[505] Ibid., Vol. II, p. 336.
[506] Cf. Expedition de Mesopotamie, Vol. I, Lib. I (Paris, 1863).
[507] See also Die Tempel von Babylon and Borsippa, p. 59 (by Dr. Koldewey, Leipsic, 1911), that speaks of Oppert’s verkehrter Stadtplan von Babylon and who declares that Borsippa, as an independent city, bore the same relation to Babylon as does Charlottenburg to Berlin.
[508] The History of Herodotus, Bk. I, 178, 179.
[509] Library, Lib. II, Chap. VII.
[510] Rich, op. cit., p. 43.
[511] De Rebus Gestis Alexandri Magni, Lib. V, Cap. I.
[512] The Geographical System of Herodotus Examined and Explained, p. 347.
[513] Op. cit., p. 2.
[514] Im Lande des Einstigen Paradieses, p. 30 (Stuttgart, 1903). According to Oppert the great wall of Babylon embraces an area fifteen times as great as that of Paris in 1850 and as extended as that of the entire department of the Seine. Ibid., Vol. I, p. 234.
[515] Op. cit., p. 5.
[516] Op. cit., II, 8.
[517] Koldewey, op. cit., p. 54.
[518] Arrian’s Anabasis of Alexander, Bk. VII, Chap. XXVI.
[519] According to the measurements of Rich, the current of the Euphrates runs at a medium rate of about two knots an hour while that of the Tigris has a maximum velocity of full seven knots.
[520] Commentary on Isaias, Bk. V, Chap. XIII, Patrologiæ Latinæ, Vol. XXIV (Migne, Paris, 1865).
[521] Op. cit., Bk. I, Chap. 181.
[522] Geography, Bk. XVI, Chap. I, Sec. 5.
[523] Op. cit., p. 196.
[524] Ibid., p. 196.
[525] “Principio Assyrii”—the Chaldeans—“propter planitiem magnitudinemque regionum quos incolebant, cum cœlum ex omni parte patens et apertum intuerentur, trajectiones motusque stellarum observaverunt.” De Divinatione, Lib. I.
[526] Op. cit., Lib. V, Cap. I.
[527] Op. cit., p, 103.
[528] For a description of the ruins of Cuzco and the Great Chimu, as compared with those of Babylon, see Along the Andes and Down the Amazon, Chaps. XIII, XV (by J. A. Zahm, New York, 1911).
[529] The History and Conquests of the Saracens, p. 2 et seq. (by E. A. Freeman, London, 1877).
[530] Babel and Bibel, p. 36, 37 (London, 1903).
[531] The Archæology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions, p. 111 (London, 1908).
[532] Entitled Der babylonische Ursprung der ägyptischen Kultur (1892).
[533] Pliny, speaking of Belus, says: “Inventor hic fuit sideralis scientiæ, Naturalis Historiæ,” Lib. VI. Cap. 30.
[534] Astrology and Religion among the Greeks and Romans, p. 8 (New York, 1912).
[535] See especially Astronomisches aus Babylon, oder das Wissen der Chaldäer uber den gestirnten Himmel (by J. Epping, in collaboration with J. Straszmaier, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1889); Die Babylonische Mondrechnung (by F. Kugler, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1900).
[536] Cf. Dumont op. cit., p. 60.
[537] A comparison of the lunar periods as given by Babylonian and by modern astronomers will show how exact were the calculations of the observers of ancient Chaldea.
Periods as calculated by Babylonian astronomers:
| Mean sidereal month | 27 days, | 7 hours, | 43’ 14″ |
| Mean synodic month | 29 days, | 12 hours, | 44’ 31.3″ |
| Mean draconitic month | 27 days, | 5 hours, | 5’ 35.8″ |
| Mean anomalistic month | 27 days, | 13 hours, | 18’ 34.9″ |
Periods as calculated by modern astronomers:
| Mean sidereal month | 27 days, | 7 hours, | 43’ 11.5″ |
| Mean synodic month | 29 days, | 12 hours, | 44’ 2.9″ |
| Mean draconitic month | 27 days, | 5 hours, | 5’ 36″ |
| Mean anomalistic month | 27 days, | 13 hours, | 18’ 39.3″ |
From the foregoing figures it is seen that the maximum difference of time, as given by ancient and modern observers, is less than a half minute; the minimum one-fifth of a second! See Kugler’s Die Babylonische Mondrechnung, pp. 24, 40, 46.
[538] Kugler op. cit., p. 206.
[539] Hammurabi’s code which is carefully engraved on a large stele of black diorite was found by M. de Morgan and the distinguished Dominican archæologist, Father Scheil, among the ruins of Susa—the Susan of the Bible—whither it had been carried from Babylon as loot by the Elamites. When found in December, 1901, and January, 1902, it was in fragments but the parts were easily rejoined. In October, 1902, there appeared an admirable translation of it by Father Scheil which everywhere excited the greatest interest among scholars both of the Old and the New World. In many respects, it is the most interesting and valuable inscribed monument of old Babylonia which has yet been brought to light.
[540] Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters, pp. vii, viii (by C. H. W. Johns, New York, 1904).
[541] Op. cit., p. 186.
[542] Apocalypse, xvii: 5; xviii: 21.
[543] Daniel iv: 27, 28.
[544] Chap. li: 58.
[545] Chap. li: 37.
[546] Chap. li: 62.
[547] Psalm cxviii: 89.