prophet might well be occupied for three days in traversing its squares
and streets. We shall find hereafter that the ruins opposite Mosul have
an extent more than equal to the accommodation of this number of
persons.

The weight of the argument from the supposed parallel ease of Babylon
must depend on the degree of confidence which can be reposed in the
statement made by Herodotus, and on the opinion which is ultimately
formed with regard to the real size of that capital. It would be
improper to anticipate here the conclusions which may be arrived at
hereafter concerning the real dimensions of "Babylon the Great;" but it
may be observed that grave doubts are entertained in many quarters as to
the ancient statements on the subject, and that the ruins do not cover
much more than one twenty-fifth of the space which Herodotus assigns to
the city.

We may, therefore, without much hesitation, set aside the theory which
would ascribe to the ancient Nineveh dimensions nine or ten times
greater than those of London, and proceed to a description of the group
of ruins believed by the best judges to mark the true site.

The ruins opposite Mosul consist of two principal Mounds, known
respectively as Nebbi-Yunus and Koyunjik. [PLATE XXXVI., Fig. 2.] The
Koyunjik mound, which lies to the north-west of the other, at the
distance of 900 yards, or a little more than half a mile, is very much
the more considerable of the two. Its shape is an irregular oval,
elongated to a point towards the north-east, in the line of its greater
axis. The surface is nearly flat; the sides slope at a steep angle, and
are furrowed with numerous ravines, worn in the soft material by the
rains of some thirty centuries. The greatest height of the mound above