PREFACE. NOTWITHSTANDING much has already been. written regarding the ruins of the once mighty Babylon, it must be acknowledged that all our information on this interesting subject, is far from sufficient to make the curious investigator thoroughly acquainted with even the mere remains of this formerly renowned capital. Though I flatter myself that my narrative will add considerably to the knowledge which the public already possess, and though many abler investigators than myself may hereafter prosecute their researches on the same ground, still the tale of Babylon, even in her desolation, will probably long remain untold, and the features that distinguished her days of prosperity never be perfectly traced. Among those who have recently written of Chaldæa, Rich has confined himself to Babel; and to the information which he has furnished, Keppel has added some slight notices of remarkable vestiges on either bank of the Tigris; both, at the same time, conceding what was due to the critical observations and acute inferences of Major Rennell. I have endeavoured to extend the researches of the two former, and to verify their conclusions; and I trust that my labours will throw additional light upon the descriptions of the ancients, as well as confirm the hypothesis adopted by Buckingham, whose observations on the ruins appear to me to be more critical, correct, and comprehensive, and more fully to accord with the earliest accounts, than those of any other modern traveller. Of the ancients, Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus are the most valuable guides; then |