BAASEIAH

BAASEIAH.— A Kohathite (1 Ch 6"; prob. an error for Maaseiah).

BAASHA, king o£ Israel, obtained tlie crown by- usurpation. He was an officer o£ the army under Nadab, son ot Jeroboam i., and while the army was besieging Gibbethon, a Philistine town, he slew his king and mounted the throne. The execution ot the whole house oJ Jeroboam followed. Baasha was a warlike ruler, and carried on war with Judah throughout his reign. The only incident preserved to us is his capture and fortification of Ramah, which led to the interference of Benhadad, as already recounted in the article Asa. Although Baasha died in his bed after a reign of twenty-tour years, his dynasty was extinguished two years after his death (1 K 15"-16»).

H. P. Smith.

BABBLER.— Ac 17is 'What will (RV 'would') this babbler say?' The Gr. word translated 'babbler' means one who picks up a precarious Uving, like a crow. ' The language of such persons,' says Bp. Chase, ' was, and is, plentiful and (on occasion) low'; but it is possible that the Athenians applied the word to St. Paul not on account of his speech, but his looks. In that case the modern coinage 'carpet-bagger' would give the sense.

BABE.— See Child.

BABEL, TOWER OP.— See Towee of Babel.

BABI. — Head of a family which returned with Ezra (1 Es 8='); called in Ezr 8" Bebai.

BABYLON .—Babel is the Hebrew form of the native name Bab-ili, 'Gate of God.' It was also Tin-lir or 'Seat of life,' and E or B-ki. It is likely that these names once denoted separate towns gradually incor-porated. Other quarters of Babylon were Shu-anna, Te, Shuppatu, and Litamu. According to the Heb. tradition (Gu 10'°), it was as old as Erech, Akkad, and Calneh. Native tradition makes it as old as Erech and Nippur, the latter being proved by excavations to date back to prehistoric times. Babylon is from BSb-Uani. It lay on the E. bank ot the Euphrates, part of its site being now occupied by Hillah, about 50 miles S. of Baghdad. The ruins extend for 5 miles N. to S. Babil, the N. ruin, covers 120,000 sq. ft. and is still 90 ft. high. It covers the remains ot the celebrated Esagila temple. The Mujellibeh is not much less in area, and 28 ft. high.

The Kasr contains the ruins of Nebuchadrezzar's palace, along whose E. side ran the sacred procession street, decorated with enamelled tiles representing the dragon and the re'em, to the Istar-gate at the S.E. corner. The whole was enclosed within an irregular triangle, formed by two lines ot ramparts and the river, an area ot about 8 sq. miles. The city crossed the river to the W., where are remains of a palace of Neri-glissar. In later times it became coterminous with many other large cities, and Herodotus ascribes to it a circuit of 55 miles. The German excavations now being carried on may be expected to solve the many problems connected with the site.

From the very earliest times the kings and rulers of Babylonia worked at the building of its temples, palaces, walls, bridges, quays, etc. Hammurabi first raised it to be the capital of all Babylonia. It was sacked by Sennacherib in B.C. 689', the chief palaces, temples, and city walls levelled with the ground, and the waters ot the Euphrates turned over it. Esarhaddon began to rebuild it, and it stood another long siege under his son, Ashurbanipal. Nabopolassar began its restoration; Nebuchadrezzar raised it to its height ot glory. Cyrus took it without resistance, and held his court there. Darius Hystaspis besieged, took it, and destroyed its walls. Xerxes plundered it. Alexander the Great planned to restore it. Antiochus Soter actually began the restoration of its great temple. The foundation ot Seleucia robbed it of its population, but the temple

BADGERS' SKINS

services continued to b.c. 29, at least. See, further, Assyria and Babylokia. C. H. W. Johns.

BABYLON (in NT). — Babylon was apparently used by the early Church as a symbol for Rome. 1. In Rev. (148 1818 17s 182. 10. 21) its destruction is foretold, because of its sins, and particularly because of its persecution. Such identification is, however, somewhat uncertain, and rests ultimately on the improbability that the word in the connexion in which it appears can refer to the city of Mesopotamia (the word is so used in Mt 1" 12", Ac 7"). This basal probability is supported by the fact that Babylon is called ' mystery ' in Rev 17', is said to be seated on seven mountains (v. 9), and to be a centre of commerce and authority (IS'-" 17. 14«). Rome is apparently called Babylon in Sib. Or. v. 143, 158; 2 Es.; Apoc. Baruch.

This identification of Babylon in Revelation with Rome dates at least from the time of Jerome. The attempt to identify it with an apostate Judah and Jerusalem can hardly De taken seriously. The fact that Revelation utilized the Jewiahapocalyp tic ma terialfurther makes it imperative that the term symboUze a powerwhichstood related both to Christians and Jews, in a way parallel with the relation of Babylon to the ancient Hebrew nation.

2. The reference to Babylon in 1 P 5" has had three interpretations: (a) Babylon in Egypt, mentioned by Strabo and Epiphanius; (6) Babylon on the Euphrates; and (c) Rome. In view of the symbolic use ot the word 'Babylon,' as mentioned in the foregoing, the last seems the most probable. Eusebius {HE 11. 15) so interprets the reference, and, in view ot the ancient and persistent tradition, there is nothing improbable in St. Peter's having been in Rome. This probability is strengthened by the reference to' the persecution to which Christians were being sub^^ed. Assyrian Babylon in the second half ot the 1st ciM. was in decay, and 1 Peter would be particularly appropriate if sent out from the seat ot a persecution, such as that of Nero, or possibly of Domitian. Shaileb Mathewb.

BABYLONISH GARMENT ('addereth Shin'ar).— Stolen by Achan (Jos 72'); literally 'mantle of Shinar'; probably a cloak of embroidered stuff. Babylonia was famous in classical times for such costly garments, and the sculptures exhibit the most elaborately em-broidered dresses. The Babylonian inscriptions enumer-ate an almost endless variety of such garments, worked in many colours. C. H. W. Johns.

BACA, VALLEY OF.— An allegorical place-name, found only in Ps 8#, where the RV renders ' Valley of Weeping.' Most probably it is no more an actual locality than is the 'Valley of the Shadow of Death' in Ps 23*. R. A. S. Macalistek.

BACCHIDES. — Governor of Mesopotamia under Demetrius Soter; sent to establish Alcimus (wh. see) in the priesthood; defeated Jonathan the Maccabee, and at a later period besieged him in the fortress of Bethbasi; was finally compelled to entertain proposals for peace (1 Mac 7»-2» 9'-« 10>2; Jos. Ant. xii. x.-xiii. i.).

BACCHUBUS. — A singer who put away his foreign wife (1 Es 92<).

BACCHUS.— See Dionysus.

BACENOR.-AnofflcerotJudasMaccabffiUs(2Maol2»).

BADGER.— Rock badger (Lv ll' RVm), i.e. Hyrax SyriacMS. See Coney.

BADGERS' SKINS.— Mentioned (in AV) as the upper covering of the Tabernacle, etc. (Ex 25' 26" etc.), and materials for making sandals (Ezk 16'°). It is almost certain the word tahash is mistranslated 'badger,' as badgers, though found in Southern Palestine, are not common enough, nor are their skins suitable for such use to have been made ot them. The RV sealskins (mg. porpoise-skins) hardly eases the difiiculty zoologically, although having some support from etymology. De-litzsch, from the similarity of tahash to the Assyr.tahshan = ' wether,' thinks it probable that the word means

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