Assyria, its true boundaries, i. 7; its successive capitals, 7; its size, 7; consolidation of its supremacy, 41; first A. empire, 41; second A. empire, 41; expeditions into Armenia, Cappadocia, and Syria, 41; strictly a military monarchy, 96; its _régime_, 103; Assyrian monarchy, solidity of the succession, 103; characteristics of the Assyrian race, 105; cruelty of the Assyrian kings, 105–7; luxury of _do._, 105–7; constitution of the Assyrian nation, 111; comparative insignificance of civilian element, 112. Assyro-Chaldæan language, the, i. 53. Astarte, i. 345. Astragali, i. 206. Astrology, i. 65; the forerunner of real astronomy, 67. _Athenæum_ quoted, i. 317. Aturia, a variant of Assyria, i. 6. Auben (or Auben-Ra), ii. 120. Augustus, ii. 382. B Baal worshipped in Judah and Israel as well as Tyre and Sidon, i. 16. _Baalazar_, ii. 336. Babel, i. 14, 53. _Bab-i-Houmaioun_, ii. 72. Babil, i. 130, 154; its identity discussed, 384; ii. 35. _Babooshes_, i. 238. Babylon, age of its premiership, i. 38; more tenacious of life than Nineveh, 54; etymology of the name, 86; natural elements of its prosperity, 92; superiority of its situation over that of Nineveh, 93; an “eternal city,” ii. 53; its defences, 53; incomplete nature of the explorations that have been carried out on its site, 55; its size discussed, 56–59; the stone bridge, 57; height of the walls, 63. Bactriana, metals brought from, i. 125. Bagdad, i. 40, 54. Bahr-ul-nejef, ii. 176. Bakhenkhonsou, ii. 394. Balawat, gates of, i. 194; steles figured on, 196; standards figured on, 195; their discovery by Mr. Rassam, 242; ii. 51, 73, 118, 210. Baldricks, how coloured in the reliefs, ii. 247. _Baruch_ quoted, ii. 89. Bas-reliefs, defective methods of fixing them, i. 265. Bassorah, i. 8, 38. Battering-ram, used by the Assyrians, ii. 64. Battlements, i. 248; coloured ornament upon them, 254; their effect against an Eastern sky, 254. Bavian, carved rocks at, i. 263; sculptures at, ii. 225; description of the valley, 226. Beards, their significance, ii. 136. Beauchamp, de, his account of a room in the Kasr, i. 281. _Beharel_, ii. 336. Behistan, i. 88. Bel, i. 78, 83; supreme in Chaldæa, 86; temple of, at Babylon, ii. 201. Bell, artist, drowned at Bavian, ii. 230. Bellino, cylinder of, ii. 61. Bel-Merodach, his sepulchral chamber, i. 379. Beltis (_see_ Istar), i. 78. Beni-Hassan, i. 208. Benndorf quoted, i. 357.