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The Hindîyah branch, to-day the main stream of the Euphrates, is the old low-lying Pallacopas Canal, which branched westward above Babylon and discharged its waters into the western marshes.
According to Arrian, Alexander, on his way back from Lake Pallacopas, passed close to the tomb of one of the ancient kings, "They say," adds the historian, "that most of the former kings of Assyria were buried among the lakes and swamps." Map of the ruins of Mugheir; from Taylor.
Alexander the Great's first work in Babylonia was cutting a new head for the Pallacopas in solid ground, for hitherto it had been in sandy soil; and it was while reclaiming the marshes farther down-stream that he contracted the fever that killed him.
The immediate object of this voyage is not exactly known. As the Euphrates flows over the adjacent country at certain seasons, the Persian monarchs had cut a canal at Pallacopas, which diverted its superfluous waters into a lake, where they were employed to flood the land.
Upon these works his prisoners of war, Syrians and Egyptians, Jews and Arabs, were employed in vast numbers. The great wall of Babylon was set up anew; so was the temple of Nebo at Borsippa; the reservoir at Sippara, the royal canal, and a part at least of Lake Pallacopas, were excavated; Kouti, Sippara, Borsippa, Babel, rose upon their own ruins.
These preparations were so extensive, that it seems highly probable that Alexander meant to conquer Arabia, as well as explore the navigation of the Arabian Gulf; and indeed his plan and policy always were to unite conquest with discovery. As soon as he had put these preparations in a proper train, he again embarked, and sailed down the Euphrates as far as Pallacopas.
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