The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 1: Chaldaea: The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.Rawlinson, George
History
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 1: Chaldaea: The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.
Sixty miles to the north-west of these ruins, still on the left or
eastern bank of the Euphrates, but at the distance of thirty miles from
its present course, are the remains of another city, the only Chaldaean
ruins which can dispute, with those already described, the palm of
antiquity. They consist of a number of separate and distinct heaps,
which seem to be the remains of different buildings, and are divided into
two nearly equal groups by a deep ravine or channel 120 feet wide,
apparently the dry bed of a river which once ran through the town.
Conspicuous among the other hillocks is a conical heap, occupying a
central position on the eastern side of the river-bed, and rising to the
height of about seventy feet above the general level of the plain.
Further on in this direction is a low continuous mound, which seems to be
a portion of the outer wall of the city. The ruins are of considerable
extent, but scarcely so large as those at either Senkereh or Warka. The
name which now attaches to them is Niffer: and it appears, from the
inscriptions at the place, that the ancient Semitic appellation was but
slightly different. This name, as read on the bilingual tablets, was
Nipur; and as there can be little doubt that it is this word which
appears in the Talmud as Nopher, we are perhaps entitled, on the
authority of that treasure-house of Hebrew traditions, to identify these
ruins with the Calneh of Moses, and the Calno of Isaiah.
About sixty-five miles from Niffer, on the opposite side of the
Euphrates, and in a direction only slightly north of west, are the
remains of the ancient Borsippa. These consist of little more than the
ruins of a single building--the great temple of Merodach--which was
entirely rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar. They have been sometimes regarded as
really a portion of the ancient Babylon; but this view is wholly
incompatible with the cuneiform records, which distinctly assign to the
ruins in question the name of Borsip or Borsippa, a place known with
certainty to have been distinct from, though in the neighborhood of, the
capital. A remnant of the ancient name appears to be contained in the
modern appellation, Birs-Nimrud or Birsi-Nimrud, which does not admit of
any explanation from the existing language of the country.
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