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Assyria possesses a vast number of great cities, whereof the most
renowned and strongest at this time was Babylon, whither, after the
fall of Nineveh, the seat of government had been removed. The
following is a description of the place: The city stands on a broad
plain, and is an exact square, a hundred and twenty furlongs in length
each way, so that the entire circuit is four hundred and eighty
furlongs. While such is its size, in magnificence there is no other
city that approaches to it. It is surrounded, in the first place, by
a broad and deep moat, full of water, behind which rises a wall fifty
royal cubits in width, and two hundred in height. (The royal cubit
is longer by three fingers' breadth than the common cubit.)
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