"سرد لرحلة إلى موقع مدينة بابل في ١٨١١، طُبعت الآن لأول مرة: مذكرات على الأطلال؛ مع نقوش من الخرائط المدبئية للمؤلف: ملاحظات على طبوغرافية بابل القديمة،بقلم الرائد رينيل؛ في إشارة إلى المذكرات: مذكرات ثانية على الأطلال؛ في إشارة إلى ملاحظات الرائد رينيل: مع سرد لرحلة إلى برسبوليس: طُبعت الآن لأول مرة، مع كتابات مسمارية نسخت في برسبوليس ولم تُنشر من قبل: كتبها الراحل كلوديوس جيمس ريتش، المحترم، المقيم البريطاني السابق لشركة الهند الشرقية في بغداد. حررته أرملته." [‎١‎٤‎٢] (٤٧٤/٢٣٠)

SECOND MEMOIR ON THE
position of the existence of a more recent town,
merely for the purpose of getting rid of the diffi
culty, cannot be allowed in the absence of all histori
cal and traditional evidence, when the appearance
of the ruins themselves is decidedly against it. And,
finally, the descriptions of the ancient historians may
be reconciled with the present remains, without
having recourse to any such conjectures.—When a
person ventures to disagree with such a writer as
Major Rennell, it behoves him to state his reasons
very particularly. I shall therefore proceed to deve
lop the opinions which I have just stated.
Before we enter on any topographical inquiry in
which we have to reconcile observation with history,
—if we consider how different are the talents re
quired for narrative and description, how numerous
are the sources of error, and how devoid the ancients
were of that minute accuracy and patient research
which are required in this critical age,—so far from
taking their accounts of places and positions in the
strictest and most literal sense of which they are
susceptible, we might allow them a very consider
able latitude, without calling their general veracity
in question. Instead of making this allowance,
however, writers have too frequently seemed to
expect a precision from the old historians in their
accounts of very remote places, which could only
be reasonably looked for in the treatises of professed
topographers; and to have tried the very scanty
accounts w r e have of many ancient places by a