Baal (1) – Babel, Babylon (1)

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Baal (1)

ba'-al: (ba`al; or Baal): The Babylonian Belu or Bel, "Lord," was the title of the supreme god among the Canaanites.

I. NAME AND CHARACTER OF BAAL

II. ATTRIBUTES OF BAAL

III. BAAL-WORSHIP

IV. TEMPLES, ETC.

V. USE OF THE NAME

VI. FORMS OF BAAL

1. Baal-berith

2. Baal-gad

3. Baal-hamon

4. Baal-hermon

5. Baal-peor

6. Baal-zebub

I. Name and Character of Baal:

In Babylonia it was the title specially applied to Merodach of Babylon, which in time came to be used in place of his actual name. As the word in Hebrew also means "possessor," it has been supposed to have originally signified, when used in a religious sense, the god of a particular piece of land or soil. Of this, however, there is no proof, and the sense of "possessor" is derived from that of "lord." The Babylonian Bel-Merodach was a Sun-god, and so too was the Can Baal whose full title was Baal-Shemaim, "lord of heaven." The Phoenician writer Sanchuniathon (Philo Byblius, Fragmenta II) accordingly says that the children of the first generation of mankind "in time of drought stretched forth their hands to heaven toward the sun; for they regarded him as the sole Lord of heaven, and called him Beel-samen, which means `Lord of Heaven' in the Phoenician language and is equivalent to Zeus in Greek" Baal-Shemaim had a temple at Umm el-Awamid between Acre and Tyre, and his name is found in inscriptions from the Phoenician colonies of Sardinia and Carthage.

II. Attributes of Baal:

As the Sun-god, Baal was worshipped under two aspects, beneficent and destructive. On the one hand he gave light and warmth to his worshippers; on the other hand the fierce heats of summer destroyed the vegetation he had himself brought into being. Hence, human victims were sacrificed to him in order to appease his anger in time of plague or other trouble, the victim being usually the first-born of the sacrificer and being burnt alive. In the Old Testament this is euphemistically termed "passing" the victim "through the fire" (; ). The forms under which Baal was worshipped were necessarily as numerous as the communities which worshipped him. Each locality had its own Baal or divine "Lord" who frequently took his name from the city or place to which he belonged. Hence, there was a Baal-Zur, "Baal of Tyre"; Baal-hermon, "Baal of Hermon" (); Baal-Lebanon, "Baal of Lebanon"; Baal-Tarz, "Baal of Tarsus." At other times the title was attached to the name of an individual god; thus we have Bel-Merodach, "the Lord Merodach" (or "Bel is Merodach") at Babylon, Baal-Melkarth at Tyre, Baal-gad () in the north of Palestine. Occasionally the second element was noun as in Baal-Shemaim, "lord of heaven," Baalzebub (), "Lord of flies," Baal-Hamman, usually interpreted "Lord of heat," but more probably "Lord of the sunpillar," the tutelary deity of Carthage. All these various forms of the Sun-god were collectively known as the Baalim or "Baals" who took their place by the side of the female Ashtaroth and Ashtrim. At Carthage the female consort of Baal was termed Pene-Baal, "the face" or "reflection of Baal."

III. Baal-Worship:

In the earlier days of Hebrew history the title Baal, or "Lord," was applied to the national God of Israel, a usage which was revived in later times, and is familiar to us in the King James Version. Hence both Jonathan and David had sons called Merib-baal (; ) and Beeliada (). After the time of Ahab, however, the name became associated with the worship and rites of the Phoenician deity introduced into Samaria by Jezebel, and its idolatrous associations accordingly caused it to fall into disrepute. declares that henceforth the God of Israel should no longer be called Baali, "my Baal," and personal names like Esh-baal (; ), and Beelinda into which it entered were changed in form, Baal being turned into bosheth which in Heb at any rate conveyed the sense of "shame."

IV. Temples, etc.:

Temples of Baal at Samaria and Jerusalem are mentioned in ; where they had been erected at the time when the Ahab dynasty endeavored to fuse Israelites and Jews and Phoenicians into a single people under the same national Phoenician god. Altars on which incense was burned to Baal were set up in all the streets of Jerusalem according to Jeremiah (11:13), apparently on the flat roofs of the houses (); and the temple of Baal contained an image of the god in the shape of a pillar or Bethel (,). In the reign of Ahab, Baal was served in Israel by 450 priests (), as well as by prophets (), and his worshippers wore special vestments when his ritual was performed (). The ordinary offering made to the god consisted of incense () and burnt sacrifices; on extraordinary occasions the victim was human (). At times the priests worked themselves into a state of ecstasy, and dancing round the altar slashed themselves with knives (,), like certain dervish orders in modern Islam.

V. Use of the Name.

In accordance with its signification the name of Baal is generally used with the definite art.; in the Septuagint this often takes the feminine form, aischane "shame" being intended to be read. We find the same usage in . The feminine counterpart of Baal was Baalah or Baalath which is found in a good many of the local names (see Baethgen, Beltrage zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte, 1888).

VI. Forms of Baal.

1. Baal-berith:

Baal-berith ba`al berith; Baalberith, "Covenant Baal," was worshipped at Shechem after the death of Gideon (; ). In the name is replaced by El-berith, "Covenant-god." The covenant was that made by the god with his worshippers, less probably between the Israelites and the native Canaanites.

2. Baal-gad:

Baal-gad ba`al gadh; Balagada, "Baal [lord] of good luck" (or "Baal is Gad") was the god of a town called after his name in the north of Palestine, which has often been identified with Baalbek. The god is termed simply Gad in the Revised Version, margin; where he is associated with Meni, the Assyrian Manu (King James Version "troop" and "number").

3. Baal-hamon:

Baal-hamon ba`al hamon; Beelamon is known only from the fact that Solomon had a garden at a place of that name (Song of Songs 8:11). The name is usually explained to mean "Baal of the multitude," but the cuneiform tablets of the Tell el-Amarna age found in Palestine show that the Egyptian god Amon was worshipped in Canaan and identified there with the native Baal. We are therefore justified in reading the name Baal-Amon, a parallel to the Babylonian Bel-Merodach. The name has no connection with that of the Carthaginian deity Baal-hamman.

4. Baal-hermon:

Baal-hermon ba`al chermon; Balaermon is found in the name of "the mountain of Baal-hermon" (; compare ), which also bore the names of Hermort, Sirion and Shenir (Saniru in the Assyrian inscriptions), the second name being applied to it by the Phoenicians and the third by the Amorites (). Baal-hermon will consequently be a formation similar to Baal-Lebanon in an inscription from Cyprus; according to the Phoenician writer Sanchuniathon (Philo Byblius, Fragmenta II) the third generation of men "begat sons of surprising size and stature, whose names were given to the mountains of which they had obtained possession."

5. Baal-peor:

Baal-peor ba`al pe`or; Beelphegor was god of the Moabite mountains, who took his name from Mount Peor (), the modern Fa`ur, and was probably a form of Chemosh (Jerome, Comm., ). The sensual rites with which he was worshipped () indicate his connection with the Phoenician Baal.

6. Baal-zebub:

Baal-zebub ba`al zebhubh; Baalmuia Theos ("Baal the fly god") was worshipped at Ekron where he had famous oracle (,,). The name is generally translated "the Lord of flies," the Sun-god being associated with the flies which swarm in Palestine during the earlier summer months. It is met with in Assyrian inscriptions. In the New Testament the name assumes the form of Beelzebul Beelzeboul, in King James Version: BEELZEBUB (which see).

A. H. Sayce

Baal (2)

ba'-al ba`al, ("lord," "master," "possessor"):

(1) A descendant of Reuben, Jacob's first-born son, and the father of Beerah, prince of the Reubenitcs, "whom Tiglath-pileser (,) king of Assyria carried away captive."

(2) The fourth of ten sons of Jeiel (King James Version "Jehiel"), father and founder of Gibeon. His mother was Maacah; his brother Kish father oœ Saul ( ,,; compare ). These passages identify Jeiel and Abiel as the father of Kish and thus of Baal. For study of confusions in the genealogical record, in ,, see KISH; ABIEL; JEIEL.

(3) In composition often the name of a man and not of the heathen god, e.g. Baal-hanan, a king of Edom (; ); also a royal prefect of the same name (). Gesenius thinks that Baal in compound words rarely refers to the god by that name. See BAAL (deity).

(4) A city of the tribe of Simeon (). See BAALATH-BEER.

Dwight M. Pratt

Baal (3)

ba`al; Baal . See BAALATH-BEER.

Baal-Berith

ba-al-be'-rith ba`al berith = ("Baal of the Covenant"): An idol worshipped by the Shechemites after Gideon's death (), as protector and guardian of engagements. His temple is also referred to in . See BAAL (1).

Baal-Gad

ba'-al-gad ba`al gadh; Balagada, Balgad: Joshua in his conquest reached as far north as `Baal-gad in the valley' of Lebanon, under Mount Hermon (). This definitely locates it in the valley between the Lebanons, to the West or Northwest of Hermon. It must not be confused with Baal-hermon. Conder thinks it may be represented by `Ain Jedeideh.

Baal-Hamon

ba-al-ha'-mon. See BAAL (1).

Baal-Hanan

ba-al-ha'-nan ba`al chanan, ("the Lord is gracious"):

(1) A king of Edom ( ).

(2) A gardener in the service of David ().

Baal-Hazor

ba-al-ha'-zor ba`al chatsor; Bailasor, Bel-la-sor: A place on the property of Absalom where his sheep-shearers were gathered, beside Ephraim (). The sheep-shearing was evidently the occasion of a festival which was attended by Absalom's brethren. Here he compassed the death of Amnon in revenge for the outrage upon his sister. The place may be identified with Tell `Asur, a mountain which rises 3,318 ft. above the sea, 4 miles Northeast of Bethel. rine Kubbet el Baul may retain the old name.

Baal-Hermon

ba'-al-hur'-mon ba`al chermon; Baal Ermon: Baalgad under Mount Hermon is described as "toward the sunrising" in . If Mount Lebanon proper is here intended the reading may be taken as correct. But in Baal-gad is replaced by Baal-hermon. One or the other must be due to a scribal error. The Baal-hermon of lay somewhere East of the Jordan, near to Mount Hermon. It may possibly be identical with Banias.

Baal-Meon

ba'-al-me'-on ba`al me`on; Beelmeon: A town built by the children of Reuben along with Nebo, "their names being changed" (), identical with Beon of . As Beth-baal-meon it was given by Moses to the tribe of Reuben (). Mesha names it as fortified by him (MS, L. 9). It appears in as Beth-meon, one of the cities of Moab. Eusebius, Onomasticon speaks of it as a large village near the hot springs, i.e. Callirrhoe, in Wady Zerka Ma`in, 9 miles from Heshbon. This points to the ruined site of Ma`in, about 4 miles Southwest of Madeba. The ruins now visible however are not older than Roman times.

W. Ewing

Baal-Peor

ba-al-pe'-or. See BAAL. (1).

Baal-Perazim

ba-al-pe-ra'-zim, ba-al-per'-azim ba`al peratsim; Baal'pharasein, ("the lord of breakings through"): The spot in or near the Valley of Rephaim where David obtained a signal victory over the Philistines; it was higher than Jerusalem for David asked, "Shall I go up against the Philis?" (; ). The exact site is unknown, but if the Vale of Rephaim is el Beka`a, the open valley between Jerusalem and Mar Elias, then Baal-perazim would probably be the mountains to the East near what is called the "Mount of Evil Counsel" (see JERUSALEM). The Mount Perazim of would appear to be the same spot.

E. W. G. Masterman

Baal-Shalishah

ba-al-shal'-i-sha, ba-al-shale-'sha ba`al shalishah; Baithsarisa: Whence a man came to Gilgal with first-fruits () was probably not far from the latter place. According to the Talmud (Sanh. 12a) the fruits of the earth nowhere ripened so quickly. It is called by Eusebius Baithsarith (Jerome "Bethsalisa"), and located 15 miles North of Diospolis (Lydda). Khirbet Sirisia almost exactly fits this description. Gilgal (Jiljulieh) lies in the plain about 4 1/2 miles to the Northwest Khirbet Kefr Thilth, 3 1/2 miles farther north, has also been suggested. The Arabic Thilth exactly corresponds to the Hebrew Shalishah.

W. Ewing

Baal-Tamar

ba-al-ta'-mar ba`al tamar; Baal Thamar, ("Baal of the palm tree"): Evidently a seat of heathen worship () between Bethel and Gibeah (compare ,). The place was known to Eusebius (Onomasticon, which see), but trace of the name is now lost. Conder suggests that it may be connected with the palm tree of Deborah () which was between Bethel and Ramah (HDB, under the word).

Baal-Zephon

ba-al-ze'-fon ba`al tsephon; Beelsepphon; (,; ): The name means "Lord of the North," and the place was opposite the Hebrew camp, which was between Migdol and the sea. It may have been the shrine of a Semitic deity, but the position is unknown (see EXODUS). Goodwin (see Brugsch, Hist. Egt., II, 363) found the name Baali-Zapuna as that of a god mentioned in an Egyptian papyrus in the British Museum.

Baalah

ba'-a-la ba`alah; ("possessor," "mistress "): Three occurrences of this name:

(1) = KIRIATH-JEARIM (which see) (,; ).

(2) A city in the Negeb of Judah (). In Balah and in Bilhah; perhaps also Boaloth of . The site is unknown; but see PEF, III, 26.

(3) Mount Baalah (), a mountain ridge between Shikkeron (Ekron) and Jabnoel unless, as seems probable, the suggestion of M. Clermont-Ganneau (Rev. Crit, 1897, 902) is correct that for har ( = "mount"), we should read nahar ("river"). In this case the border in question would be the Nahr rubin. Here there is an annual feast held--attended by all classes and famous all over Syria--which appears to be a real survival of "Baal worship."

E. W. G. Masterman

Baalath

ba'-a-lath ba`alath; (A, Baalon): between Shikkeron (Ekron) and Jabnoel unless, as seems probable, the suggestion of M. Clermont-Ganneau (Rev. Crit, 1897, 902) is correct that for har ( = "mount"), we should read nahar ("river"). In this case the border in question would be the Nahr rubin. Here there is an annual feast held--attended by all classes and famous all over Syria--which appears to be a real survival of "Baal worship."

(1) A town on the border of Da () associated with Eltekeh and Gibbethon--possibly Bela`in.

(2) ("Mistress-ship"): A store city of Solomon, mentioned with Beth-horon (; ) and possibly the same as (1).

Baalath-Beer

ba'-a-lath-be'-er ba`alath be'er "lady (mistress) of the well"; ( (in , Baal)): In Jos this place is designated "Ramah of the South," i.e. of the Negeb, while in it is described as Ramoth of the Negeb. It must have been a prominent hill (ramah = "height") in the far south of the Negeb and near a well be'er. The site is unknown though Conder suggests that the shrine Kubbet el Baul may retain the old name.

Baalbek

bal'-bek, bal-bek'. See AVEN; ON.

Baale-Judah

ba'-al-e-joo'-da. See KIRIATH-JEARIM.

Baali

ba'-a-li ba`ali, ("my master"): Baal, a common name for all heathen gods, had in common practice been used also of Yahweh. Hosea (,) demands that Yahweh be no longer called Ba`ali ("my Baal" = "my lord") but 'Ishi ("my husband"), and we find that later the Israelites abandoned the use of Ba`al for Yahweh.

Baalim

ba'-a-lim ha-be`alim: Plur. of BAAL (which see).

Baalis

ba'-a-lis ba`lic, perhaps for Baalim, "gods"; Septuagint Beleisa, Belisa, [Baalis]; Ant, X, ix, 3, Baalimos: King of the children of Ammon, the instigator of the murder of Gedaliah (). Compare Ant, X, ix, 3.

Baalsamus

ba-al'-sa-mus Baalsamos; (the King James Version Balasamus): B. stood at the right side of Ezra, when the law was read to the people (1 Esdras 9:43). Compare Maaseiah (). the Valley of Rephaim where David obtained a signal victory over the Philistines; it was higher than Jerusalem for David asked, "Shall I go up against the Philis?" (; ). The exact site is unknown, but if the Vale of Rephaim is el Beka`a, the open valley between Jerusalem and Mar Elias, then Baal-perazim would probably be the mountains to the East near what is called the "Mount of Evil Counsel" (see JERUSALEM). The Mount Perazim of would appear to be the same spot.

Baalzebub

ba-al-ze'-bub ba`al zebhubh = "Lord of flies"; Baal-muian: A deity worshipped by the Philistines at Ekron (,,,). All that can be gathered from this one reference to him in ancient literature is that he had some fame as a god that gave oracles. Ahaziah, son of Ahab, and king of Israel, went to consult him whether he should recover of his sickness, and was therefore rebuked by Elijah, who declared that his death would be the result of this insult to Yahweh. Why he was called "lord of flies," or whether his real name has not be en corrupted and lost are matters of conjecture. See BAAL (1).

Baana

ba'-a-na (Old Testament and Apocrypha; Baana; ba`ana' "son of oppression"):

(1, 2) Two commissariat-officers in the service of Solomon (; ; the King James Version "Baanah").

(3) Father of Zadok, the builder ().

(4) A leader who returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (1 Esdras 5:8). Compare Bannah (; ; ).

Baanah

ba'-a-na ba`anah, ("son of oppression"):

(1) Captain in the army of Ish-bosheth ( ff).

(2) Father of Iteleb, one of David's mighty men (; ).

(3) Returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem; a leader and one who sealed the covenant (; ; ). See BAANA (4).

Baani

ba'-a-ni (A, Baani; B, Baanei; the King James Version Maani =Bani []): The descendants of Baani put away their "strange wives" (1 Esdras 9:34).

Baanias

ba-a-ni'as. See BANNEAS (Apocrypha).

Baara

ba'-a-ra ba`ara', ("the burning one"): A wife of the Benjamite Shaharaim ().

Baaseiah

ba-a-si'a, ba-a-se'-ya ba`aseyah, ("the Lord is bold"): Perhaps for ma`aseyah, after the Greek Maasai, B, Maasai, "the work of the Lord." Compare Gray, Studies in Hebrew Proper Names, 293. An ancestor of Asaph, the musician ().

Baasha

ba'-a-sha ba`sha', ("boldness"): King of Israel. Baasha, son of Ahijah, and of common birth (), usurped the throne of Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, killed Nadab and exterminated the house of Jeroboam. He carried on a long warfare with Asa, the king of Judah (compare ), began to build Ramah, but was prevented from completing this work by Ben- hadad, the king of Syria. He is told by the prophet Jehu that because of his sinful reign the fate of his house would be like that of Jeroboam. Baasha reigned 24 years. His son Elah who succeeded him and all the members of his family were murdered by the usurper Zimri ( ff). The fate of his house is referred to in ; . Compare ASA; ELAH; ZIMRI.

A. L. Breslich

Babbler

bab'-ler ba`al ha-lashon; the King James Version of literally, "master of the tongue"; the Revised Version (British and American) CHARMER; lapistes, the King James Version of Ecclesiasticus 20:7; the Revised Version (British and American) BRAG; spermologos; the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) of : The latter Greek word is used of birds, such as the crow, that live by picking up small seeds (sperma, "20 seed," legein, "to gather"), and of men, for "hangers on" and "parasites" who obtained their living by picking up odds and ends off merchants' carts in harbors and markets. It carries the "suggestion of picking up refuse and scraps, and in the literature of plagiarism without the capacity to use correctly" (Ramsay). The Athenian philosophers in calling Paul a spermologos, or "ignorant plagiarist," meant that he retailed odds and ends of knowledge which he had picked up from others, without possessing himself any system of thought or skill of language--without culture. In fact it was a fairly correct description of the Athenian philosophers themselves in Paul's day.

Ramsay, Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen, 141 ff.

T. Rees

Babbling

bab'-ling siach; the Revised Version (British and American) COMPLAINING): The consequence of tarrying long at the wine ( the King James Version); lalia, the Revised Version (British and American) "talk" (Ecclesiasticus 19:6; 20:5 the King James Version); kenophonia, literally, "making an empty sound" (; the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American).

Babe

bab:

(1) na`ar; pais of a male infant 3 months old () translated elsewhere "boy" or "lad."

(2) `olel, ta`alulim, in the general sense of "child" (; ; ).

(3) brephos an unborn or newborn child (King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) of ,; ,; and the Revised Version (British and American) of [AV "infants"]; [King James Version, "young children"] and [King James Version, "child"]).

(4) nepios = (Latin infans) "a child that cannot speak." (King James and the Revised Version (British and American) of ; ; ; ; ; ) the same word is translated "child," plural "children" (in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) of ; ,; ) the verb nepiazete is translated in the King James Version "be ye children" and in the Revised Version (British and American) "be ye babes" (). Nepios is used metaphorically of those who are like children, of simple and single minds, as opposed to the "wise and understanding" ( = ; compare ). "Babes in Christ" are men of little spiritual growth, carnal as opposed to spiritual (; compare ; ). Nepios is also used of a child as a minor or infant in the eye of the law (,).

T. Rees

Babel, Babylon (1)

ba'-bel, bab'-i-lon (Topographical): Babylon was the Greek name of the city written in the cuneiform script of the Babylonians, bab-ili, which means in Semitic, "the gate of god." The Hebrews called the country, as well as the city, Babhel. This name they considered came from the' root, balal, "to confound" (). The name in Sumerian ideographs was written Din-tir, which means "life of the forest," and yet ancient etymologists explained it as meaning "place of the seat of life" (shubat balaTe). Ka-ding'irra, which also means "gate of god," was another form of the name in Sumerian. It was also called Su-anna (which is of uncertain meaning) and Uru-azagga, "the holy city."

Herodotus, the Greek historian, has given us a picture of Babylon in his day. He says that the city was a great square, 42 miles in circuit. Ctesias makes it 56 miles. This, he writes, was surrounded by a moat or rampart 300 ft. high, and 75 ft. broad. The earliest mention of Babylon is in the time of Sargon I, about 2700 BC. That monarch laid the foundations of the temple of Annnit, and also those of the temple of Amal. In the time of Dungi we learn that the place was sacked. The city evidently played a very unimportant part in the political history of Babylonia of the early period, for besides these references it is almost unknown until the time of Hammurabi, when its rise brought about a new epoch in the history of Babylonia. The seat of power was then transferred permanently from the southern states. This resulted in the closing of the political history of the Sumerians. The organization of the empire by Hammurabi, with Babylon as its capital, placed it in a position from which it was never dislodged dur ing the remaining history of Babylonia.

The mounds covering the ancient city have frequently been explored, but systematic excavations of the city were not undertaken until 1899, when Koldewey, the German excavator, began to uncover its ancient ruins in a methodical manner. In spite of what ancient writers say, certain scholars maintain that they grossly exaggerated the size of the city, which was comparatively small, especially when considered in connection with large cities of the present era.

In the northern part of the city there was situated what is called the North Palace on the east side of the Euphrates, which passed through the city. A little distance below this point the Arakhtu canal left the Euphrates, and passing through the southern wall rejoined the river. There was also a Middle and Southern Palace. Near the latter was located the Ishtar gate. The temple E-makh was close to the east side of the gate. Other canals in the city were called Merodach and Libilkhegala. In the southern portion of the city was located the famous temple E-sag-ila. This temple was called by the Greek historian, "the temple of Belus." Marduk or Merodach (as written in the Old Testament), the patron deity of the city, received from Enlil, as Hammurabi informs us, after he had driven the Elamites out of Babylonia, the title "bel matate," "lord of lands," not the name which Enlil of Nippur had possessed. In the past there has been a confusion. The idcogram Enlil or Ellil had been incorrectly read Bel. This necessitated speaking of the old Bel and the young Bel. Beyond being called bel, "lord," as all other gods were called; Enlil's name was not Bel. Marduk is the Bel of the Old Testament, as well as the god called Bel in the Assyrian and Babylonian inscriptions.

The temple area included an outer, central and inner court. The shrine of Ishtar and Zamama occupied the central court, and the ziggurrat the inner court. In the temple proper, the shrine Ekua was located, in which stood the golden image of Marduk. This, the ancient writers say, was 40 ft. high. On the topmost stage there was a shrine dedicated to Marduk. It is assumed that it was 50 ft. long by 70 ft. broad and 50 ft. in height. Nabopolassar rebuilt the temple and its tower. Nebuchadrezzar enlarged and embellished the sanctuary. He raised the tower so that "its head was in the heavens," an expression found in the story of the Tower of Babel in Gen, as well as in many of the building inscriptions. See Clay, LOTB, Babel, 121 ff, and the article on BABEL, TOWER OF. One of the chief works of Nebuchadrezzar was the building of Aiburshabu, the famous procession street of the city, which extended from the Ishtar gate to E-sag-ila. It was a great and magnificent causeway, built higher than the houses. Walls lined it on either side, which were decorated with glazed tiles, portraying lions, life size in relief. The pavement was laid with blocks of stone brought from the mountains. This procession street figured prominently on the New Year's festal day, when the procession of the gods took place.

A knowledge of the work Nebuchadrezzar did serves as a fitting commentary to the passage in : "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built?" He had made the city one of the wonders of the world.

The two sieges by Darius Hystaspes and the one by Xerxes destroyed much of the beauty of the city. Alexander desired to make it again a great center and to build an immense fortress in the city; but in the midst of this undertaking he was murdered, while living in the palace of Nebuchadrezzar. The temple, though frequently destroyed, was in existence in the time of the Seleucids, but the city had long since ceased to be of any importance.