (" gate of God " or " gate of gods "), " Tintir " (" seat of life "), and " E " or " E-ki " (" House "). The Hebrew tradition groups it with "Erech, Accad, and Calneh " (Gen. x. 10), and so In Hebrew ascribes to it great antiquity though Tradition, it should be added that the beginnings of the city can not be historically determined. No native records give any clue to its origin. It appears to be mentioned in a historical inscription by Agu-kak-rime (about 1650 B.C.), who restored the shrines of Marduk and Sarpanit in the temple of E-sagila. But the city had long before been the center of a vigorous political life. In the beginning it was but one among many cities; but it

Art

in Chaldrea

wall.

and Assyria.")

Remains of hydraulic works found beneath

make probable

its identification with the famous, terraced or hanging gardens. Babil is now beingsystematically explored by an expedition sent out from Germany, (b) Near by is the mound called it

"Mujellibeh," identified by Rassam with a palaceby Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar, (c) ElKasr, literally, " the castle " so called, according tothe tradition of the neighboring Arabs, from having been the castle of Nebuchadnezzar. Bricks found beneath this mound bear the stamp of Nebuchadnezzar; and, as far as it has been examined, it consists It of a maze of walls full of debris. The Ruins, has now been ascertained through the excavations conducted by the German explorers that Kasr covers the remains of the famous palace of the great king, (d) Immediately south of El-Kasr, and practically continuous with it, are the ruins 'Amran ibn Ali, named after a Moslem. built