[455] Loftus, (p. 129). "It rather struck me, however, from the gradual inclination from top to base, that a grand staircase of the same width as the upper story, occupied this side of the structure."
[456] Loftus, Travels, &c., p. 133.
[457] At Warka, around the ruin called Wuswas by the Arabs, Loftus traced the plan of these great courtyards and platforms (Travels, p. 171).
[458] See above, p. 246, figs. 100 and 102.
[459] Numerous pieces of glazed tile were found in these ruins.
[460] The idea of this plinth was suggested to M. Chipiez by a remark made on page 129 of Loftus's Travels: "Between the stories is a gradual stepped incline about seven feet in perpendicular height, which may however, be accidental, and arise from the destruction of the upper part of the lower story."
[461] See Taylor, Journal, &c., pp. 264-5.
[462] Loftus, Travels, p. 130. It was the same with the Observatory at Khorsabad.
[463] Layard, Discoveries, p. 495.
[464] The authorities made use of by Strabo for his description of Babylon, all lived in the time of Alexander and his successors; no one of them could have seen the temple intact and measured its height. Founded upon tradition or upon the inspection of the remains, the figure given by the geographer can only be approximate. I should think it is probably an exaggeration.