Babylone lacus amplissima magnitudine, qui limne asphaltitis appellatur, habet supra natans liquidum bitumen; quo bitumine et latere testaceo structum murum Sameramis circumdedit Babylonem.
At Babylon there is a lake of wide extent which is called the Asphalt Lake, with liquid bitumen floating on it. Semiramis built a wall round Babylon of this bitumen and burnt-brick.
final_alignments\Vitruvius_Architecture_Book_8.json