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 186 BABYLON Herodotus adds that there was an inner wall of less thickness than the first, but very lit- tle inferior to it in strength. Of the circuit The Kasr. of this inner wall we are not informed. M. Oppert believes that he has found traces of both walls, and in the plan which he gives it is represented as running parallel to the outer one at a distance of about a mile. Others be- lieve that this was the wall of Nebuchadnez- zar's new city, or rath'er citadel, which had a circuit of five miles. Herodotus also says that " the centre of each division of the town was occupied by the fortress, in one of which stood the palace of the kings, surrounded by a wall of great strength." The ruins of this have been found in one of the three great existing mounds, known as the Kasr. In the 'other division was " the sacred precinct of Jupiter Belus, a square enclosure of two stadia each way, with gates of solid brass." This has been identified as the ruins now called Babil, a mass of unburned brick rising to the height of 140 feet, which may have been about the height of the original wall. The accounts of different writers may be thus summed up : The Euphra- tes traversed the city from north to south. From each of the 25 gates on each side ran Babil, from the West. a broad street to the opposite gate, dividing the city into 625 squares, each about 2J miles in circumference. The river bank on each side was guarded by a wall with gateways at the foot of each street, and steps leading down to the river. The usual means of crossing was by boats ; but a single bridge was thrown over. This consisted of stone piers sunk in the bed of the stream, connected by wooden platforms which were removed at night. It is said, but apparently on no good authority, that there was also a tunnel under the bed of the river. The famous hanging gardens do not seem to have attracted the attention of Herodotus. According to other writers, they were built by Nebuchadnezzar to gratify his wife Amyitis, a native of Media, who longed for something in this flat country to remind her of her mountain home. They consisted of an artificial moun- tain 400 ft. on each side, rising by successive terrraces to a height which overtopped the walls of the city. The terraces themselves were formed of a succession of piers, the tops of which were covered by flat stones 16 ft. long and 4 ft. wide. Upon these were spread beds of matting, then a thick layer of bitumen, covered with sheets of lead. Upon this solid pavement earth was heaped, some of the piles being hollow, so as to afford depth for the roots of the largest trees. "Water was drawn from the river to irrigate these gardens, which thus presented to the eye the appearance of a moun- tain clothed in verdure. Herodotus speaks of writing a special work on the history of As- syria. If this was ever written, it is not now extant. He makes in his general history only a passing reference to the "many sovereigns who had ruled over Babylon, and lent their aid to the building of its walls and the adorn- ment of its temples." He does not even refer to Nebuchadnezzar, whose name was stamped upon the bricks of every important structure. He mentions two queens as having a great share in them. These are Semiramis and Nitocris, of whom the former is a legend- ary character (See ASSYRIA.) Nitocris seems to have been the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, and mother of Nabonadius. (See BABYLONIA.) Herodotus affirms that this queen changed the course of the river above Babylon from a straight to a winding course, so that it came several times in view of the village of Arde- ricca, and a person sailing down the river had to pass three times in as many days in sight of the same spot. Sir Henry Raw- linson says that no such cutting ever could have existed; an assertion corroborated by all attempts which have been made to per- manently change the course of a great river flowing through an alluvial region. She also dug an immense reservoir 420 stadia in circuit, facing the interior walls with stone. Into this she turned the river, leaving its bed dry at Babylon, so tha"t she could lay there the piers for the bridge. All this was done to shut out the Medes from intercourse with Babylonia. If such an excavation had existed, it is hardly possible that traces of it should not now remain. In a region where for 100 miles not a pebble is