'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in reference to Major Rennell's remarks: with narrative of a journey to Persepolis: now first printed, with hitherto unpublished cuneiform inscriptions copied at Persepolis: by the late Claudius James Rich, Esq., formerly the Resident of the Hon.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.' [‎115] (203/474)

ANCIENT BABYLON. LIS
larly to that of Mr. Rich himself, including his
excellent drawings of it, the ruin presents very
much the appearance of being the remains of such a
structure, as the descriptions of the Tower of Belus
would lead us to expect. Not that, had we only
viewed the ruin, and had been ignorant of the
reports concerning its ancient form, one could have
guessed it to have been such as it was described;
but that, knowing the original form, one may recon
cile to his mind that it may well be the remains of
such a structure.* That the matter of the upper
stories is wanting, may with ease be accounted for.
The principal mass was probably formed of mn-
dried bricks, with a coating of those in the
furnace. The latter have been removed for use; the
former dissolved by rain, or carried away by the winds,
in a pulverised state (being nothing more than earth);
for this tower was in ruins so long ago as the date
of Alexander's visit, when it was said, that it would
require the labour of ten thousand men, during two
months, to remove the rubbish. The deep channels,
made by the running off of the rain-water, with
which it is every where deeply furrowed, prove how
much it has been acted on by the rain ; and most of
all, on the western side, which is the most exposed
to the prevalent rainy winds. And this surely tends
* See the drawings of its four fronts, at the end of the Memoir of
Mr. Vixtih.—Rennell. This reference is to the first edition of the
Memoir, published by Messrs. Longman & Co., 1818. See note,
page 89, of the first Memoir in this volume.— E d.
i 2