Shat-el-Arab; and there is ample reason for believing that at the time
when the first Chaldaean monarchy was established, the Persian Gulf
reached inland, 120 or 130 miles further than at present. We must
deduct therefore from the estimate of extent grounded upon the existing
state of things, a tract of land 130 miles long and some 60 or 70 broad,
which has been gained from the sea in the course of about forty
centuries. This deduction will reduce Chaldaea to a kingdom of somewhat
narrow limits; for it will contain no more than about 23,000 square
miles. This, it is true, exceeds the area of all ancient Greece,
including Thessaly, Acarnania, and the islands; it nearly equals that of
the Low Countries, to which Chaldaea presents some analogy; it is almost
exactly that of the modern kingdom of Denmark; but it is less than
Scotland, or Ireland, or Portugal, or Bavaria; it is more than doubled
by England, more than quadrupled by Prussia, and more than octupled by
Spain, France, and European Turkey. Certainly, therefore, it was not in
consequence of its size that Chaldaea became so important a country in
the early ages, but rather in consequence of certain advantages of the
soil, climate, and position, which will be considered in the next
chapter.

It has been already noticed that in the ancient Chaldaea, the
chief--almost the sole-geographical features, were the rivers. Nothing
is more remarkable even now than the featureless character of the region,
although in the course of ages it has received from man some
interruptions of the original uniformity. On all sides a dead level
extends itself, broken only by single solitary mounds, the remains of
ancient temples or cities, by long lines of slightly elevated embankment
marking the course of canals, ancient or recent, and towards the
south--by a few sand-hills. The only further variety is that of color; for
while the banks of the streams, the marsh-grounds, and the country for a