Babylon as a centre of civilization--Illustrations of foreign influence--Babylon's share in the origin of the culture she distributed--Causes which led to her rise as capital--Advantages of her geographical position--Transcontinental lines of traffic--The Euphrates route, the Royal Road, and the Gates of Zagros--Her supremacy based on the strategic and commercial qualities of her site--The political centre of gravity in Babylonia illustrated by the later capitals, Seleucia, Ctesiphon, and Baghdad--The Persian Gulf as barrier, and as channel of international commerce--Navigation on the Euphrates and the Tigris--Causes of Babylon's deposition--Her treatment by Cyrus, Alexander, and Seleucus--The Arab conquest of Mesopotamia instructive for comparison with the era of early city-states--Effect of slackening of international communications--Effect of restoration of commercial intercourse with the West--Three main periods of Babylon's foreign influence--Extent to which she moulded the cultural development of other races-Traces of contact in Hebrew religion and in Greek mythology--Recent speculation on the subject to be tested by the study of history CHAPTER II THE CITY OF BABYLON AND ITS REMAINS: A DISCUSSION OF THE RECENT EXCAVATIONS The site of Babylon in popular tradition--Observations of Benjamin of Tudela and John Eldred--Exaggerations of early travellers--The description of Herodotus--Modern survey and excavation--Characteristics of Babylonian architecture--The architect's ideal--Comparison of Babylonian and Assyrian architectural design--Difficulties of Babylonian excavation--The extent of Babylon and the classical tradition--Remains of the ancient city--The Walls of Babylon--The Outer City-wall--The Mound Bâbil--The Ḳaṣr--The Inner City-wall--Imgur-Bêl and Nimitti-Bêl--Quay-walls and fortifications--Nebuchadnezzar's river-fortification--Change in the course of the Euphrates--Palaces of Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar--The official courts of the palace--Al-Bît-shar-Bâbili--The Throne-Room and its enamelled façade--The private palace and the women's apartments--The Hanging Gardens of Babylon--The Ishtar Gate and its Bulls and Dragons--Later defences of the Southern Citadel--The Lion Frieze--The Procession Street--Temples of Babylon--E-makh, the temple of Ninmakh--Altars in the Babylonian and Hebrew cults--The unidentified temple--The temple of Ishtar of Akkad--Religious mural decoration--The temple of Ninib--E-sagila and the Tower of Babylon--The Peribolos or Sacred Precincts--E-zida and the Temple-tower of Borsippa--The Euphrates bridge--Merkes and the street net-work of Babylon--Strata of different periods--Early Babylonian town-planning--Material influence of the West-Semitic Dynasty--Continuity of Babylonian culture CHAPTER III