No. 1.

No. 1. A vessel in which Isis is spreading her veil for the sail; Jupiter Serapis is directing the course of the vessel, and Fortune is guiding it; Jupiter Serapis is therefore here the Baal-Gad, or Lord of Fortune.

BAAL-HAZOR, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, where Absalom kept his flocks. (2 Sam. xiii. 23.) It lay between Bethel and Jericho, eight miles from Jerusalem.

BAAL-HERMON, a mountain in the north of Canaan, near the boundary of the country, the exact situation of which is not known. Some suppose it to be part of Mount Hermon, or that it was a temple of the idol Baal, on Hermon. Judg. iii. 3. 1 Chron. v. 23.

BAAL-MEON, a city in the tribe of Reuben. (Numb. xxxii. 38.) It was taken from Reuben by the Moabites, who were masters of it in the days of Ezekiel, (xxv. 9.) and seems to have been a place of some importance in the time of the Maccabees.

BAAL-PEOR, an idol of the Moabites. See Part I. p. 54. BAAL-PERAZIM, the place where David put the Philistines to flight. (2 Sam. v. 20.) It lay near the valley of Rephaim, or Giants, about 4 miles south-west from Jerusalem; and is probably the Mount Perazim of Isaiah, xxviii. 21.

BAAL-SHALISHA, (2 Kings iv. 42.) a place situated, according to Jerom and Eusebius, in the tribe of Simeon or Dan, 15 miles north of Diospolis.

The Hebrew word Baal-shalisha, means the third idol, or the deity of three, a triple divinity. The idea of triplicate deities was com mon among the ancients, as is proved by ancient medals of different countries. The annexed figure represents this emblem as it exists in the very ancient Hindoo temple at Elephanta, near Bombay.

This image is understood to imply the divinity in his creative, preservative, and destructive, or rather regenerative capacities. This is one of the most extraordinary works of art, of colossal size,

and immensely laborious workmanship.

BAAL-TAMAR, the place of an engagement between the Israelites and the tribe of Benjamin; situated, according to Eusebius, near Gibeah. (Judges xx. 33.) This Hebrew name means the idol of the palm-trees, probably so named from the Canaanites here worshipping Baal in a grove of palm-trees.

BAAL-ZEPHON, a place near the western extremity of the Red Sea. See Part. I. p. 43.

BABEL, a famous tower, built in the land of Shinar. See Part I. p. 14.

BABYLON, the capital city of Chaldea, at first called Babel, was built by Nimrod, (Gen. x. 10.) in the place where the tower of Babel was begun, and was probably the first city built after the flood. Its early history is very obscure, and the accounts of heathen writers respecting it, quite contradictory.

This city was much enlarged and adorned by Semiramis, wife of Ninus, who, it is believed, was the son and successor of Nimrod; but it was most improved in extent and splendour by Nebuchadnezzar, who gloried himself much upon what he had done for it. (Dan. iv. 30.) It was then called Babylon, and for extent and magnificence was the wonder of the world.

According to ancient writers, it was at least forty-five miles in circumference, and was built on both sides of the river Euphrates, in the shape of a square. It had 25 principal streets running each way through its whole length, intersecting each other, and thus dividing the city into 625 squares. The walls of the city were prodigious, being, according to the most moderate accounts, 75 feet high, and 32 feet broad; but Herodotus, a Greek historian, who visited Babylon, says they were 350 feet in height, and 87 feet in breadth or thickness; extending in compass round the city a length of 60 miles. These walls were built of brick, cemented with bitumen, and had around them a deep ditch, filled with water, the sides of which were lined with brick walls; as were also the sides of the river where it flowed through the city. In every side of this great square, at the entrance into the 25 streets, were 25 gates, making, in all, a hundred, which were made of solid brass; and between every two of these gates were three towers. A bridge, five furlongs in length, and thirty feet wide, connected the two parts of the city, which lay one on each side of the river; and at each end of this bridge was a palace. It is even said that there was a subterraneous passage under the bed of the river, from one of these palaces to the other.

In the midst of the city stood a magnificent temple, dedicated to Belus, or Bel; and in the middle of this temple was a stupendous tower, which is supposed to have been the same tower, or part of it, which was left unfinished at the confusion of tongues. It was probably afterwards resumed and completed, and a prodigious city built around it. This tower was in the form of a pyramid, with a square base, each side being

500 feet, and the height was about the same. On the top was a statue of Belus, 40 feet high. This tower was built of bricks, cemented with bitumen. The temple around this tower was erected by Nebuchadnezzar, and was a mile in circumference; it was surrounded by a wall, in which were several gates, all of brass. It is supposed that the brazen sea, the brazen pillars, and the vessels of brass, which were carried from the temple of Jerusalem, were used in making these gates; for we read in Scripture that Nebuchadnezzar put all the sacred vessels which he carried from Jerusalem, into the house of his god at Babylon, that is, into this house or temple of Bel. The image or statue of Bel, on the top of the tower, was probably Nebuchadnezzar's golden image mentioned in Daniel. There were also in this temple many other statues and images of gold, all of which made it so rich, that on the return of Xerxes from his expedition into Greece, he plundered it, and laid it in ruins. Alexander the Great, afterwards wishing to restore it, employed ten thousand men during two months in clearing away and removing the rubbish, but the undertaking was found to be too great, and he was forced to abandon it.

This great city was taken and destroyed by Cyrus, king of Persia, in a manner remarkably corresponding with the prophecies. (Isa. xiii. 17. xxi. 2. xlv. 1-4. Jer. xxv. 11, 12. 1. 24. 38. li. 11. 36. 39. 57.) Thus the glory of Babylon has passed away, according to the word of the Lord, so that it has even been difficult in modern times to discover the place where it

of bricks cemented with bitumen, and extending over a considerable space. Among these ruins appear the remains of a vast monument, which is supposed to have been the great

tower.

The bricks of these ruins are dug up and carried away by the natives, for the purpose of erecting their buildings; and it is said that the town of Hilleh, containing ten or twelve thousand inhabitants, has been mostly built of them. Many of these bricks contain unknown inscriptions, and are in size generally about a foot square and three inches thick. These ruins are now so much infested by venomous reptiles and wild beasts, as to be dangerous of access.

There was also another city called Babylon, situated in Egypt, on the Nile, not far from Cairo.

BABYLONIA, the country round the famous city of Babylon, comprising the greater part of Chaldea, situated in the northeast of Arabia, on both sides of the river Euphrates. The dominion of Babylonia, as an independent empire, may be said to begin with Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, who rendered it independent of Assyria in the year 626 before Christ. Under his son, Nebuchadnezzar, it became very powerful; he took Jerusalem, carried the Jews into captivity, and subdued Egypt. But this power was not of long duration; for in the year 538 before Christ, Cyrus, king of Persia, took Babylon, and put an end to the empire.

BAHURIM, a village near Jerusalem, in the tribe of Benjamin, on the road to Jordan. Here Shimei cursed David, and threw stones at him. 2 Sam. xvi. 5. xvii. 18.

BAMOTH, one of the encampments of the Israelites. (Numb. xxi. 19, 20.) Eusebius says it was a city of Moab, upon the river Arnon.

BAMOTH-BAAL, a city in the tribe of Reuben, east of Jordan. Josh. xiii. 17.

BASCAMA, or Basca, a town in the tribe of Judah, where Jonathan Maccabeus was killed. 1 Macc. xiii. 23.

BASHAN, the kingdom of Og. See Part I. p. 53. BEALOTH, a city in the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 24. BEER, the name of a city (Judg. ix. 21.) four leagues from Jerusalem, in the way to Shechem. The word beer, in Hebrew, signifies a well.

BEER-ELIM, the well of the princes. Isa. xv. 8. Numb. xxi. 18.

BEER-LAHAI-ROI. See Part I. P. 34.