are two principal masses--the more northern known to the Arabs as EL
KASR, "the Palace," and the more southern as "the mound of Amran," from
the tomb of a reputed prophet Amran-ibn-Ali, which crowns its summit.
The Kasr mound is an oblong square, about 700 yards long by 600 broad,
with the sides facing the cardinal points. [PLATE XII., Fig. 2.] Its
height above the plain is 70 feet. Its longer direction is from north
to south. As far as it has been penetrated, it consists mainly of
rubbish-loose bricks, tiles, and fragments of stone. In a few places
only are there undisturbed remains of building. One such relic is a
subterranean passage, seven feet in height, floored and walled with
baked brick, and covered in at the top with great blocks of sandstone,
which may either have been a secret exit or more probably an enormous
drain. Another is the Kasr, or "palace" proper, whence the mound has
its name. This is a fragment of excellent brick masonry in a wonderful
state of preservation, consisting of walls, piers, and buttresses, and
in places ornamented with pilasters, but of too fragmentary a character
to furnish the modern inquirer with any clue to the original plan of the
building. The bricks are of a pale yellow color and of the best possible
quality, nearly resembling our fire-bricks. They are stamped, one and
all, with the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar. The mortar in which
they are laid is a fine lime cement, which adheres so closely to the
bricks that it is difficult to obtain a specimen entire. In the dust
at the foot of the walls are numerous fragments of brick, painted, and
covered with a thick enamel or glaze. Here, too, have been found a few
fragments of sculptured stone, and slabs containing an account of the
erection of a palatial edifice by Nebuchadnezzar. Near the northern edge
of the mound, and about midway in its breadth, is a colossal figure of a
lion, rudely carved in black basalt, standing over the prostrate figure
of a man with arms outstretched. A single tree grows on the huge ruin,
which the Arabs declare to be of a species not known elsewhere, and