A The mound Amran. ADK Ancient ruined village of Kweiresh. AE Ancient Euphrates bed. AK Ancient ruined canal. AN Ancient Nil canal. AS Outer city wall. B The mound Babil. DA The village of Ananeh. DD The village of Djumdjumma. DK The village of Kweiresh. DS The village of Sindjar. E Euphrates. EM E-Mach, the temple of Ninmach. EP E-Patutila, the temple of Ninib. ES E-Sagila, the temple of Marduk. ET E-Temenanki, the tower of Babylon. F Fields. FK Farm of Karabet. G Tomb of Amran Ibn Ali. GM Garden wall. H The mound Homera. IA Ishin aswad. IS Inner city wall. K The mound Kasr. M Merkes. MR Remains of walls. N The Nil canal. NB The Nil bridge. NK New canal. P Palms. S Sachn. T The Greek theatre. TI Temple of Ishtar of Agade. W Road. WBH Road from Bagdad to Hilleh. Z Temple Z of some unknown divinity. FIG. 1.—PLAN OF THE RUINS OF THE CITY OF BABYLON. ] I THE OUTER CITY WALLS In the time of Nebuchadnezzar the traveller who approached the capital of Babylonia from the north would find himself where the Nil Canal flows to-day, face to face with the colossal wall that surrounded mighty Babylon (Fig. 1). Part of this wall still exists and is recognisable at the present time in the guise of a low earthen ridge about 4 to 5 kilometres in length. Up to the present we have only excavated a small part, so that it is only possible to give a detailed description of the most noteworthy features of these fortifications, that were rendered so famous by Greek authors. There was a massive wall of crude brick 7 metres thick, in front of which, at an interval of about 12 metres, stood another wall of burnt brick 7.8 metres thick, with the strong wall of the fosse at its foot, also of burnt brick and 3.3 metres thick (Fig. 2). The fosse must have been in front of this, but so far we have not searched closely for it, and therefore the counterscarp has not yet been found. Astride on the mud wall were towers 8.37 metres (about 24 bricks) wide, that projected beyond the wall on both its faces. Measured from centre to centre these towers were 52.5 metres apart. Thus there was a tower at intervals of about 100 ells, for the Babylonian ell measured roughly half a metre. Owing to the unfinished state of the excavations it is not yet possible to say how the towers on the outer wall were constructed. The space between the two walls was filled in with rubble, at least to the height at which the ruins are preserved and presumably to the crown of the outer wall. Thus on the top of the wall there was a road that afforded space for a team of four horses abreast, and even for two such teams to pass each other. Upon this crown of the wall the upper compartments of the towers faced each other like small houses.