independence in their mountain fastnesses, and who, at one time, overran
Babylonia and founded a dynasty there which lasted for several
centuries. The capital of Elam was Susa or Shushan, the seat of an early
monarchy, whose civilisation was derived from the Babylonians.

In the south the Tigris and Euphrates made their way to the region of
salt-marshes, called Marratu in the inscriptions, Merathaim by the
prophet Jeremiah. They were inhabited by the Semitic tribe of the Kaldâ,
whose princes owned an unwilling obedience to the Babylonian kings. One
of them, Merodach-baladan, succeeded in making himself master of
Babylonia, and from that time forward the Kaldâ became so integral a
part of the population as eventually to give their name to the whole of
it. For the writers of Greece and Rome the Babylonians are Chaldæans. It
is probable that Nebuchadrezzar was of Kaldâ origin; if so, this would
have been a further reason for the extension of the tribal name to the
whole country.

The settlement of the Kaldâ in the marshes was of comparatively late
date. Indeed, in the early age of Babylonian history these marshes did
not as yet exist; it was not until Eridu had ceased to be a seaport that
they were reclaimed from the sea. The Kaldâ were the advance-guard of
the Nabatheans and other Aramaic tribes of northern Arabia, who migrated
into Babylonia and pitched their tents on the banks of the Euphrates,
first of all as herdsmen, afterwards as traders. After the fall of the
Babylonian monarchy their numbers and importance increased, and the
Aramaic they spoke--the so-called "Chaldee"--came more and more to
supersede the language of Babylonia.

When first we get a glimpse of Babylonian history, the country is
divided into a number of small principalities. They are all Sumerian,