Though this is certainly the case, there are no ruins at Hillah; the nearest being at a distance of two miles to the north, and upon the eastern side of the river. The first of these remains consists of a vast mound of earth, three thousand three hundred feet long, by two thousand four hundred feet broad, at its base, curved, at the south side, into the form of a quadrant. Its height is sixty feet at the highest part: and the whole appears to have been formed by the decomposition of sun-dried bricks, channelled and furrowed by the weather; and having the surface strewed with pieces of pottery, bricks, and bitumen. This mound is called Amran.
On the north of this mound is another square, of two thousand one hundred feet, having one of its angles,—to the south-west,—connected with the other by a ridge, three hundred feet broad, and of considerable height. The building, of which this is a ruin, seems to have been finished in a very particular manner, for the bricks are of the finest description. "This is the place," says Mr. Rich, "where Beauchamp made his observations, and it is certainly the most interesting part of the ruins of Babylon. Every vestige discoverable in it declares it to have been composed of buildings far superior to all the rest, which have left traces in the eastern quarter: the bricks are of the finest description; and notwithstanding this is the grand storehouse of them, and that the greatest supplies have been, and are now, constantly drawn from it, they appear still to be abundant."
To the north of this ruin is a ravine, hollowed out by brick-searchers, about three hundred feet long, ninety wide, and one hundred and twenty feet deep. At the north end of this ravine an opening leads to a subterranean passage, floored and walled with large bricks, laid in bitumen, and roofed with single slabs of sand-stone, three feet thick, and from eight to twelve long. In this passage was found a colossal piece of sculpture, in black marble. "There I discovered," says Mr. Rich, "what Beauchamp saw imperfectly, and understood from the natives to be an idol[127]. I was told the same thing[128], and that it was discovered by an old Arab in digging, but that, not knowing what to do with it, he covered it up again." On sending for the old man, and he having pointed out the spot, Mr. Rich set a number of men to work, and, after a day's hard labour, they laid open enough of the statue to show that it was a lion of colossal dimensions, standing on a pedestal. Its material was a gray granite, and it was of rude workmanship.
The mound, last described, is called by the natives the palace (El Kasr)[129]. The walls are eight feet thick, ornamented with niches, and strengthened by pilasters and buttresses, all built of fine brick, laid in lime cement of such tenacity, that it cannot be separated without breaking. Hence it is, that so much of it remains perfect. This remarkable ruin is visible from a considerable distance, and is so fresh, that it is only upon minute inspection, that Mr. Rich became satisfied, that it is really a Babylonian remain. Near this are several hollows, in which several persons have lost their lives; so that no one will now venture into them, and their entrances are, therefore, become choked with rubbish.
There are two paths near this ruin, made by the workmen, who carry down their bricks to the river side, whence they are transported to Hillah; and at a short distance to the north-north-east the celebrated tree stands, which is called by the natives Athelè, and which they assert to have once flourished in the hanging gardens; and which they as religiously believe God purposely preserved, that it might afford Mahomet a convenient shade, beneath which to tie up his horse, after the battle of Hillah! It is an evergreen, of the lignum-vitæ species. "Its trunk has been originally enormous; but at last, worn away by time, only part of its original circumference, hollow and shattered, supports the whole of its yet spreading and evergreen branches. They are particularly beautiful, being adorned with long tress-like tendrils, resembling heron-feathers, growing from a central stem. These slender and delicate sprays, bending towards the ground, gave the whole an appearance of a weeping-willow, while their gentle waving in the wind made a low and melancholy sound. This tree is revered as holy by the Arabs, from a tradition among them, that the Almighty preserved it here, from the earliest time, to form a refuge in after ages for the Caliph Ali; who, fainting with fatigue from the battle of Hillah, found a secure repose under its shade. The battle adverted to was fought within so short a period after the death of Mahomet, that, if any credit is to be given to the rest of the tale, the age of the tree must already have extended to a thousand years!"
When Mr. Kinneir visited Hillah the girth of the tree was, two feet from the ground, four feet seven inches. Its height twenty feet.
Nine hundred and fifty yards from the side of the river, and about a mile to the north of what is called the palace, stands the most remarkable ruin of the eastern division. This is called Mukallibè, a word signifying "overturned." This was visited, in 1616, by Della Valle, who determined it to be the tower of Belus; and this opinion has been adopted, erroneously, by Rennell and other writers. It is of an oblong shape, irregular in its height and the measurement of its sides, which face the cardinal points; the northern side being two hundred yards in length; the southern side, two hundred and nineteen; the eastern, one hundred and eighty-two; and the western, one hundred and thirty-six. The elevation of the highest angle, one hundred and forty-one feet. This mound is a solid mass. Near its summit appears a low wall, with interruptions, built of unburnt bricks, laid in clay mortar of great thickness, having a layer of reeds between every layer of bricks. On the north side are vestiges of a similar wall. The south-west angle, which is the highest point, terminates in a turret; or, rather, heaps of rubbish, in digging into which, layers of broken burnt brick, cemented with mortar, are discovered, and whole bricks, with inscriptions on them, are here and there found. The whole is covered with innumerable fragments of brick, pottery, pebbles, bitumen, vitrified scoria, and even shells, bits of glass, and mother-of-pearl! When Mr. Rich saw all these, he inquired of the Turk, that acted as guide, how he imagined the glass and mother-of-pearl came there?—"They were brought here by the deluge," answered the Turk.
In describing this mound, Major Keppell says, that he found it full of large holes. "We entered one of them, and found them strewed with the carcases and skeletons of animals recently killed. The ordure of wild beasts was so strong, that prudence got the better of curiosity; for we had no doubt as to the savage nature of the inhabitants. Our guides, indeed, told us, that all the ruins abounded in lions and other wild beasts." Mr. Rich found, also, quantities of porcupine quills; and most of the cavities, he says, are peopled with bats and owls.
The pile on the Mujelibé is called Haroot and Maroot, by the Arabs; and they believe that, near the foot of the pyramid, there still exists, though invisible to mankind, a well, in which those two wicked angels were condemned by the Almighty to be suspended by the heels until the end of the world, as a punishment for their vanity and presumption.[130]
In another part of the ruins were found a brass pike and some earthen vessels (one of which was very thin, and had the remains of fine white varnish on the outside);—also a beam of date-tree wood. Continuing the work downwards, the men arrived at a passage, in which they discovered a wooden coffin; opening which they found a skeleton, perfect in all its parts. Under the head was placed a round pebble, and a brass ornament was attached to the skeleton. On the outside, another brass ornament was found, representing a bird: and a little farther on, they discovered the skeleton of a child. No skulls were found, either here or in the sepulchral urns that were at the bank of the river.