THE END
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[1]. Usually called in England The East India House Inscription.
[3]. Smith’s Etemenanki Inscription:—
I have discovered a Babylonian text, giving a remarkable account of the temple of Belus at Babylon, and as my approaching departure for Nineveh does not allow me time to make a full translation of the document, I have prepared a short account for your readers, giving the principal points in the arrangement and dimensions of the building....
First, I must remark on the Babylonian measures used, that they are principally the cubit, equal to about one foot eight inches English, and the gar or sa, equal to 12 cubits, or 20 feet English; but there is another series of numbers used in measuring, consisting apparently of numbers of barleycorns arranged in sixties, thus the first number is a length of 11. 33. 20, which consists of 11 × 3600 ÷ 33 × 60 ÷ 20 barleycorns, or 1155 feet 7 inches. The barleycorn was the standard unit of measure among the Babylonians, and for this reason was used sometimes in measures of length without the other terms.
First in the tablet we have the measure of the outer court, called the “Grand Court,” which is given at 11. 33. 20 in length (that is about 1156 feet) and 9 in breadth (that is, 900 feet). There is a calculation as to the area of this court, which I pass over, and come to the next court called the “Court of Ishtar and Zamama.” This space is reckoned as 10. 33. 20 in length (1056 feet) and 430 (450 feet) in breadth. There is again here a calculation of the area which I omit.
Round the court were 6 gates admitting to the temples. These were: 1, the grand gate; 2, the gate of the rising sun (east); 3, the great gate; 4, the gate of the Colossi; 5, the gate of the Canal; and 6, the gate of the tower-view.