From the slightly raised ground on which Rachel with her new companion were standing, she could see these city walls—a double row of them—stretching away to form a gigantic square enclosing the river, the woods and gardens, and all the strange buildings which made up the city.
“Oh look! look!” she cried suddenly, as all at once, actually on the top of one of the inner walls, she saw a brilliantly painted chariot drawn by four horses, coming at a furious pace towards her. It was driven by a long-haired man who stood upright within the car, urging on his steeds—till he came so near the end of the wall that Rachel held her breath, expecting to see chariot, horses and driver dashed to the ground. But, before she could cry out, the man, with marvellous skill, turned horses and chariot, and drove at full speed back again along the wide top of the wall.
“Just think of a wall broad enough for four horses to gallop along—and turn!” Rachel almost screamed the words in her excitement.
“That is Akurgal, the driver of the king’s chariot,” said the little Babylonian girl, unconcernedly. “He drives like the wind for fury when it pleases him.”
Rachel scarcely knew in which direction to look first, so glorious was the view. She saw that each of the four sides of the wall was pierced by gigantic gates made of bronze—all the gates opening upon broad streets which crossed one another, so that the whole city was divided into squares, filled with gardens and houses. The broad river flowed through it from north to south, and over the river hung a mighty bridge, at each end of which was a palace.
It was difficult for Rachel to make up her mind in which direction to turn her eyes, but the sight of something that appeared like a forest-covered mountain rising near one of the palaces, was so lovely that she pointed to it and turned to Salome.
“What a beautiful mountain!” she exclaimed. “How funny there should be only one—because the rest of the country is so flat. There isn’t another hill as far as ever I can see,” she added, glancing over the wide plain in which the city lay.
Salome smiled.
“That is no mountain,” she said. “It was made by human hands. It is the great glory of our city, and, so my mistress says, in time to come, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon will be called one of the Wonders of the World.”