BABYLON, COUNTRY OF, is generally called Babylonia, from the name of its first city Babel ; or Chaldea, from the name of its inhabitants, the Chal. deans or Chasdim. When Babylon, instead of Ni neveh, was the seat of the supreme power, the words Babylonia and Chaldca were equivalent with Assyria, and comprehended two large tracts of territory on opposite sides of the Euphrates. These were called in scripture, Aram beyond the river, and Aram on this side of the river. To the former, by way of distinction, the Greeks gave the name of Assyria, and to the latter that of Syria. The portion named Assyria, comprehended a space of 700 miles in length, between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, from the Armenian mountains, in which they rise, to the Persian gulph, into which they then flowed in separate channels. This was divided into three parts, 1st, Mesopotamia, an appellation, indeed, which, in its literal meaning, was applicable to the whole ex tent, but which was limited to the northern region, where the rivers diverge in general a hundred, and in • some places two hundred miles asunder, until, in their course towards the sea, they approach within 20 miles of each other, in the vicinity of Bagdad; 2d, Babylonia, extending from this narrow isthmus about S00 miles towards the Persian gulph, and never exceeding fourscore miles in its breadth be tween the rivers ; and, :3d, The eastern district, pro perly named Atur, but frequently called Messene and Adiabene, lying beyond the Tigris, and reach ing to the foot of the Carduchian hills. It is to the second of these that the present article refers, and it is called indiscriminately Babylonia or Chaldea ; but, in general, the latter name is used by sacred writers, and the former by profane. Sometimes, indeed, these appellations are appropriated severally to a particular district ; the former denoting the country more im mediately in the neighbourhood of Babylon, and the Litter that which stretches southward to the Persian gulf.
The climate of this country is temperate and salu brious, but at certain seasons the heat is so intense, that the inhabitants were accustomed to sleep with their bodies partly immersed in water ; and the same practice, according to the testimony of modern tra vellers, is continued to this day. It seldom rains
th re above three or four times in the course of a year ; and the lands were watered by means of ca nals, trenches, and various sorts of engines, provided in great abundance for the purpose. The soil na turally rich, and thus carefully supplied with mois ture in the driest seasons, surpassed even that of Egypt in fertility ; and is said to have generally yielded from 100 to 300 fold. Its vegetable pro ductions grow to so extraordinary a size, that Hero. dotus declines giving a particular description of them, lest he should incur the charge of exaggeration ; but he mentions, as one instance, that the leaves of the wheat and barley were four fingers in breadth. It afforded every where a viscous clay, easily formed by the furnace, or even by the sun, into the hardest bricks ; and the naphtha or bitumen, which was ex tremely abundant, furnished the firmest of all ce ments.
The government of this country was of the most despotic description ; and the sovereignty was con sidered as hereditary. Every thing depended upon the will of the prince; and, hence, the laws were un defined, and the punishments arbitrary in the highest degree, (Dan. i. 10; ii. 5; hi. 19.) Three separate tribunals, however, were appointed to administer jus tice ; the first of which took cognisance of adultery, and similar offences ; the second of thefts ; and the third of all other crimes. The principal officers of state seem to have been the captain of the guard, in whom the executive power resided ; the prince of the eunuchs, who took charge of the education and subsistence of the youth of the palace ; the prime minister or vizer, who was as the head of the police, and acted as chief justice in the empire ; and the master of the magi, whose business it was to inter pret prognostications, and divine the events of futu rity to the king. The immediate household of the prince appears to have been extremely numerous ; and particular districts were appointed to supply the different articles of food which were requisite for the maintenance of the many thousands who daily fed at his tables.