'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in reference to Major Rennell's remarks: with narrative of a journey to Persepolis: now first printed, with hitherto unpublished cuneiform inscriptions copied at Persepolis: by the late Claudius James Rich, Esq., formerly the Resident of the Hon.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.' [‎80] (164/474)

80 MEMOIR ON THE RUINS
A1 Hheimar which is a curious ruin, as
bearing, on a smaller scale, some resemblance to the
Birs Nemroud. The base is a heap of rubbish, on
the top of which is a mass of red brick-work,
between each layer of which is a curious white sub
stance, which pulverises on the least touch. I have
not yet visited A1 Hheimar, but those who have
conjecture, from the grain of the white substance or
powder, seemingly lying in filaments, that it must
have originally been layers of reeds. I have seen a
specimen adhering to a piece of brick, but not suffi
ciently well preserved to enable me to form any
decisive judgment; but I cannot imagine how
reeds, under any circumstances, could be brought
to assume such an appearance ; and besides, they
are never found in buildings composed, as this is, of
burnt brick.*
To these ruins I add one, which, though not in
the same direction, bears such strong characteristics
of a Babylonian origin, that it would be improper
to omit a description of it in this place : I mean
Akerkouf or, as it is more generally called,
Nimrod s Tower, for the inhabitants of these parts
are as fond of attributing every vestige of antiquity
to Nimrod, as those of Egypt are to Pharaoh. It is
situated ten miles to the N. W. of Bagdad, and is a
thick mass of unburnt brick-work of an irregular
shape, rising out of a base of rubbish; there is a
layer of reeds between every fifth or sixth (for the
* See Appendix, No. 9.