thereupon leaving her head half drest 〈…〉 besieged it never ordering the rest of her hair 〈…〉 had recovered it Of this great Lady it is recorded That she was born in Ascalon a Town of Syria and exposed to the fury of Wild Beasts but being born not to dye so ingloriously she was brought up by Shepherds and at full Age presented to the Syrian Vice Roy who gave her in marriage to his only Son going with him to the Wars she fell into acquaintance with King Ninus who liking her Person and Spirit took her to his bed This bred in him a greater Affection to her so that he granted her at her request the command of the Empire for 5 days making a Decree that her Will in all things should be punctually performed which boon being gotten she put on the Royal Robes and as some writers report commanded the King to be slain Having thus gotten the Empire she exceedingly inlarged it leading her Army consisting of one hundred Thousand Chariots of War three Millions of Foot and half a Million of Horse A Woman worthy of Honour and Applause but only for her insatiable Lusts of which the Greek Writers charge her to be very guilty This Queen Semiramis caused an huge Obelisk or Pyramid to be cut out of the Armenian Mountains all of one entire stone one hundred and fifty foot long and twenty four foot thick which was foursquare and was brought with much difficulty to the River Euphrates and from thence to Babylon where she erected it to be a matter of admiration to future Ages Babylon likewise revolted from the Persians in the Reign of Darius Hyslaspes and that Victuals might 〈…〉 for the Men of War they strangled 〈…〉 of the Women they being then it seems 〈…〉 to be necessary Evils when they had for 〈…〉 obstinately defended the Town that the 〈…〉 had very little hope of prevailing Zopyrus one 〈…〉 Captains mangling his body and disâ—iguring 〈◊〉 Face by cutting off his own Ears and Nose â—ed to the Babylonians complaining of the Tyranny of the King as if he had been thus cruel to him The Babylonians believing his Words and knowing his Courage committed the charge of the whole Army to him as a man to whom such barbarous usage had made the King irreconcileable But he taking the best Opportunity delivered both the Town and Souldiers into the hands of his Soveraign which made Darius often say That he had rather have one Zopyrus than Twenty Babylonians Here dyed Alexander the Great after whose Death the Graecian Captains regardful rather of their own Ambition than the Common Loyalty divided the Empire amongst themselves leaving the body of the King eight days unburied A wonderful change of Fortune that he who living thought the World too small for his valour being dead should find no place big enough for his Body The Walls of this City were built of Stone and wonderful high strongly joyned together with Lime and Ciment growing in the Mines of that Countrey but especially in the great Lake of Asphaltites in Judea where sometime Sodom and Gomorrah stood within the Town were a great number of Marble Temples and Golden Images whole Streets shining and glittering with Gold and precious Stones And among other Temples there was one of Belus built by Semiramis and dedicated to Cush or Jupiter Belus fourfquare each side containing two Furlorys or a Thousand Paces with thick Towering Walls and entred by four Gates of polished Brass In thâ— midst thereof there was a Tower sometimes reckon 〈◊〉 one of the 〈◊〉 Wonders it had an hundred Braâ—en 〈◊〉 and â—wo Hundred and Fifty Towers and 〈…〉 a quarâ—â—r of a mile both in height and bredth uâ—on which were raised eight other Towers one above another with easie stairs to ascend up to the top where there 〈◊〉 a Chappel with a sumptuous Bed and a Table of â—old In the top of this Chappel were placed three Golden Statues one of Jupiter 40 Foot long weighing a Thousand Talents each Talent containing 63 pounds 10 Ounces Another Image of Ops weighing as much sitting in a Golden Throne at her Feet were two Lyons and hard by divers huge Serpents of Silver each weighing Thirty Talents The third Image was of Juno standing in weight eight hundred Talents to all which was added a Common Table of Gold forty foot long and twelve broad weighing 50 Talents There were also two standing Cups of 30 Talents and 2 Vessels for perfumes of the like weight Besides 3 other Vessels of Gold weighing twelve hundred Talents All which the Persian Kings after the Conquest of it took away Finally such wonderful things are written by credible Authors of Artificial Mountains Orchards and Gardens hanging in the Air that they seem almost incredible All which demonstrates the wonderful Wealth and Glory of those Monarchs in that time But after the taking of it by the Macedonians the grandeur and magnificence thereof began to decline lessening a fourth part in the time of Quintus Curtius and was reduced to Desolation in the days of Pliny and in the Reign of the Emperor Adrian there was nothing left of Babylon but a poor Wall which served for a Park for Wild Beasts in which the Kings of Persia used to hunt and those who have lately travelled thither relate it is now so full of Lyons and Savage Beasts yea and of Robbers and Murtherers that Passengers are forced to have Souldiers to Guard them from whence we may by the way observe the exact accomplishment of the Prophecy of Jeremiah ch 51. concerning this City A drought is upon her Waters and I will dry up her Sea and make her Springs dry and Babylon shall become heaps a dwelling place for Dragons an astonishment and an hissing without an Inhabitant The Wild Beasts of the Desert with the Wild Beasts of the Islands shall dwell there and the Out shall dwell there and it shall be no more inhabited neither shall it be dwelt in from Generation to Generation and the Land shall be Desert and Dry. And it is certainly reported by Travellers that there is not nowany Town or Village near that once famous City nor so much as a Tree or green Herb in all that Territory but all is become a sandy Desart For Bagdat which is now called New Babylon is a days Journey from the place where the old City stood and this barrenness is wonderful considering the admirable fruitfulness thereof in times past which Pliny saith was the most fruitful Countrey of all the East and that the ground usually yielded two hundred and some years Three Hundred for one Treasure of Time Vol 1. III. The Second Wonder of the World is reckoned to be The Colossus of the Sun which was at Rhodes It was the Statue or Figure of a man dedicated by the Gentiles to the Sun and some say to Jupiter it was composed of Brass of an incredible bigness and in height like a mighty Tower so that it can hardly be imagined how
said to have poysoned the Fountains of water for which they were every where seized upon and burned About the same time likewise it rained blood and two Mountains were swallowed up by an Earthquake strange fires flames and a burning beam were seen in the Air. XXIV In 1382 A. Bishop Ceurtney appointed a Convocation to be held in London principally against Wickliff and those who declared against the many corruptions of the Romish Church at which time this memorable accident fell out when they were all met together at the Gray-Friers in London just at that very instant when they were beginning there business against Wickliff there fell out a wonderful and terrible Earthquake throughout all England whereupon divers of the Bishops being affrighted with the terror of it thought good to leave off their further proceeding therein In 1388 a Blazing Star appeared in the Heavens which burned for two Months together At Oxford the Image of a head spake thus Caput decidetur c. The head shall be cut off The head shall be lift up The feet shall be elevated above the Head This was followed by a Sedition in Oxford among the Schollers many of whom dislike the Government an Army of Forty Thousand are raised by the Duke of Glocester Earls of Warwick Derby and Nottingham Fifty Thousand Christians are slain in the Plains of Casovia very great Factions are at this time in France In 1390 a great Comet appeared after which King John of Castile dyed with a fall from his horse Presently after John Hus and Jerom of Prague oppose the Pope Mary Queen of Hungary dyes In 1399 a running River in Bedfordshire divides it self a Blazing Star was visible this year which shot wonderful Beams of fire from it About this time Scotland is wasted by the English The Frizons in Holland rebel King Sigismund executed 32 of the Nobles in Hungary The Pope is imprisoned by the King of France the Duke of Hereford being banished returns into England and soon after King Richard II is deposed and murthered the Duke succeeding by the name of King Henry IV. In 1402 a mighty Comet was seen in the Heavens and so the year after at this time Tamerlane Emperor of the Tartars enters Asia calling himself Iram Dei Vastitatem Terrae The wrath of God and the Destroyer of the earth He kills Two Hundred Thousand Turks takes Bajâ—zet Prisoner shackles him and puts him in an â—ron Cage and earries him Captive through all Asâ—a making him his Footstool when he ascended his horse John Hus is condemned and burnt for an Heretick at Constans In 1415 strange Prodigies were seen in Brittain a Dragon encountring a Lyon in the air armies of fire were seen fighting and one party overcoming in the Heavens a great Eclipse of the Sun at which time the English fight with the French under King Henry V. at Agincourt the French lose twenty thousand men ten thousand bâ—â—ng killed upon the place and as many taken Prisoners Pope Gregory dyes the English invade Normanâ—â— The King of Spain sells the Canaries to the King of Sevil the Valentians are made Tributary to the Turks In 1421 another Comet appears in the Heavens King Henry V. of England dyeth and the next year Charls VI. King of France dyeth Zisca routs the Emperors Forces and burns Cathna which place for the sake of the Silver Mines he called The Purse of Antichrist he commanded that after his death his skin should be flead off and put upon a drum supposing that as he had been victorious against his enemies while he lived so that might have the same effect against them after his decease Not long before this there was such a terrible Earthquake at Lar in Persia as overthrew Five Hundred Houses XXV Very great Snows fell in Germany in the year 1428 and a mighty Earthquake happened in Italy The Winter was wonderful cold especially in all the Northern Countreys after this the Danes spoil Thirty Ships of great value which belonged to the Vandals and Hambnrgers the Turks take Thessalonica from the Venetians The English lose much in France In 1439 a Comet of a mighty magnitude is seen in Poland Swarms of Bees in England go in progress a great Earthquake happened in Hungaria Soon after an Universal Pestilence rageth throughout the whole world Albertus the Emperor dyeth and likewise the King of Bohemia The Marshal of France is burnt for Sorcery and Witchcraft Amurath the Great Turk wasts Hungary but is at last expelled by Corvinus Huniades The French are twice beaten by the English in Normandy The Polanders wast Silesia In 1450 another great Comet appeared Amurath Emperor of the Turks dies at the siege of Croia Scanderbeg the great overcometh Mustapha his Competitor XXVI In the month of June 1456 appeared two Comets and the same year August 24 there happened most tempestuous winds in Tuscany such as never had been before heard of which wrought most marvellous and memorable effects for an hour before day there arose from the Sea toward Ancona a great and dark cloud crossing Italy and entring the Sea toward Pisa stretching two Miles in compass This storm was furiously carryed either by natural or supernatural force and seemed divided into many parts as it were fighting among themselves and of those broken clouds some were hoised up toward Heaven some violently cast down and others with wonderful speed were turned round but always before these Clouds came a Wind with Lightnings and flashings of fire such as cannot be exprest of these broken and confused Clouds and of those furious Winds and great Flames there grew so strange a noise as moved the People to greater fear than any Earthquake or Thunder ever had done insomuch that every man thought the World was ended and that the Earth the Water and the Heavens would have returned to its first Chaos and Confusion this fearful storm wheresoever it passed wrought marvellous and wonderful offects but the most remarkable of all happened about the Castle of St. Cassiano This Castle is built upon a Hill which parteth the vales of Pisa and Greive 8 Miles distant from Florence Betwixt this Castle and the Town of St. Andrea built upon the same Hill this furious Tempest passed not coming to St. Andrea but at St. Cassiano threw down divers Turrets and Chimnies and near to it subverted whole houses even to the ground and carried away the roofs of the Churches of St. Martino a Bagnolo St. Maria della pace whole bearing them from thence unbroken above a Mile one man a Carrier was taken up and in the Valley near the Highway both he and his Mules were found dead Also all the greatest Oaks and â—strongest Trees which would not bend at the fury of the Tempest were not only blown down but violently carryed from the places where they grew The next day after this horrible tempest when some of the Inhabitants who fled for fear thereof returned they were strangely astonished for they found the
such a destruction as is impossible to bedâ—scribed and at present 't is not throughly known what damage it hath done upon the eighth of this Moneth it pleased God not by any extraordinary rains from Heaven to our thinking to open the Mountains like Fountains and to cause the Seaso to swell that in less than four hours it overflowed the Town throughout sixteen foot high which prevented us not only from saving our Goods but also with great hazard of our lives have we escaped yet many lost their Lives with great destruction both of the Houses and Walls For my own part I feared my life for my house trembled under me extreamly so that not only my self but my whole Family had been destroyed had it continued but a small time longer though the Water ebbed not for Twenty four hours Many Iron Mills were destroyed many Thousand Loads of Charcoal were carryed away many bags of Wool spoiled All their Shops with their Goods were much damaged God knows the trouble we underwent and still I am every day in the mud half my height looking after my Goods and am fain to keep many men digging to find them and am looking out for bread to maintain my Family a little Chicken costs us two shillings in Spanish Plate In brief neither Horse Mule Hog nor any other Living Creature that goes upon the ground hath escaped drowning but only such as fled to the tops of the Mountains The destruction and losses of â—his Town are unspeakable the very pavement and ground being carryed away at least Ten Foot deep and the River hath altered its Chanel The first work that we now set upon by command of Authority is to throw away the Fish which the water brought with it which being tainted smells so abominably that we fear it will bring the Plague amongst us but we hope by to morrow night to throw it all into the River and thereby be rid of this stink and our next work must be to cleanse the River LXXII In 1652 There was a great Eclipse of the Sun and Two Eclipses of the Moon A Two handed Sword was seen in the Air in Cheshire and Armies of men encountring each other appeared in the North a Comet was visible in the Signs Gemini and Taurus from December 11 to the 30. This year the English subdued Scotland and beat the Dutch at Sea They beat the French at Sea this year also The English Parliament firnamed the Long are turned out of Doors by their own Army In 1653 Oliver Cromwell a private Gentleman by Birth but then General of the Army assumes the Government of Great Britain by the Title of Lord Protector of England Scotland and Ireland The King of the Romans and the Pope in two years after dye strange and unheard of Alterations in Law and Government here in England new Courts of Justice Council of State Major Generals In 1654 was another Eclipse of the Sun and an Earthquake in the West of England Apparitions are visible in the Air in the North of England A very great Rain falls in Bohemia At this time the English take Jamaica and make War with Spain The English and Swedes unite In 1655. Castles Cities and Towns appear in the Air in England and seem to be besieged the different Actions and Gestures of Men both Commanders and Souldiers being plainly visible This year Cardinal Guisi is made Pope by the Title of Innocent the 10. The Polanders are routed by the Swedes In 1656 An Earthquake happened in Cheshire doing much harm sinking the Ground and rending up many Trees by the Roots to the great damage of the Countrey In November a fiery Dragon was seen in the Air in Scotland This year the English land in Flanders and take Mardike from the Spaniards they become angry thereat and Wars between them grow high The King of Denmark was twice invaded by the King of Sweden There fell such abundance of Rain at Vienna in Germany that the River Danubius swelling above its banks the violence of the Waters broke down all the Bridges and most of their Mills Yea the Water came into their Suburbs called The Jews Suburbs drowning many Persons and carrying away a very great number of Cattel and did so great mischief to the Countrey that the loss was thought inestimable there being sixteen Towns and Villages swept away by the Flood Gadbury de Comet LXXIII In 1658 A great Whale came up to Greenwich near London a thing seldom known before This year Dunkirk was taken by the English Sir Henry Slingsby and Dr. Heuit being condemned by an High Court of Justice as they called it were beheaded at Towerhill and Sept. 3. following which used to be a great day of Triumph in Olivers Court for two great Victories at Dunbar and Worcester was turned into a day of Mourning by the Death of their Protector who dyed about 4 or 5 a Clock that day and Richard Cromwel confidently succeeds him in the Government as if it had been his just due Nay some People in England send such sugred Addresses to him that he believed himself to be what they flatteringly stiled him The King of Sweden loses much this year and dyes In 1659 there was a very great Inundation in Holland which overflowed Thirty Six Thousand Acres of Ground Also a great Eclipse of the Sun in Scorpio November 4. Lofty and strange unwonted Winds In May 1659 the Long Parliament returned and turned out Richard Cromwell but were soon after turned out themselves by Lambert and the Army A Committee of safety is set up The L. General Monk being troubled to behold the Confusions of the English Proceedings marched out of Scotland and after the Committee of Safety was fallen brings in the secluded Members of the Long Parliament who soon after dissolve themselves and call another Parliament who restore His Royal Majesty King Charles 2. to His just Rights and Priviledges whom God preserve with a Long and Happy Reign over us Gadbury of Prodigies LXXIV In 16â—0 Feb. 20. At Dantzick in Poland when the Sun was going down there were seen seven Suns together very distinctly in the Heavens three of them coloured and three white besides the True Sun it self about which was a Circle much like a Rainbow In 1661. Jan. 28. There is a Relation that near Worsup in Nottinghamshire there was an appearance of a gallant Troop of Horse marching which a Justice of Peace having notice of related to a Person of Honour thinking them to be real Men and Horses but upon a strict inquiry it was concluded to be only an Apparition The same Relation says about that time there happened a strange and dreadful storm of Hail at Northampton and fire mingled with the hail in some places and that it did run upon the ground in great sheets of Fire for a considerable way together It fell upon some part of Wellinborough Town in Northamptonshire Upon February 18. this year very early in the morning began a
have heard the Villanies of the German Troops recited with Tears Among others a beautiful Maid was hid by her Parents in a Dunghil but they discovering her ravished her and then barbarously cutting her in pieces hung her quarters up in the Church and bid her Friends pray to the Saints for her relief In the Land of Brunswick two Souldiers took a Girl of ten years old and carryed her into the Wood to ravish her The Mother with hands held up came running after our Coach saith my Author crying out to my Colonel but he being a stranger had no command there and could not relieve her soon after wesaw the 2 Horsemen come out of the Wood whether they left the poor Child dead or alive I know not Some virtuous and chast women they have offered to kill or thrown their Children into the Fire to make them yield They spared not the very Nuns but after they had broke into their Cloysters and pillaged them of all their goods they have likewise ravished and killed some of them Some Women have leaped into Rivers and Wells others have killed themselves because they would not be subject to the lusts of these Hellish Furies nay not only sick and weak Virgins and Women have been violated till they dyed but these wretches have committed filthiness with the dead Bodies LIX But fourthly as to Robberies and Pillaging they were so numerous that no man could pass any where in Germany but he was robbed stript and perhaps killed The Merchants of Frankford Noremburg Leipswick Hamburg c. have had too woful experience thereof The Merchants of Basil returning from the Mart of Strasburg and other Fairs were set upon by the Imperialists in their Lodgings and though they offered to prove themselves Merchants and so ought to pass freely yea though they begged their Lives upon their knees yet they villanously murdered Ten of them saying They must dye because they were Hereticks The rest leaving their Goods and Cloaths behind escaped stark naked in the night by flight Yea the very Convoys who pretended to guard Travellers were oft times as bad as the Enemies watching all occasions to cheat them of their money goods and Horses spoyling their Waggons when they made a stand and rifling and stripping the meanest person if he stragled in the least from the Company Two Countesses of great Nobility with their fair Daughters were entertained by us saith my Author in the Castle of Heidelburg and when provision grew scarce they went away with the Enemies pasport notwithstanding which they were robbed and riâ—â—ed in their Coaches of all they had not leaving them the very Garments that covered them yea they shamefully plundred the Danish Ambassador though priviledged by his Office in all Nations so that the case was strangely altered in Germany where not long before a man might have rid with an hundred pound in his pocket and only a whip in his hand through all those Countreys without the least fear of being injured But now the very Souldiers even robbed one another if they found them in the least out of their quarters neither did they acknowledge God nor Devil but in their cursed Oaths and Blasphemies nor was there any action so vile but they were ready to commit it and this introduces the next particular LX. Which is Fifthly to relate the Bloudshed and Murders committed by them to report the whole of which will be equally impossible and incredible Alstedius saith that before the K. of Sweden came into Germany the Wars had consumed an Hundred Thousand and if so how many Millions have miserably perished The cruelty of the Souldiers toward the Inhabitants of those Countreys is inexpressible all persons having the same measure without distinction At Lanshood in Bavaria the Souldiers entred by force killing not only all they found in Arms but the very Priests kneeling at the Altars and the poor Peasants and Countrey People were killed upon every slight occasion There were among the Imperialists a base rascally sort of Horsemen called Croats or Crabbats aforementioned the tenth part whereof were not of that Countrey but a miscellany or mixture of all Nations without God or Religion having only the outsides of men and scarce that neither but were bloody Monsters within These Rakehels made no Conscience of murthering men and women both old and young yea of very innocent Babes whom like the Wild Beasts among which they were bred these Villains inhumanely eat when they might have had other food By these the poor people were barbarously knocked down in the Fields and Highwayes and likewise slaughtered stab'd and tortur'd I have seen them saith my Author beat out the brains of poor old decrepit Women only in sport and commit many other outrages too long to relate yea it was so common for the poor people to see others killed that as if there had been no Relation Affection Neighbourhood or Kindred none pitied them or had any compassion upon them hardly any cryed out Oh my Father Oh my Brother c. The Croats very seldom gave Quarter but killed all that were at their mercy and others received Pay for bringing the Noses and Ears of their Enemies to their Masters Tilly after the defeat of the D. of Brunswick at Hâ—uxt on the River Main drew out of that Town Threescore Souldiers and caused them all to be killed in cold blood before the Gate saying That he sacrificed them to Count Mansfield their Master LXI Lastly For Burnings pulling down and ruining of Churches Cities Villages the like hath never been heard The Swedish Army burned above Two Thousand Villages in revenge of the Cruelties acted in the Palatinate But their Enemies spared neither Friends nor Foes what goodly Houses of the Nobility and Gentry were on every side defaced or burnt to Ashes So that all men betook themselves to Arms No tilling of the Land no breeding of Cattel no place secure but the Camp no Plow to follow but the War for he that was not an Actor with the rest must of necessity be a miserable suffererâ— If they should have sowed any thing one year the next year the Souldiers would have devoured it so that they judged it better to sit still than to labour and let others reap the benefit thereof from whence proceeded an Universal Desolation most of the People and Inhabitants swarmed as banished men in other Countreys as in Switzerland France Italy and the Venetian Territorys From Basil to Strasburg and from thence to Heidelburg and Marpurg which was some Hundreds of miles I scarce saw a man saith my Author in the Fields and Villages Little better was it in travelling from France to the middle of Bohemia and from the Alpes about Auspurg to the Baltick Sea though a compass of ground of above Two Thousand miles and not much less than three times all Brittain the greatest part of the People being destroyed and extinguished by Wars length of time and all manner of miseries LXII Famine cometh in
a multitude of Miracles and Prodigies of Nature I shall now proceed to those of Art The Chineses look upon themselves as the wisest People upon the face of the Earth they use therefore to say That they see with both Eyes and all other Nations but with one only and thereupon they boast though I know not with what Truth and Justice that the most famous Inventions which have been so lately known to us in Europe have been no Strangers to them for many Ages past however I shall relate what are most observable both in these and other Nations It is likewise recorded that Augustus Caesar having several ways adorned and fortifyed the City of Rome putting it into a condition of bravery and security for after times he thereupon gloried That he found Rome of brick and left it of Marble and certainly nothing makes more for the just Glory of a Prince than to leave his Dominions in better State than he found them Yet the vast Expences of some Princes and People had been more truly commendable and their mighty works more really glorious had they therein consulted more of the Publick good and less of their own Ostentation However it may not be unpleasant nor unprofitable to describe them and likewise to relate the most curious Inventions and Rarities in all Ages even to these times which have been more favourable to Learning than the former and wherein Arts have been thereby improved to the height 1. But first concerning Buildings the most famous structure we first read of was immediately after the Universal Deluge or Noah's Flood for Nimrod the Son of Chus the Son of Cham perswaded the People to secure themselves from the like after-claps by building some stupendious Edifice which might resist the fury of a second Deluge This Counsel was generally imbraced Heber only and his Family as the Tradition goes contradicting such an unlawful attempt But the major part prevailing the Tower of Babel began to rear its Head of Majesty Five Thousand One Hundred Forty six Paces from the Ground having its Basis and circumference equal to its height The Passage to go up went winding about the outside and was of an exceeding great breadth there being not only room for Horses Carts and the likemeans of Carriage to meet and turn but lodgings also for Man and Beast And as Verslegan reports Grass and Corn-fields for their nourishment and admirable it is to consider what multitudes of men there were in the World in so short a space there being but eight persons that came out of the Ark and now this Building was carried on by Five Hundred Thousand Men the Foundation of it was nine miles compass But God by the Confusion of Tongues hindred the Proceeding of this Building one not being able to understand what his Fellow called for which Du Bartas wittily describes Bring me quoth one a Trowel quickly quick One brings him up a Hammer hew this brick Another bids and then they cleave a Tree Make fast this Rope and then they let it flee One calls for Planks Another Morter lacks They bring the first a Stone the last an Ax One would have Nails and him a Spade they give Another asks a Saw and gets a Sieve Thus crosly crost they prate and rail in vain What one hath made another spoils again This makes them leave their work and like mad Fools Scatter their Stuff and tumble down their Tools II. We read in several Ancient Histories of The seven Marvels or Wonders of the World The first whereof they reckoned to be The Walls of Babylon This City of Babylon was seated on the Banks of the River Euphrates which ran through the midst of it over which Semiramuis built a strong and stately Bridge of a mile long binding each stone together with clips of Iron fastened with melted Lead and is the ancientest City of the World first built by Nimrod in the place appointed for the raising of the Tower of Babel and by him made the Imperial Seat of the Chaldeaâ— Kings afterward much beautified and inlarged by Semiramis the Wife of Ninus one of his Successors and finally much increased both in bulk and beauty by Nebuchadnezzar for he added a new City to the old which he compassed about with three Walls and made therein three stately Gates and near his Fathers Palace he built another more stately where he raised Stone Works like mountains which he planted with all manner of Trees He made also Pensile Gardens hanging as it were in the Sky borne upon Arches four-square each square containing four hundred foot filled above with Earth wherein grew all sorts of Trees and Plants The Arches were built one upon another even to fifty Cubits high He likewise made Aquâ—â—iucts for watering these Gardens He erected an Image of Gold in the Plain of Dura sixty Cubits high and six broad These stately Buildings puft him up who therefore arrogated to himself the whole Glory of them saying in his Pride Is not this the great Babel that I have built a City of great Fame and State The compass of the Walls were 365 Furlongs or forty six some say threescore miles according to the number of the days of the year in height two hundred Cubits and fifty Cubits in bredth that six Chariots or Carriages might meet on the top they were finished in one year by the hands of Two Hundred Thousand Workmen The City was foursquare and fifteen miles from one corner to another Insomuch that Aristotle saith It ought rather to be called a Countrey than a City adding withal That when the Town was taken it was three days before the furthest parts of the Town had any Intelligence thereof which taking of the Town must be understood of the surprize thereof by the Medes and Persians in the Reign of Beshazzar when Daniel the Prophet interpreted to that King the words Mene Tekel Peres which were miraculously written by a hand upon the Wall as he was banquetting with his Nobility and foretold the very day before it was taken that God had given his Kingdom to the Medes and Perfians All which was accomplished the might following when Darius King of Media and Persia besieging Babylon took it on a sudden with the help of his Nephew Cyrus the Persian in the time of a great Feast when the King Nobility and People contemning their Enemies being over-confident of their own strength minded only their Sports and Pastimes which we read was surprized after this manner The River Euphrates ran quite through the Town round about whose banks the politick Cyrus cut many and deep Channels into which he in a very short time drained and emptied the River conveying his own Forces into the Town all along the dry and yeilding Channel and in a little 〈◊〉 made himself Master of it the Babylonians being 〈◊〉 in Wine and Debauchery In the Reign of 〈◊〉 Semiramis this City revolted from her and 〈…〉 thereof coming to her as she was ordering 〈…〉 she
Egyptian Kings intended these for their Sepulchres yet it happened that they were not buried therein For the People being inraged against them for the slavery and toilsomness of the work and for their Cruelty and oppression they threatned to tear in peices their dead Bodies and with scorn and ignominy to throw them out of their Sepulchres whereupon these Princes commanded their Friends that when they were dead they should bury them in some obscure place The Tomb is cut smooth and plain without any sculpture or ingraving The outsides contain in length 7 Foot 3 Inches and half in depth 3 foot 4 Inches and the same breadth the hollow part within is about six foot long the depth two foot whereby it appears that mens bodies are as big now as they were Three Thousand year ago for it is near so long since this Tomb was made The charge whereof was so great that though the workmen had no other Food but Garlick Radishes and Onions yet it cost that King eighteen Hundred Talents Some with great labor and pains have climbed to the top of this Pyramid but being above they have seemed as it were to lose their sight by looking down judging themselves to be above the clouds whereby their Brains were much troubled Next to this in bulk and beauty is said to be the Pyramid of a Daughter of Cheops who as Authors report to finish her Fathers undertaking and raise her own to the height prostituted her body to all Comers requiring but one stone toward the work from each one of her Customers Treasury of Time Not far from this Pyramid are the Egyptian Mummies which are the Graves of the ancient Egyptians into which are descents like the narrow mouths of Wells some near Ten Fathoms deep leading into long Vaults hewn out of the Rock with Pillars of the same Between every Arch lye the Corps ranked one by another of all sides which are innumerable shrouded in a number of Folds of Linnen and swathed with Bands of the same the breasts of many being marked with strange Hieroglyphick Characters The Linnen being pull'd off the bodies appear solid uncorrupt and perfect in all their dimensions To keep these from Putrefaction they draw the Brains out at the Nostrils with an Iron Instrument filling the head with preservative spices then cutting up the Belly with an Ethiopian Stone they take forth the Bowels cleanse the inside with wine and so stuffing it with a composition of Myrrhe Cassia and other odours they closed it up again The same the poorer sort effected with Bitumen fetched from the Lake of Sodom whereby they have been preserved to this day having lain there for above Three Thousand years Clarks Mirrour First Part. On the Bank of the River Nilus stood that famous Labyrinth built by Psammiticus King of Egypt situate on the South side of the Pyramids and North of Arsinoe It contained within the compass of one continued Wall a Thousand Houses Herodotus says three Thousand five hundred and twelve Royal Palaces all covered with Marble and had one only entrance but innumerable turnings and returnings sometimes one over another and all very difficult to such as were not acquainted with them The Building was more under ground than above the Marblestones being laid with such Art that neither wood nor cement was imployed in any part of the Fabrick The chambers were so ordered that the doors upon there opening gave a Report no less terrible than a crack of Thunder The chief entrance was all of white Marble adorned with stately Columns and most curious Imagery Having got to the end of it a pair of stairs of ninety steps conducted into a gallant Porch or Portico supported with Pillars of Theban Marble which was the entrance into a fair and stately Hall the place of the General Convention or meeting of the Nobles of the Kingdom all of polished marble set out with the Statues of their Gods A work which afterward was imitated by Dedalus in the Cretan Labyrinth though it fell as short of the Glories of this as Minos the King who was at the charge thereof was inferiour to Psammiticus in power and Riches Heylins Cosmography The lake of Maeris was likewise a most admirable work undertaken and finished by Maeris one of the Egyptian Kings which for greatness and colour is like the Sea It is about six hundred furlongs from the City of Memphis the circumference thereof containing some hundreds of furlongs the depth fifty fathom or three hundred feet many Millions of men were imployed several years about it the benefit of it to the Egyptians and the wisdom of that King cannot be sufficiently commended for since the rising of the River Nilus is not alwayes alike and the Countrey is more fruitful by the moderateness thereof He digged this Lake to receive the superfluity of the waters that neither by the greatness of the Inundation it should cause Marishes or by the scarcity of water the Earth should not yield her strength â—he therefore cut a ditch from the River to this Lake fourscore furlongs long and three hundred feet in breadth by which sometimes receiving in and sometimes diverting the River he gave at his pleasure a sufficient quantity of water to the Husbandmen In the midst of this Lake King Maeris built a Sepulcher and 2 Pyramids each of them an hundred fathoms high placing upon them two Marble Statues fitting on a Throne one representing himself the other his wife designing hereby to make his Memory Immortal The Revenues which rise by the Fish of this Lake he gave to his wife to buy sweet Ointments Ornaments and Jewels which was so great that it amounted to above a Thousand pound a day For it was mightily replenished with Fish of Twenty sorts so that very many were continually imployed in catching and salting of them Diodorus Siculus Hist 5. The Fourth Marvel or Wonder of the World was the Tomb of Mausolus King of Caria a Province in the Greater Asia built by his Queen Artemisia who as Historians report so dearly affected her husband that she is by many recorded as an absolute pattern of Conjugal Affection After his death she lamented his loss with extraordinary Sorrow and Complaints and resolved to erect a Tomb or Sepulcher for him answerable to the extream Love she had for him and such indeed it proved to be being accounted for rare workmanship and costly magnificence one of the Worlds Wonders The Stone of the whole Structure was of most curious Marble four hundred and eleven foot in Circuit and 25 Cubits high supported with Thirty gallant Pillars excellently ingraven This building was open on all sides with Arches 73 foot wide framed by the most exquisite workmen of that Age and the perfection of the work was so admirable that ever after all sumptuous and beautiful Tombs were called Mausolaea of which Martial thus writeth Mausolus Tomb which hangeth in the skie The Men of Caria's Praises Deifie It is recorded that Artemisia after