The Tower of Babel Stele

[Karlis]

Carved on a black stone, which has already been dubbed the Tower of Babel stele, the inscription dates to 604-562 BCE. The spectacular stone monument clearly shows the Tower and King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled Babylon some 2,500 years ago. Read more...

THE TOWER OF BABEL STELE

MS in Neo Babylonian on black stone, Babylon, 604-562 BC, stele with rounded top, 47x25x11 cm, the back of the lower 2/3 missing, 3 columns, 3+24+24+24 lines in cuneiform script, to the left: carving of the Tower of Babel from a front view, clearly showing the relative proportions of the 7 steps including the temple on the top; to the right: the standing figure of Nebuchadnezzar II with his royal conical hat, holding a staff in his left hand and a scroll with the rebuilding plans of the Tower (or a foundation nail) in his outstretched right hand; at the top: a line drawing of the ground plan of the temple on the top, showing both the outer walls and the inner arrangement of rooms, ... Source

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Fascinating!

[The_Spartan]

The tower looks more like a Ziggurat, which in fact was the scyscrapers of those ancient times.

[Abramelin]

The tower looks more like a Ziggurat, which in fact was the scyscrapers of those ancient times.

Maybe that's because it is a ziggurat.

The "Tower of Babel" was no doubt added to attract attention.

[Liquidburn]

A lot of the stuff I have read regarding the tower of babel generally assumes it was built as a ziggurat as that would have been the only was to support a super tall tower with the tech they had back then.

[questionmark]

What gets my attention is the date. Around 600 BC? Could that have been put there with a more pious intention than history?

[Mentalcase]

What gets my attention is the date. Around 600 BC? Could that have been put there with a more pious intention than history?

Are you saying bible thumpers created it?

[Munkh]

Awesome I love finds like these. I wonder what other treasure he had stashed away

[Aus Der Box Skeptisch]

Any mention of the Babel fish?

[questionmark]

Are you saying bible thumpers created it?

Well, given that the story is at least 3000 years older and does not appear in many other contexts, excluding the inverosimil that could be one of the explanations

As I have not seen the thingy close enough to see it myself I cannot say if the second verosimile explanation applies: Taken out of context in the translation.

[JohnathanA]

Very interesting!

[lakeview rud]

Ah, the Babel Fish!! That would allow all who are not deaf to hear God's final message to His people...."Sorry for the Inconvenience". Remember to grab your towel when the apocalypse arrives!!!

[SlimJim22]

We don't have a suspected site for the Tower, right? It is only logical the story was taken from Ziggurats but what was the Tower? Entemenanki seems the most likely candidate. Is this the ame as the Ziggurat of Ur?

A link shows Entemenanki to have been around and in a habitable state off and on for the periods relevant to the stele.

http://www.livius.org/es-ez/etemenanki/etemenanki.html

Alternatively, I am somewhat suspicious how the site of the Tower is unverified and the existence of Solomon's Temple is equally unidentified by archaeology. Could this mean theoretically that both of these auspicious sites could refer to the Temple Mount?

[questionmark]

We don't have a suspected site for the Tower, right? It is only logical the story was taken from Ziggurats but what was the Tower? Entemenanki seems the most likely candidate. Is this the ame as the Ziggurat of Ur?

A link shows Entemenanki to have been around and in a habitable state off and on for the periods relevant to the stele.

http://www.livius.or...etemenanki.html

Alternatively, I am somewhat suspicious how the site of the Tower is unverified and the existence of Solomon's Temple is equally unidentified by archaeology. Could this mean theoretically that both of these auspicious sites could refer to the Temple Mount?

Or they could refer to the same location as Middle Earth...

[cormac mac airt]

We don't have a suspected site for the Tower, right? It is only logical the story was taken from Ziggurats but what was the Tower? Entemenanki seems the most likely candidate. Is this the ame as the Ziggurat of Ur?

A link shows Entemenanki to have been around and in a habitable state off and on for the periods relevant to the stele.

http://www.livius.org/es-ez/etemenanki/etemenanki.html

Alternatively, I am somewhat suspicious how the site of the Tower is unverified and the existence of Solomon's Temple is equally unidentified by archaeology. Could this mean theoretically that both of these auspicious sites could refer to the Temple Mount?

Not unless the "land of Shinar" got up and moved from Israel to Mesopotamia.

cormac

[SlimJim22]

With respect both, don't dismiss too quickly. Shinar may have meant the kingdom on Babylon which was very large at points. It covered up to areas of Northern Syria and may well have encompassed the Phoenician coast. The placement of the story of the Tower in Genesis indicates a point following the flood but well before the time of Abraham. Abraham's ancestor Eber was alive at the time of the Tower's building and several generations went in between. The building of the Tower would thus appear to have occured prior to 3000 BCE. Whereabouts is not easily realized because the Ziggurats could well have been imitations of the original Tower. It was certainly important for the urbanisation and Patriarchal control through priesthoods and stood as a potent symbol in a world of symbols. The steps to heaven feature in Sumerian/Bablyonian myths but what of Israel and the Temple Mount prior 3000 BCE? Again it is not that clear is it? Who occupied the land there? Was it not cults of Babylonian Gods like Marduk and Nergal?

http://www.answersingenesis.org/contents/379/arj/v4/Tower_Babel.pdf

Secrets get veiled and the location of the Tower of Babel once it was destroyed and tongues confused would likely have been kept under wraps therefore putting a red herring of calling it the same name as the empire makes a lot of sense because people would naturally believe where the empire retreated to must have been the epicentre from the beginning. That is not always true and maybe there is at least reason to consider what I am suggesting given the lack of firm evidence and extreme mystery surrounding both sites. Later writings and artists impressions have no doubt influenced us but wouldn't it make sense?

[TCMike]

Well if we go according to Biblical dates, the earth was created roughly 6000 years ago, and the Flood of Noah was about 4500 years ago. That would put the building of the tower of babel maybe 100 to 200 years later after the flood, say between 4400 to 4300 years ago.

[granpa]

one of the apocryphal books says that babel took place during the time of abram.

according to the septuagint the flood took place 2242 years after adam

and abram was born 1170 years after the flood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogies_of_Genesis#Genesis_numbers

Edited January 23, 2012 by granpa