TAIC - i - KESRA, or Arch of Chosroes; the modern Tak-i-Kesrn marks the site of the ancient Ctesiplion. The Arabic Tak signifies a vault or arch, and that palace of the Persian Khusru (Chosroes and his descendants) near Baghdad is still called Tak-i-Kesra, the principal chamber being arched or vaulted. To its right are frag ments of walls and broken masses of brickwork ; to the left, and therefore to the south of the arch, are the remains of vast structures, which are encumbered with heaps of earth. The natives assert that the ruins are of the age of Nimrud, of whom in Scripture it is said, And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar.' The Baby lonian empire was subverted by Cyrus, who took the capital by turning the course of the Euphrates, and marching his troops along the bed of the river into the centre of the city. After the building of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, Babylon became gradually deserted ; and we learn from SL Jerotne that the space within the walls was converted by the Parthian kings into a royal hunting park. The town of flinch is said by the people of the country to be built on the site of Babel ; and some gigantic ruins still to be seen in it,s vicinity are believed to be the remains of that ancient metropolis. Since the days of Alexander, we find four capitals at least built out of her remains,—Seleucia by the Greeks, Ctesiplion by the Parthians, Al Modain by the Persians, and Kuta by the khalifs,—with towns, villages, and caravansaries without number. Ctesiphon's ruins are to be seen on the eastern shore of the Tigris, 18 miles south of Baghdad, and immediately opposite to it the ramparts and fosse of the Grecian city of Seleucia, which after wards, becoming identified with the former under the name of Coate, they assumed, when thus united, the epithet of Al Modain, or the cities. Ctesiphina was most admirably situated on a sort of peninsula formed by a sudden flexure of the Tig,ris, which inust have embraced the greatest part of the town. Its foundation, however, can
hardly be ascribed to any particular person, as it would seem to have iucreased gradually during a succession of many years from a camp to a city. Pacoras, supposed to be Orodes, king of the Parthians, and contemporary with Anthony, is thought to be the first who surrounded it with walls, and made it the capital of the Parthian empire. It was sacked, together with Seleucia, by the generals of Marcus Aurelius, A.D. 165, and afterwards by the emperor Seven's. It became the favourite winter residence of the powerful successors of Artaxerxes, from whom it was taken by Said, the general of the khalif Otuar, A.D. 637. Tho sack of Ctesiphon was followed by its gradual decay, and little now remains but that part of the palace of Chosroes called Tak-i-Kesra, the Arch of Chosroes, a melancholy emblem of the glory of its master. It is seen from afar ou the plain, and presents a front of 300 feet in length by 160 in depth, having in its centre a vaulted hall, 106 feet in height to the top of the arch, the span of which is 85 feet. The Ali Capi at Isfahan and the gates of the palace of Dehli sink into insig nificance beside the Tak-i-Kesra. The city walls, which appear to have been of very great. thick ness, may also be traced to a considerable distance on both banks of the river. The names of Se leucia and Ctesiphon are very frequently con founded by the early Christians writers ; but the cities stood on opposite sides of the river Tigris, and were built at different periods.—Mignan's Tr. pp. 58-73 ; Layard, Nineveh, i. p. 242 ; Kinnezr's llYenzoir, pp. 253, 273 ; Porter's Tr. ; .1. B. Fraser's Tr. p. 3.