Note FD — PREFACE TO THE EDITION OF 1814 (continued 2)

Herodotus thus describes the temple of Belus:—"... A square enclosure two furlongs each way, with gates of solid brass; which were also remaining in my time. In the middle of the precinct there was a tower of solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon which was raised a second tower, and on that a third, and so up to eight. The ascent to the top is on the outside, by a path which winds round all the towers. When one is about half way up, one finds a resting place and seats, where persons are wont to sit some time in their way to the summit. On the topmost tower there is a spacious Temple, and inside the Temple stands a couch of unusual size, richly adorned, with a golden table by its side. There is no statue of any kind set up in the place.... The Chaldeans, the priests of this God, declare—but I, for my part, do not credit it—that the God comes down nightly into this chamber and sleeps upon the couch."—Herodotus, i. 181. See Rawlinson's version, vol. i. pp. 319, 320. Compare also Josephus, Ant. Jud. x. 11, and Strabo, 16.—ED.