There were four sites of the royal residences discovered on the left side of the Tigris. in what was considered Assyria proper, and which were, I believe, in the time of the preaching of the Prophet Jonah within the metropolis of Nineveh. These are Koyunjik, Nebbi-younis, Nimroud and Khorsabad, as London takes in now the city, Westminster and Kensington. There are other ruins within what I consider to be the radius of that "great city," such as Yarimia, Balawat, Karamlais, Bahsheeks and Shareef-Khan. Tak ing the oblong dimensions of these different ruins, together with Koyunjik and Nebbi-younis on the western limit, Nimroud on its southern border, and Khorsabad on its northern boundary, we find the size of the old city to be about sixty miles in circumference, or three days' journey, as it is mentioned in the book of Jonah, because twenty miles is reckoned in that country, according to pedestrian traveling, about a day's journey.
That part of Nineveh is called Nebbi-younis, 1.0tere the Prophet Jonah is alleged to have been buried, and which is still called officially "Nin weh," or Nineveh. The remains of the palace of Esarhaddon was discovered by a native of the village while digging a foundation for a house in 1852.
(6) Babylon and Birs Nimroud. As I had a great desire to conduct archaeological research in Babylonia, I went down to Bagdad in 1879 for that purpose, after leaving a competent agent to carry on the necessary work at Koyunjik in search of inscriptions. I commenced excavating at once in Babylon and Birs Nimroud. the ancient Borsippa and the supposed site of the tower of Babel, where the famous temple of Belus stood. In both ruins I found important Babylonian rec ords, and in the latter spot I discovered the pal ace of Nebuchadnezzar, where Nabonadius took refuge after the defeat of his army by Cyrus.
I found it very difficult to explore systemat ically in Babylon proper, because from time im memorial the spade of the digger has been at work there either in search of bricks for building pur poses, or for treasure. The area on which the palaces of the kings of Babylon were erected is now divided into four different quarters by the natives, namely. Jimjima, Quarich. Omran and Imjaileeba, in all of which I carried on extensive explorations, but I was only able to find a small remnant of the great palace in the limit of the latter site. In all the four localities my workmen found inscribed terra cotta and clay tablets, but the most valuable of these were discovered in Jim jima, amongst which we found the contract clay document with some silver ornaments.
The present visible ruins of Babylon consist of a mound called by the Arabs "Babel." In the mound of "Babel" I followed the excava tions of the Arabs, who were digging for brick and stone, and uncovered four carefully built wells of granite placed parallel and within a few feet of each other in the northern center of the mound. The stones of which they were built were scientifically joined together, and it is most vexing to think that the Arabs are allowed to demolish them for the purpose of burning lime.
Each well was built of circular blocks of granite, which must have been brought thither from a great distance higher up the Euphrates, as there is no stone quarry to be seen in Babylonia. Each stone, which measured about three feet in depth, had been bored and made to fit the one below it so perfectly and without cement that the whole structure looked as if the well had been hewn in one solid rock. These wells were connected with its greatness and magnificence by different Greek writers and others were not exaggerated, espe cially as regards the dimensions of its walls, which are said to have been sixty miles square. Herodo tus mentions that the wall of the city was three hundred and fifty feet in height, eighty-seven in thickness, and six chariots could move abreast upon it. Not a trace can now be seen of it. The prophetic denunciation of Jeremiah has been won derfully fulfilled, for he said that "the Babylon shall be utterly broken and her high gates shall be burned with fire." (8) Tower of Babel. The ruins of the tower termed by historians and travelers Borsippa, tem ple of Belus, P,irs Nimroud, and tower of Babel, stand, up to the present day, as a memorable an aqueduct supplied with water from the Eu phrates, and when I had two of them cleared out in the year 1879 the water was seen to oci/e out through the debris in the watercourse during the rising of the river.
(7) Hanging Gardens. These wells prove that "Babel" was the site of the famous hanging gar dens of Babylon, mentioned by Diodortis Siculus, as the mound stands higher than any other site there. Unfortunately I could not find any of the terraces mentioned by historians, because the work of destruction has been going on for centuries in those parts, and the only reliable an cient remains that can be identified now are the existing wells, which must have been at least one hundred and forty feet deep The destruction of BabyIiin was so complete that one wonders whether the accounts given of monument of past splendor. It towers high above any other existing Babylonian ruin. As the coun try around it is perfectly flat, the top of the re maining brick masonry can It. seen far and wide for a distance of about twi.nte foie miles. I was very much struck with what seemed to me super natural destruction from the masses of vitrified brick scattered around the toner ftereuf tra• elers attributed the cause of vitrification to either lightning or extreme- power of artificial heat. but I found on examining the different bl cks that neither the work of man nor the effect of lightning could have caused such vitrification The huge boulders are not larec lumps iif vitrified bricks, like those found in brick kilns, lilt actual masonry which had been torn down from the If to the heitiom I consulted two scientific gentlemen in nil. nho ',mkt-stand the effect of lightning upon such massive structures, and I was told that electric fluid could not have caused such whole sale vitrification.