XXV
THE INNER CITY WALL
A low embankment (Fig. 93), which passes Homera closely on the east, and runs approximately from north to south through the plain for a length of 1700 metres, conceals the ruins of the inner town wall (see Fig. 249). This is a double wall with an intermediate space of 7.2 metres. The western wall, which is 6.5 metres thick, has large towers placed crossways alternating with smaller ones placed lengthways, with a frontage varying from 9.4 to 9.7 metres, at regular intervals of 18.1 metres. The larger towers have a depth of 11.4 metres, the smaller ones of 8.06 metres (Fig. 94). The mud bricks measure 32 centimetres square. In the west side of the smaller towers gutters are constructed of burnt brick from 30 to 32 centimetres square. They open below with triangular mouths.
The eastern wall, which is only 3.72 metres thick, has towers at regular intervals of 20.5 metres with a frontage of 5.1 metres and depth of 5.8. The crude bricks measure 33 centimetres square. Here also there were gutters to carry off the water, but they were inserted in the curtains (Fig. 95). The base of the thick wall reaches a depth of 67 centimetres and that of the narrower wall of 19 centimetres below zero. The thick wall alone shows traces of an earlier building on which it stands, and was later repaired by short lengths of supporting walls built with 33–centimetre bricks in front of it.
Fig. 93.—Northern end of the inner city wall, from the south-east.
Fig. 94.—System of the inner city walls.
In the intermediate space, close to the narrower wall, but in the rubbish of the fallen walls, and not in situ, several foundation cylinders of Sardanapalus were found (Fig. 96), with the following text: “To Marduk, the King of all the Iggigi and Anunnaki, the creator of heaven and of earth, the predestinator of the final aim (?) who inhabits Esagila, the lord of Babil, the great lord. I Sardanapalus, the great king, the mighty king, the king of all, king of the land of Assur, king of the 4 quarters of the world, son of Esarhaddon, the great king, the mighty king, the king of all, king of the land of Assur, the ruler of Babil, king of Sumer and Akkad, the repopulator of Babil, builder of Esagila, renewer of the temples of all cities, who appointed the rites in them, and established their regular offerings which had come to an end, and restored the statutes and ordinances as of old, grandson of Sennacherib, the great king, the mighty king, the king of all, king of the land of Assur, am I.—Under my government the great lord Marduk held his entry into Babil with rejoicing and entered upon his dwelling in Esagila for ever. The regular offerings of Esagila and of the gods of Babylon I established, the protectorship of Babil I retained. In order that the strong should not injure the weak I appointed Shamashshumukin, my twin (?) brother to reign as king over Babil. Also I filled Esagila with silver and gold and precious stones, and made Ekua shining as the constellations in the sky.—At that time Imgur-Bel the dûr of Babil and Nimitti-Bel its šalḫû, which had become old and fallen, had sunk to the ground. In order to make the fortress of Esagila and the temple of Babil strong, with the might of my troops with all haste (?) I caused Nimitti-Bel its šalḫû with the art of the brick god to be made new and raised its city gateways. Door leaves I caused to be made and placed them in its doorways.—Future prince, under whose rule this same work may come to ruins, consult wise artists. Imgur-Bel the dûr, Nimitti-Bel the šalḫû make according to their ancient excellence. Behold the records of my name, and anoint them with oil and offer a sacrificial lamb, lay them near the records of thy name, so will Marduk hear thy petition. Whoever shall destroy the records of my name or of the name of my twin (?) brother with most evil deed, and will not lay the records of my name near the records of his name, him may Marduk the King of all behold with wrath and destroy his name and his seed in the land” (trans. by Delitzsch).
Fig. 95.—Drain in the inner city wall.
Thus the inscription refers expressly to the building of Nimitti-Bel alone, and it is important to discover from which of the two walls it came; that, however, cannot be ascertained at present. It is true that the cylinders lay close to the narrow outer wall, but the fact must be taken into consideration that at the foot of the broader wall there is a much larger bank of its own fallen rubbish than there is at the base of the narrow one, and that any object such as the cylinders which came from it would roll down the bank much nearer the narrow wall than that from which it fell. If the cylinder belonged to the thick wall, Nimitti-Bel must have been a double wall; if it belonged to the narrow wall, the thick one may be Imgur-Bel; certainty can only be obtained by further excavation, which must level the greater part of the thicker wall, in order to bring to light the records which are probably hidden somewhere inside it. Such levelling would so greatly disfigure the ruins that hitherto I have avoided entering on the work, but it must be done before the conclusion of the excavations. The difficulties connected with the mud walls on the Kasr are very similar, though with some slight differences. Here also the simplest solution would be to identify the thick wall with Imgur-Bel and the narrow one with Nimitti-Bel. Many difficulties, however, arise against doing so. The moat wall of Imgur-Bel lies to the west of the Southern Citadel, where these mud walls actually do not survive. According to the above-quoted cylinder, Nebuchadnezzar surrounded Babylon on all four sides with the wall Imgur-Bel, while the two mud walls enclosed an area which undoubtedly was open towards the west. Here also complete and decisive understanding of the problem must await further excavations.
Fig. 96.—Nimitti-Bel foundation cylinder of Sardanapalus.
At the site of the 14th tower from the north in the thick wall there is below a piece of wall the breadth of the tower, which consists of Nebuchadnezzar’s burnt bricks laid in asphalt. A small drain roofed with high-pitched slanting bricks pierces this block of brickwork and continues for 19 metres farther to the east. This block of brickwork, which is 4.2 metres broad and contains the channel, gives the impression of being a roadway, and therefore one would expect to find a gateway at this place in the city wall (Fig. 97). Both walls, however, are so ruined here that nothing of the kind can now be recognised. The brickwork of the drain is strengthened with small pilasters at the sides, which grip into the ground like teeth, and would clearly prevent any slipping of the walls which slope towards the east. The drain itself also continues westward.
Fig. 97.—Drain through inner city wall.
Apart from this, on the entire length of 1½ kilometres of the city wall, there is no indication of any gateway. A short distance from the southern end there is a small mound with walls of burnt brick laid in asphalt, which may perhaps be the remains of a gateway, but which is not yet excavated.
Upon the ruins of the wall and near it there are numerous clay coffins, often as many as 30 between one tower and the next. They are widened with a bulge on one side, and many are anthropoid, and may belong to the Persian or latest Babylonian period.
The exploration of the inner city wall cannot be regarded as complete. We will now turn back to the Kasr to study the northern extension, which abuts on the Southern Citadel.