The religious system of the Babylonians bore a near resemblance to that of the Egyptians ; and has been very ingeniously ascribed to the following source. The sudden inundations of the Euphrates and Tigris, like those of the Nile, occasioning, al ternately, the most rapid beneficial, or destructive changes in the face of nature, attracted the attention, and alarmed the anxiety, of the unenlightened people, who witnessed and experienced their momentous ef fects. These important changes were observed to have an evident connection with the vicissitudes of the seasons, and the revolutions of the heavenly bo dies ; and hence, these luminaries, whose influence was understood to be so powerful and extem,ive, were considered, at first, as the ministers or vice gerents of the Supreme Being, were gradually wor shipped as mediators or intercessors for man, and were at length exalted to the rank of separate, but subordinate divinities. The sacerdotal families, de voted to the service of these deities, and thus led by their office to be continually observing the motions of the celestial bodies, gradually acquired such a de gree of astronomical skill, as bad the appearance of supernatural communications ; and gave them a coin ' plete ascendency over the minds of the multitude. This power they employed, as their fancy or interest suggested, in prescribing an immense variety of ido latrous rites and modes of worship ; the most re markable of which was the adoration of fire, and the offering of human victims in sacrifice. (See SABIAN Worship.) These sacerdotal tribes, who have been called by way of distinction, Chaldeans or Chaldees, were the philosophers as well as the priests of their country. They pretended to have derived theirlearning from the first instructor Oannes, who sprung from the primogenial egg; who was half man or god, and half fish; who appeared in the Red Sea, and taught the knowledge of letters and civilization in general. This learning, as far as it went, they studied very minute ly ; and handed it down by tradition from father to soil, with any little addition or improvement. It consisted chiefly of some absurd opinions about the formation and shape of the earth, a few astronomical observations, and a confused mass of astrological rules and prognostications of the See Philosophy.
As the priests and philosophers have been parti cularly distinguished by the appellation Chaldeans, the artists and mechanics have been denominated Babylonians. These appear to have consi derable attainments in geometry, architecture, me tallurgy, and the general principles of mechanism ; but almost nothing is known of their poetry, paint ing, statuary, and music. They excelled in the ma nufacture of rich veils, embroideries, carpets, cloth of gold, and every species of dress or furniture, in linen, cotton, and woollen stuffs. Their country af forded the best materials for dyeing ; and their pur ple, like that of the Tyrians, formed a principal ar ticle of traffic. So very precious and splendid, in deed, were the vestments which they prepared, that Cato is said to have sold a Babylonian mantle, which had been left him as a legacy, but which he thought too rich for any one to wear ; and that at Rome a L. set of Babylonian hangings for one apartment was -• sold for a sum equivalent to R6500 sterling.
If we consider the immense consumption made by the Babylonians of innumerable commodities, which were produced only in countries very remote from their own, it may be fairly concluded, that their opu lence must have been very considerable, and their commerce very extensive. Prodigious masses of gold
were employed in the statues and other ornaments which their temples contained. Twenty-five tolls of frankincense were annually consumed on the altar of Jupiter along The people in general delighted in the liberal use of perfumes ; and every Babylonian is said to have worn an engraved onyx, sapphire, or emerald, as his signet. Such an abundance of these commodities could have been procured only by the exchange of valuable merchandize, and by a regular communication with distant countries. They were supplied with those articles from northern India ; and from the same country they brought, in great numbers, a particular species of hound, a mongrel brood of the dog and tyger, of remarkable size and strength, which was highly esteemed by the Baby lonian princes and nobles in their favourite amuse ment the chase. These animals were so essential to royal magnificence, that whole districts were exempt ed from every other tribute, except the burden of defraying their maintenance ; and even, in later times, they seem to have been equally indispensable to the sovereigns of the East, when the Sultan Bajazet had among the servants of his household 12,000 keepers of dogs. The Babylonian caravans carried on a very extensive traffic also with the countries in the West, penetrating through the Syrian desert to the Pheni cian traders on the Mediterranean ; and proceeding by what was called the royal road, through the north of Asia Minor to the eastern borders of Europe. Their maritime commerce, likewise, was very consi derable; and they are characterised by the Hebrew prophet, as a people, " whose cry is in the ships." They had much inland navigation by means of their numerous canals and rivers. The Tigris, on account of its rapidity, was navigable only about 100 miles north of Babylon ; but they often sailed 300 miles up the Euphrates to the city of Thapsacus, from which they distributed their spices and perfumes, by land carriage, to the neighbouring districts. In this inland communication, by means of water, the Ar menian traders used small vessels of a very peculiar construction. They were little better than large bas kets of willow branches covered with hides, of a round form, and guided by two oars or paddles. They were chiefly loaded with palm wine ; and some of them were about 12 tons burden. They had frequently asses on board ; and, having disposed of their cargo at Babylon, they sold the wooden frame of their boats, loaded these animals with the skins, and returned by land to Armenia. Their largest ships were employ ed, and their greatest commerce carried on, by their maritime colony at Gerra, which was situated about 200 miles from the mouth of the Euphrates ; and whose merchants were the most wealthy and enter prising of all. They maintained an intercourse with the Phoenician factories on the Persian gulf, and with the Ethiopian mines in the neighbourhood of the Red Sea. Thus they had access to the treasures of Sofala or Ophir ; and supplied the city of Baby lon with the principal part of its spices, perfumes, gems, ebony, ivory, and gold.