!['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in reference to Major Rennell's remarks: with narrative of a journey to Persepolis: now first printed, with hitherto unpublished cuneiform inscriptions copied at Persepolis: by the late Claudius James Rich, Esq., formerly the Resident of the Hon.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.' [‎82] (166/474)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100023516761.0x000001/IOL.1947.a.2083._0167.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'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in reference to Major Rennell's remarks: with narrative of a journey to Persepolis: now first printed, with hitherto unpublished cuneiform inscriptions copied at Persepolis: by the late Claudius James Rich, Esq., formerly the Resident of the Hon.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.' [‎82] (166/474)")
'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in reference to Major Rennell's remarks: with narrative of a journey to Persepolis: now first printed, with hitherto unpublished cuneiform inscriptions copied at Persepolis: by the late Claudius James Rich, Esq., formerly the Resident of the Hon.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.' [82] (166/474)
The record is made up of 1 volume (324 pages). It was created in 1839. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
82
MEMOIR ON THE RUINS
Pliny, in particular, has done nothing more than
copy Herodotus. Strabo's general accuracy and
personal experience indeed, render his description
of great interest, as far as it goes; but he could
only have seen Babylon at a period, when its public
buildings had already become heaps of rubbish, and
consequently must have depended upon more ancient
authorities for particular accounts of most of them.*
The greatest circumference the ancients have
ascribed to the city walls, is four hundred and eight
stadia; the most moderate, three hundred and sixty.
Strabo, who is excellent authority in this particular,
as he must have seen the walls in a sufficiently per
fect state to form his judgment, allows three hun
dred and eighty-five; but the smallest computation
supposes an area for the city, of which we can now
scarcely form an idea. Whatever may have been
the size of Babylon, I imagine that its population
bore no proportion to it; and that it would convey
to a modern the idea of an enclosed district, rather
than that of a regular city; the streets, which are
said to have led from gate to gate across the area,
being no more than roads through cultivated land,
over which buildings were distributed in groups or
patches. Quintus Curtius says positively that there
was pasture and arable land in the enclosure, suffi
cient to support the whole of the population during
a long siege; and Xenophon reports, that when Cyrus
took Babylon (which event happened at night), the
* See Appendix, No. 11.
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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 , by Claudius James Rich.
Publication details: Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Duke-street, Stamford Street, London. Published by Duncan and Malcolm, Paternoster Row, MDCCCXXXIX [1839].
Physical description: Includes plates, illustrations, plan; octavo.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (324 pages)
- Arrangement
The volume contains a table of contents with chapter headings with page references (pp xi-xv). Each chapter heading is followed by a detailed breakdown of the contents of that chapter. There is a list of illustrations (p xvi) with facing page references.
- Physical characteristics
Dimensions: 220mm x 135mm.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'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.' [82] (166/474), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOL.1947.a.2083., in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024137247.0x0000a7> [accessed 22 March 2025]
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- Reference
- IOL.1947.a.2083.
- Title
- '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.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:ii-v, 1:16, 1:48, 1:39, 39a, 40, 40a:40b, 41:64, 64a:64b, 65:66, 66a:66b, 67:68, 68a:68b, 69:92, 92a:92b, 93:104, 104a:104b, 105:192, 192a:192j, 193:248, 248a:248l, 249:250, 250a:250q, 251a:251g, 251:254, 254a:254i, 255:324, iii-r:v-v, back-i
- Author
- Rich, Claudius James
- Usage terms
- Public Domain