Husbands, and wives, and warriors, old and His martial robes she in her arms comprest, young, Struck with amaze around the body hung, Now o'er the corpse a saffron robe was spread, And groaning cried: "Sole comfort of my life! defiled, [child! "Thou darling boy, my lost, my murder'd "Short was the day that gave my heart delight, “Soon soon succeeds a long and dismal night, "Ou whom shall now devolve my tender care? « Why "And point where ROOSTUM's bright pavilion lay? "Hadst thou the bracelet to his view restored, Thy precious blood had never stain'd his sword." The strong emotion choak'd her panting brought, And like an infant strain'd them to her breast; Certainly, the master hand of a Poet by nature, improved by study and practice, acquainted too, with the sympathies of humanity, and drawing from the original conception of a powerful mind, may be discerned in this description as in the Historic Tragedies of our own immortal Bard; though limited by the necessity of not too grossly vio lating the truth of History. Why truth should be less favourable to poetry than fiction, may occupy the investigation of the moral philosopher; but, never is, or can be, denied by the poet. This story, it will be acknowledged, owing to its detached appearance, seems to be somewhat deficient in variety. The blemish does not belong to the original, in which it forms a part of sixty thousand Historical Stanzas: as we cannot expect to see the whole of these translated, we return our thanks to Mr. Atkinson, for what he has done, at the expense of much labour and anxiety. Sir W. Jones had marked the subject of Soohrab, for a tragedy, and it seems to comprize a subject susceptible of powerful dramatic effects. The Notes point out instances of sentiments and manners, which, if not entirely new to us, are more accurately defined than most that occur in general reading, they also afford many instances of comparison with other poets. The indulgence of the hero in festivity, before he joins the army, the pride and maguificence of his tents, the half-witted superciliousness of the Sovereign, the necessity which binds him to solicit aid from his vassal, the conscious superiority of Roostu, who does not move without repeated solicitations, are well depicted, The piety, or rather devotion, of Roostum, with the prevailing doctrine of submission to the will of heaven, equally demand distinction. To this Soohrab yields, as Achilles also yielded; and Firdonsee acknowledges this irresistible With burning lips she kiss'd them o'er and o'er power no less than Homer. breath, Her veins seem'd wither'd by the cold of death; mourn'd, With doleful cries, till fluttering life return'd; train, The favorite steed; his mail aloft she bore, Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon. By Claudius James Rich, Esq. Resident for the Hon. the East-India Company, at the Court of the Pasha of Bagdad. With three Plates. 8vo. pp. 67. Price 8s. Longman and Co. London. 1815. to be exclaimed, "Babylon the Great is fullen! is fallen!" The tract before us presents occasion of remarks in reference to its geography; and with these Mr. R. connects various particulars illustrative of Hebrew prophecy, which can no where be so well understood, as on the spot. For this he has our thanks: it is by means of such authentic and unimpeachable evidence that truth must be established. Historians and commentators may labour till Doomsday, without raising so much conviction as a single "this I saw," of such an evidence as Mr. Rich. Major Rennell concludes his interesting Dissertation on the site and extent of Babylon, [Geog. Herod.] by observ ing, that 66 The delineation and description of the site and remains of that city, would prove one of the most curious pieces of antiquity that has been exhibited in these times." The de- ders are acquainted with the situation of From our article referred to, our reascription desired by that learned geo- these ruins,-on the river Euphrates, grapher, has been partly executed, by north of the town of Hellah, in lat. N. Mr.Kinneir, in his Memoir on the Per-320 20. Hellah is the seat of a Turksian Empire;" that gentleman visited these ruins in 1808, and, with his friend Capt. Frederick, spent six days in minutely examining every thing worthy of attention, for many miles around. It was much to be regretted, as we hinted, when reporting on Mr. K's volume, that he had not favoured us with some sketch or plan of the situation of these ruins: a few lines and bearings would have been highly gratifying. What that tleman omitted, Mr. Rich supplies; his "Memoir" is illustrated by plates, which greatly increase its value. gen It is due to Mr. Kinneir, however, to acknowledge that this Memoir justifies his account, generally; and that he had anticipated several principal observations of the writer before us. The subject combines much stronger interest than is obvious at first sight. Few cities are more prominent in Biblical history, and Biblical prophecy; few are more strongly connected with events in the General History of the world. If an early date interest us, Babylon dates from the earliest period of human community if a scene of great events commands attention, Babylon has been the scene of great events. Its present ruins attest its past magnitude, if not its past dignity. It has formed the object of comparison, also, to future ages, and there remains a sense in which it is yet Vide Literary Panorama, Vol. XIII. p. 160. ish Governor, subject to the Pacha of Bagdad. The air is salubrious, the soit fertile, its products abundant;-(but, "the inhabitants bear a very bad chatility is the Euphrates, the banks of racter.") The grand cause of this ferwhich river are lower, and the stream more equal, than those of the Tigris.→ Says Mr. R. speaking of its breadth, My measurement by a graduated line at the bridge at Hellah, brings it to 75 varies in its passage through the ruins. Its fathoms, or 450 feet; its breadth however depth I found to be 24 fathoms, and the current runs at the medium rate of about two knots, when lowest being probably half a knot less, and when full, a knot more. The Tigris is infinitely more rapid, having a current of near seven knots when at its height. The Euphrates rises at an earlier period than the Tigris; in the middle of the winter it increases a little, but falls again soon after; in March it again rises, and in the latter end of April is at its full, continuing so till the latter end of June. When at its height it overflows the surrounding country, fills the slightest exertion of labour, and facilitates canals dug for its reception, without the ruins of Babylon are then inundated so as agriculture in a surprising degree. The to render many parts of them inaccessible, by converting the valleys among them into morasses. We know that several canals diverted the water from the Euphrates, above Babylon, antiently, and these, affording a command of water, by which it was led to every garden and plot of ground in the district enclosed, wonderfully augmented the powers of vegetation. Hence this city was said to " dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures," i. e. on gently flowing streams, the cause of fertility. Jer. li. 13. Herodotus describes Babylon as seated in a large plain, and being of a perfect square: each side, by every approach, is in length, one hundred and twenty furlongs; the space, therefore, occupied by the whole, is four hundred and eighty furlongs." This testimony is so precise and formal, that we know not how to resist it; although it is notorious, that cities situated by the side of a river, extend much further along its banks, than perpendicular to them. Mr. R. finds traces of the antient city from Mohawil to Hellah, a distance of full twelve miles, following the course of the stream. He finds also at the distance of nearly six miles west of the stream, an edifice that certainly is of Babylonian origin, though not, in our judgment, the famous Tower of Belus, a distinction attributed to it by this writer. Admit an equal extent on the east, as on the west, and the measures of Herodotus are fully justified. The famous Tower we (with all deference) find in the Kasr, or Palace, * a grand heap of ruins, the shape of In all these excavations walls of burnt brick laid in lime mortar of a very good quality are seeu; and in addition to the substances generally strewed on the surfaces of all these mounds we here find fragments of alabaster vessels, fire earthen ware, marble, and great quantities of varnished tiles, the glazing and colouring of which are surprisingly fresh. In a hellow near the southern part I found a sepulchral urn of earthen-ware, which had been broken in digging, and near it lay some human bones, which pulverized with the touch. To be more particular in my description of this mound, not more than two hundred yards from its northern extremity is a ravine, hollowed out by those who dig for bricks, in length near a hundred yards, and thirty feet wide by forty or fifty deep. On one side of it a few yards of wall remain standing, the face of which is very clean and perfect, and it appears to have been the front of some building. The op With submission to the learned writer, it may rather be thought that tradition is correct, in fixing on this northern mound for the Palace; and that the southern mound was the famous Temple of Belus. Annexed to the Palace were the hanging gardens; on this mound still exists a tree, possibly a deposite side is so confused a mass of rubbish, scendant of some of those exotic trees, which formed the plantations in those gardens: this is less likely to mark the Temple, than the Palace. The vicinity of the southern mound to the gates of Chaldea, and of Cisia or Susa, is favourable also to the notion of its being the Temple; since the people crowded into the Temple when the city was taken by those gates; certainly, because it was the nearest building. There is reason also to conclude, that the Temple stood on an island,--(mystically' the Argha, or boat, or Hindoo yoni, to which the Temple was the lingam)—as most of the very sacred Egyptian temples did, as in the Isle of Philæ, &c. in the Nile also, many cities, as Memphis (which was a copy of Babylon) Zoan, &c. and, most probably, all those cities known to us under the title of Kibotos, or Ark; as Apamea Kibotos, and others. The difference of dimensions cannot be estimated, as an argument, either way; as we know not what buildings surrounded the Temple, or what was the number of priests, schools, colleges, &c. for which accom modation was demanded. Edit. that it should seem the ravine had been | sists of several walls and piers (which face worked through a solid building. Under the foundations of the southern end an opening is made, which discovers a subterranean passage floored and walled with large bricks laid in bitumen, and covered over with pieces of sand stone, a yard thick and several yards long, on which the whole [weight rests] being so great as to have given a considerable degree of ob- | liquity to the side walls of the passage. It is half full of brackish water (probably rain water impregnated with nitre, in filter ing through the ruins; which are all very productive of it,) and the workmen say that some way on it is high enough for a horseman to pass upright: as much as I saw of it, it was near seven feet in height, and its course to the south. This is described by Beauchamp, (vide Rennel, p. 369,) who most unaccountably imagines it must have been part of the city wall. The superstructure over the passage is cemented with bitumen, other parts of the ravine with mortar, and the bricks have all writing on them. The northern end of the ravine appears to have been crossed by an extremely thick wall of yellowish brick cemented with a brilliant white mortar, which has been broken through in hollowing it out; and a little to the north of it I discovered what Beauchamp saw imperfectly, and understood from the natives to be an idol (Rennel, Ibid). I was told the same, and that it was discovered by an old Arab in digging, but that not knowing what to do with it, he covered it up again. On sending for the old man, I set a number of men to work, who after a day's hard labour laid open enough of the statue to show that it was a lion of colossal dimensions, standing on a pedestal, of a coarse kind of grey granite and of rude workmanship; in the mouth was a circular aperture into which a man might introduce his fist. A little to the west of the ravine is the next remarkable object, called by the natives the Kasr, or Palace, by which appellation I shall designate the whole mass. It is a very remarkable ruin, which being uncovered and in part detached from the rubbish, is visible from a considerable distance, but so surprisingly fresh in its appearance, that it was only after a minute inspection that I was satisfied of its being in reality a Babylonian remain. It cou It is probable that many fragments of antiquity, especially of the larger kind, are lost in this manner. The inhabitants call all stones with inscriptions or figures on them Idols. the cardinal points) eight feet in thickness, All the people of the country assert that it is extremely dangerous to approach this mound after night-fall, on account of the multitude of evil spirits by which it is haunted. This is the ruin mentioned by Mr. | give it the name of Nebuchadnezzar's Kinneir, (Lit. Pan. loc. cit. p. 163, 164.) prison; and such it very probably was, -What that gentleman calls the Py-including the idea of its being also one ramid of Haroot and Maroot, Mr. R. calls the Majelibè: and having received information of marbles, and other things a coffin of mulberry wood, among them---found in this ruin, he set twelve men to work, to open parts of it. of his palaces: for we are not to suppose that that monarch was turned loose into a wilderness, during his disorder, when he was "driven from men": he was certainly secluded (under due attendance) in a garden, or enclosure, belonging to a royal residence. This mound is covered, like all the others, with heaps of rubbish; and is itself a ruin. Round the Birs are traces of ruins to a considerable extent. Total circumference, or sum of Ditto of the Mujelibé Eng. Ft. 2,286 2,111 2,000 They dug into a shaft or hollow pier, sixty feet square, lined with fine brick laid in bitumen, and filled up with earth; in this they found a brass spike, some earthen vessels, (one of which was very thin, and had the remain of fine white varnish on We shall set before our readers the the outside,) and a beam of date-tree wood. comparative statement of the dimensions On the third day's work they made their of these masses, with those of the oriway into the opening, and discovered aginal Tower of Belus, stated by Mr. R. narrow passage nearly ten feet high, half filled with rubbish, flat on the top, and exhibiting both burnt and unburnt bricks; the former with inscriptions on them, and the latter, as usual, laid with a layer of reeds between every row, except in one or two courses near the bottom, where they were cemented with bitumen; a curious and But, Mr. R. has not recollected that unaccountable circumstance. This passage appeared as if it originally had a lining of Herodotus describes the Temple of Befine burnt brick cemented with bitumen, lus as a square building, each side of to conceal the unburnt brick, of which the which is of the length of Two furlongs; body of the building was principally com-i.e. at a rough calculation, one thousand posed. Fronting it is another passage (or feet, at least; perhaps, rather twelve rather a continuation of the same to the hundred. Neither of the subjects he eastward, in which direction it probably here mentions, therefore, equals half extends at considerable distance, perhaps its magnitude. And further; there can even all along the northern front of the Mu-be no doubt, but what the ruins of a jelibè,) choked up with earth, in digging out which I discovered near the top a large and elevated brick building, would wooden coffin containing a skeleton in extend themselves in falling, much behigh preservation. Under the head of the yond the space occupied by the build coffin was a round pebble; attached to ing, while perfect; and therefore it the coffin on the outside a brass bird, and may well be questioned, whether the diinside an ornament of the same material, mensions of seven hundred yards length which had apparently been suspended to and breadth, assigned by Mr. R. to the some part of the skeleton. These, could Kasr, which he also observes "is nearly any doubt remain, place the antiquity of the skeleton beyond all dispute. This a square," though a heap of rains, be being extracted, a little further in the rub- any thing too much for an edifice of bish, the skeleton of a child was found; about 400 yards, length and breadth, in and it is probable that the whole of the its original state. For, we are not to passage, whatever its extent may be, was conceive of the Temple of Belus, as of occupied in a similar manner. No skulls a single structure; but, as surrounded were found, either here or in the sepulchral with courts, cloisters, or dwellings of urns at the bank of the river. the priests, &c. and while the ruins of these would cover (externally) an additional extent of ground, the higher stories of the tower itself would, when become heaps, fill up the courts around it, and much more. In short, we request our readers to turn back to our account of That mass of ruins which Mr. Kinneir calls Nimrood, (loc. cit.) Mr. Rich says, is called by the Arabs Birs Nemroud; and he does his utmost to support a conjecture that this is the famous Tower of Belus. The Jews, however, |