the Persian Gulf and the alluvial Plain of Babylonia. The tradition is confirmed by the researches of comparative philology. Their first home appears to have been in the low-lying desert which stretches eastward to Chaldea—in the very region, in fact, in which stood the great city of Ur, the modern Mugheir.
The earliest known kings of Shumir resided in Ur, and besides that, it was the principal commercial mart of the country. For, strange as it may appear, when we look on a modern map, and observe the ruins 150 miles from the sea, Ur was then a maritime city, with harbour and docks. Through the accumulation of alluvium brought down by the two great rivers, the Babylonian territory has steadily increased from age to age, and the waters of the Gulf have been pushed back. There was, in early times, a distance of many miles between the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates, and Ur lay very near the mouth of the latter river. The platform of the principal mound which marks the site is faced with a wall 10 feet thick, of red kiln-dried bricks, cemented with bitumen. The mound has something of the shape of a pear, and measures about 2 miles in circumference. This mound representing the town, the suburban district is full of graves of all ages, showing the long period through which the city flourished.
It appears from the inscriptions found at Ur that the city was devoted to the worship of the Moon-god Sin, frequently called "the god Thirty," in allusion to his function as the measurer of time by months. Here stood the great temple of the god, which was partially explored by Mr K. Loftus—a temple built in stages, of which two remain. The bricks of the temple are inscribed with the name of Ur-Bagas, its founder, the first monarch of united Babylonia of whom we know. Some of the hymns used in the ritual service of the temple, or at any rate composed in honour of the god, were obtained by Assurbanipal, and
