BABEL BABER 181 same height. On the seventh stage was prob- ably placed the ark or tabernacle, which seems to have been again 15 ft. high, and must have nearly, if not entirely, covered the top of the seventh story. The entire original height, allowing three feet for the platform, would thus have been 156 ft., or without the pjat- fprm 153 ft. The whole formed a sort of 6b- lique pyramid, the gentler slope facing the N. E., and the steeper inclining to the S. W. On the N. E. side was the grand entrance, and here stood the vestibule, a separate building, the debris from which, having joined those from the temple itself, fill up the intermediate space, and remarkably prolong the mound in this di- rection." The several stories of this temple appear to have been painted in several colors : the lowest black, representing Saturn; then, in order, Jupiter, orange ; Mars, red ; the Sun, golden ; Venus, yellow ; Mercury, blue ; the moon, silver. Above these was the shrine, in which, according to Herodotus, was a golden table, and a bed well furnished, but no image. Within the shrine, he adds, " no one remains over night, except a native female, one whom the god has chosen in preference to all others, as say the Chaldeans, who are priests of that god. These persons also say, asserting what I do not believe, that the god himself frequents the temple, and reposes on the couch." The purposes to which this temple became devoted from age to age may be gathered from the foregoing. Consecrated, perhaps, at first to the ambition of a monotheistic faith, it passed through several stages of Sabianism or wor- ship of the host of heaven, until the rites per- formed in it sank into the gross idolatry of later times, and it was polluted by the vices which grow out of heathen superstition, as intimated by Herodotus. In one respect this temple, or rather series of temples built on the same spot, subserved a valuable purpose. The Babyloni- ans were given to the study of astronomy ; the temple served also as an observatory, from which the movements of the heavenly bodies could be watched. - Assuming, which is proba- ble, that the mound of Birs Nimrud represent? the most important structure in ancient Baby- lon, it enables us to correct, at least approxi- mately, the statements of the later historians as to the height of the walls which surrounded the city. This temple was at most only 156 ft. high, while we are told that the city walls were 300 or 350 ft., with towers haying a height of 420 ft. These walls would therefore be nearly as high as the dome of St. Paul's, London (365 ft.), and the towers almost as high as the cross which surmounts the dome of St. Peter's at Rome (430 ft.). Of all human structures the apex of the greatest Egyptian pyramid (480 ft.) is the only one which greatly exceeds that as- cribed to the brick towers of Babylon. The only other ruins which have in any way been proposed to be identified with the ancient Babel, are those now denominated El-Kasr and Babil, on the opposite side of the Euphrates, at a dis- tance of about 12 m. from Birs Nimrud. (See BABYLON.) BAB-EL-MANDEB (Arabic, "the gate' of mourning," referring to the dangerous naviga- tion), a strait uniting the Indian ocean (gulf of Aden) with the Red sea, separating Asia from Africa, and situated between the shores of Samhara and Arabia. The distance across, from the projecting cape Bab-el-Mandeb (anc. Palindrormis) on the Arabian shore to the opposite coast of Africa, is about 18 m., the island of Perim and other smaller islands ly- ing in the intermediate space, and dividing the strait into a western channel with a depth of 180 fathoms and an eastern one from 7 to 14 fathoms deep. The latter is most practica- ble for navigation. Perim, commanding the straits, has been in British possession since 1857; a fort has been built at Straits point, and a revolving light was erected in 1861. BABER, Zablr cd-Diii Mohammed, Mogul empe- ror, born in 1482 or 1483, died in December, 1530. He was a descendant of Tamerlane, his father being sultan of Khokan, a Tartar king- dom on the Jaxartes. On his father's death, which happened when he was 11 or 12 years old, the kingdom was seized by his uncle, the sultan of Samarcand, but Baber succeeded in maintaining his rights. Baber's early life was a succession of wars with his neighbors. He was obliged to fly, and went to Khorasan with 300 followers, where he sought assistance from the sultan, which was refused. A number of Mon- gols joined his standard, and Baber marched on Cabool in Afghanistan, which he captured in 1504. The following year he made an ir- ruption into the Punjaub, but did not cross the Indus, and returned to Cabool. He became involved in dissensions in Khorasan in 1506, and for many years was occupied with attempts to recover his paternal possessions. In 1519 he again descended into Hindostan, crossed the Indus, and conquered some towns in the Pun- jaub. In 1524 he advanced to Lahore, which he captured and burned. The next year he ad- vanced to Paniput, about 50 miles from Delhi. Here he encountered the troops of Sultan Ibra- him Lodi, the Afghan sovereign of Delhi, and completely vanquished him, April 27, 1526. Baber's lieutenants occupied Delhi and Agra, while his son Humayun routed another Afghan army, and Baber himself marched south against the Hindoos, and gained a victory over Rana Sanka, the most powerful of their princes. From this time Baber occupied himself in con- solidating his extensive dominions. He made roads with stations for travellers ; directed the land to be measured with a view to equable taxation ; planted gardens and introduced fruit trees ; and established a line of post houses from Agra to Cabool. To great political and military talents Baber joined literary tastes and accomplishments. He wrote a history of his own life in the Mongol language, which has been translated. He founded a dynasty in In- dia which lasted almost three centuries, and
