Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

DURING 19TB. CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 47
altar to Bel." Nebuchadrezzar, finding " the stupendous
monument of Babel " in the manner in which it was left by
the " Assyrian queen," and " constituting it the chief embellishment
of his imperial city," restored the temple " on
its old solid foundations." But as " it can hardly be doubted
that Xerxes, in his destruction of the temple, overturned the
whole of what had been added by the Babylonian monarchs,
it does not seem improbable that what we now see on the
fire-blasted summit of the pile, its rent wall, and scattered
fragments, with their partially vitrified masses, may be a
part of that very stage of the primeval tower which felt
effects of the Divine vengeance." Not many years afterwards
poor Porter's fantastic speculations were reduced to
what they were really worth by the discovery that most of
the vitrified bricks bear the common inscription of Nebuchadrezzar.
Ten days later, when Ker Porter paid a second visit to
the Birs, he had the unique spectacle of seeing " three majestic
lions taking the air upon the heights of the pyramid"
— a veritable illustration of Isaiah's prophetic word :
" Wild
beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be
full of doleful creatures" (13
: 21). But this time his stay
did not last very long. While leisurely surveying the boundless
desert from the sublime eminence on which he stood,
a dark mass came up like a cloud from the horizon. It
was soon discovered that a body of Bedouins was rapidlv
moving towards their place of observation, which they now
hastily left, chased by the Arab pursuers to the very walls
of Hilla.
the
Quite different from what he has to relate of Birs (Nimrud)
is Porter's account of the ruins of Babylon. His eye
seems sharpened to discover the slightest peculiarity ;
with a
judicious discrimination he sets forth all the characteristic
features of the bewildering mass ; his expression is clear, his
language precise, and yet betraying all the enthusiasm with