Chaldea
in ancient geography the regions of Babylonia, or more generally Babylonia. The early history of Chaldæa as a separate kingdom is very uncertainly known. The Chaldæans were conquered by the Assyrians, with Babylon, and waged frequent wars with the latter power. When the Assyrian power began to wane, the Chaldæans, being a more warlike and powerful people than the Babylonians, became supreme; Chal- Babylonia, by their conquests Band Babylon one dæa and Ba under Nebuchadnezzar, became kingdom, and the names Chaldæa and Babylonia became synonymous terms.
CHÂLET, the French-Swiss name for the wooden hut of the Swiss herdsmen CHALMERS on the mountains; but is also extended to Swiss dwelling-houses generally, and to picturesque and ornate villas built in imitation of them.