'Narrative of a journey to the site of Babylon in 1811, now first published: memoir on the ruins; with engravings from the original sketches by the author: remarks on the topography of ancient Babylon, by Major Rennell; in reference to the memoir: second memoir on the ruins; in reference to Major Rennell's remarks: with narrative of a journey to Persepolis: now first printed, with hitherto unpublished cuneiform inscriptions copied at Persepolis: by the late Claudius James Rich, Esq., formerly the Resident of the Hon. East India Company at Bagdad. Edited by his widow.' [‎12] (39/474)

xii
INTRODUCTION.
the river, she dug a reservoir in the marsh, of such
depth as to drain it. The width of this excavation
was such as to make its circuit 420 stadia. The
earth removed from it was taken to raise the banks
of the river; this done, she brought stones, with
which the sides of the lake were lined. Both these
works, the diverting of the river and the reservoir,
were formed with the intention of rendering the
current less rapid by its many windings, which broke
its force, and, at the same time, made the navigation
more circuitous; so that those who descended to
wards Babylon by water might have a long circuit
around the lake.
" The city being divided into two portions by the
river in former times, whoever wished to pass from
the one to the other was obliged to take a boat,
which manifestly was a great inconvenience. This
defect she supplied: when she had dug the lake in
the marsh, she availed herself of the occasion to con
struct another monument also by which her fame
will be perpetuated. She caused stones of great
magnitude to be hewn; and when they were ready,
the lake being empty, she turned the waters of the
Euphrates into it, which, as it filled, left the old
channel dry. Then she both lined the sides of the
river and the descents from the gates with burnt
bricks, in like manner as the city walls; and with
the stones already mentioned she constructed, as near
the middle of the city as possible, a bridge, binding