As the Euphrates flowed westward close to Etemenanki, and also between the Kasr and Homera, in the Greek period we can suppose that the transport was effected by water. It may be supposed that the work of piling up débris in this place would not be undertaken without some object. The heaps might well have served good purpose in the erection of new buildings, such as were undoubtedly planned by Alexander. It is true that the northern mound was never utilised, but we have already seen that the southern one was used as the substructure for a theatre, and the central group we will now observe more closely. L THE CENTRAL MOUND OF HOMERA The central group of Homera (_w_ 21 on plan, Fig. 249), which consists below of exactly the same débris as that we have just described at the northern mound, differs greatly from the latter in that at a height of 7.5 metres above zero a platform is constructed, and that not by merely levelling down a mound that already existed, but by actually piling up materials to the requisite height and levelling them. Upon this platform at the present time there is a layer of earth, from 2 to 3 metres high, with some fragments of brick and a few potsherds; no walls are to be seen in it. It appears, therefore, that this top layer comes from quite late and very inferior dwellings, for which the platform itself was not constructed. The materials of which the level of this platform consists are very much reddened, as though they had been burnt. Indications of a great conflagration are to be found in blocks of mud brick smelted together by a fierce fire, and bearing clear imprints of palm and other wood. In many places the prints show the sharp edges of good carpenter’s work. All this is remarkable, and we should like to find the explanation of it. This may perhaps be found in the report given by Diodorus (xvii. 115[5]) of the funeral pyre Alexander the Great caused to be erected to solemnise the funeral ceremonies of Hephaestion. In order to form a platform for this magnificently decorated wooden construction, he had part of the city wall of Babylon demolished, and used the brick materials thus obtained. The platform has perished very considerably on all sides, and the level surface that still survives is undoubtedly only a small part of the original, so that it is useless to endeavour to recover the traces of the construction in detail. Footnote 5: Αὐτὸς δὲ τοὺς ἀρχιτέκτονας ἀθροίσας καὶ λεπτουργῶν πλῆθος, τοῦ μὲν τείχους καθεῖλεν ἐπὶ δέκα σταδίους, τὴν δ’ ὀπτὴν πλίνθον ἀναλεξάμενος, καὶ τὸν δεχόμενον τὴν πυρὰν τόπον ὁμαλὸν κατασκευάσας, ὠκοδόμησε τετράπλευρον πυράν, σταδιαίας οὔσης ἑκάστης πλευρᾶς. (2) εἰς τριάκοντα δὲ δόμους διελόμενος τὸν τόπον, καὶ καταστρώσας τὰς ὀροφὰς φοινίκων στελέχεσι, τετράγωνον ἐποίησε πᾶν τὸ κατασκεύασμα.