The Tower of Babel has survived. The Mystery of the Tower of Babel

Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research at the University of Colorado used computer simulations to recreate the combination of wind and waves that could have created the strip of land described in the Book of Exodus in the water...

The 15mm diameter seal depicting a human figure and a lion was discovered at an archaeological site in Beit Shemesh, a city mentioned in the Old Testament as a stopping place for the Philistine caravan returning the Ark of the Covenant to Israel after it was stolen. Ancient Beit Shemesh was located between two other biblical cities - Zorah and Eshtaol.

Only the Bible tells about the Ark, which does not in the least convince of the existence of a real prototype. The technical description of the device is obvious nonsense. Heavy double-sided gold upholstery, but the Ark is supposed to be carried on the shoulders using poles. But gold is not only heavy, but also a fragile, soft metal, clearly unsuitable for rings bearing the weight of the Ark...

There are few legends in Christendom more famous than the story of the Babylonian Pandemonium. The Bible (Genesis 11:1-9) talks about it this way: “The whole earth had one language and one speech. Moving from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to each other: Let us make bricks and burn them with fire. And they used bricks instead of stones, and earthen resin instead of lime. And they said: Let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose height reaches to heaven...

The inscriptions on this black stone date back to 604-562 BC. The slab depicts King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled Babylon more than 2,500 years ago, and the legendary Tower of Babel. To be more precise, then, of course, what we have in front of us is not literally it, but the ziggurat of Etemenanki. Historians consider this 91-meter structure to be the prototype of the legendary tower from the Bible...

Website [ ex ulenspiegel.od.ua ] 2005-2015

Tower of Babel: fiction or truth?

Maxim - Skazanie. info

There are few legends in Christendom more famous than the story of the Babylonian Pandemonium.

The Bible (Genesis 11:1-9) puts it this way:

“The whole earth had one language and one dialect. Moving from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to each other: Let us make bricks and burn them with fire. And they used bricks instead of stones, and earthen resin instead of lime. And they said, Let us build ourselves a city and a tower, its height reaching to heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves, before we are scattered over the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men were building. And the Lord said: Behold, there is one people, and they all have one language; and this is what they began to do, and they will not deviate from what they planned to do; Let us go down and confuse their language there, so that one does not understand the speech of the other. And the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore the name was given to it: Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout all the earth.”

What is Shinar, where the proud decided to build a giant? This is how the Bible calls the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in ancient times. He is also Sumer, geographically modern Iraq.

According to Genesis, this is the time between the Flood and the migration of Abraham from Mesopotamia to Palestine. Biblical scholars (believing biblical scholars) date the life of Abraham to the beginning of the second millennium BC. Therefore, the Babylonian Confusion in the literal biblical version takes place sometime in the third millennium BC, several generations before Abraham (the reality of the character is not the topic of this article).

Josephus supports this version: post-flood people do not want to depend on the gods, they build a tower to heaven, the gods are angry, confusion of languages, cessation of construction.

We already have something: built in Sumer in the 3rd millennium BC. For historians, the Bible alone is not enough, so let us next listen to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia themselves:

“By this time, Marduk ordered me to erect the Tower of Babel, which before me had been weakened and brought to the point of fall, with its foundation installed on the chest of the underworld, and its top to go into the skies,” writes Nabopolassar.

“I had a hand in completing the peak of Etemenanka so that it could compete with the sky,” writes his son, Nebuchadnezzar.

In 1899, German archaeologist Robert Koldewey, exploring the desert hills 100 km south of Baghdad, discovers the ruins of a forgotten Babylon. Koldewey will spend the next 15 years of his life excavating it. And it will confirm two legends: about the Gardens of Babylon and about the Tower of Babel.

Koldewey discovered the square base of the Etemenanka temple, 90 meters wide. The above words of the kings were discovered during the same excavations on cuneiform clay tablets of Babylon. Every major city in Babylon had to have a ziggurat (pyramid temple). The Etemenanki Temple (Temple of the Cornerstone of Heaven and Earth) had 7 tiers painted in different colors. Each tier functioned as a temple to a deity. The pyramid was crowned with a golden statue of Marduk, the supreme god of the Babylonians. The height of Etemenanka was 91 meters. Compared to the Cheops Pyramid (142 meters), it is a rather impressive structure. For ancient people it created the impression of a staircase to heaven. And this “stairs” was built from baked clay bricks, as it is written in the Bible.

Now let's connect the data. How did the Etemenanka Temple get into the Bible?

Nebuchadnezzar II (Nebuchadnezzar II) at the beginning of the 6th century BC. destroyed the kingdom of Judah, relocating the population to Babylon. It was there that the Jews, who by that time had not yet completed the formation of the Old Testament, saw the ziggurats that struck their imagination. And the dilapidated or unfinished temple of Etemenanka. It is most likely that Nebuchadnezzar used the captives to restore the cultural monument of his ancestors and build new ones. There the slaves’ version appeared: “balal” - “mixing” (Hebrew). After all, Jews had never encountered such multilingualism before. But in the native language, "Babylon" meant "God's Gate." There a version appeared that God once destroyed this tower. The ancient Jews seem to be trying to use myth to condemn construction work involving slaves. Where the Babylonians wanted to become closer to the gods, the Jews saw sacrilege.

Herodotus describes the Tower of Babel as 8-tiered, 180 meters at the base. It is quite possible that under our ziggurat there is another, missing tier. In addition, there is indirect evidence that the Temple of Etemenanka already stood under Hammurabi (XVIII century BC). It is not yet known for certain when construction began.

March 31, 2019

Korea, Ancient holiday Hansik: do not eat hot food to appease the fire, symbolizing the coming warmth, and bring gifts to the graves of ancestors

1284- Bishop Ely founds Peterhouse, the oldest and smallest college of the University of Cambridge

1461- Jonah of Moscow, the last Moscow saint who bore the title of Metropolitan of Kyiv, died; canonized

1499- the future Pope Pius IV (Giovanni Angelo de' Medici) was born

1675- the future Pope Benedict XIV (Prospero Lambertini) was born

1682- burning of Avvakum and his followers by order of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich and Patriarch Joachim

1860- Rodney Gypsy Smith, evangelist, born

1869- Allan Kardec (Hippolyte Leon Denizard-Rivaille), the founder of spiritualism, died

1927- born Eduardo Martinez Somalo, Catholic cardinal

1930- Born Julián Herranz Cassado, Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church

1959- Tibetan Buddhist leader Dalai Lama fled Chinese-occupied Tibet

Random Joke

A liner is sinking in the middle of the ocean. The captain is in a panic, and then he is informed that among the passengers there is a rabbi who can perform miracles. He is urgently brought to the captain, and he asks:
- Rabbi, what can we do?
- Is there Internet?
- Eat!
- Then quickly sell the ship.

The Creator sat on the Throne and reflected. Behind Him stretched the boundless expanse of heaven, bathed in the splendor of light and colors; in front of Him the black night of Space stood like a wall. He rose to the very zenith, like a majestic steep mountain, and His divine head shone in the heights like a distant sun...

Sabbath day. As usual, no one follows it. Nobody but our family. Sinners everywhere gather in crowds and indulge in fun. Men, women, girls, boys - everyone drinks wine, fights, dances, gambles, laughs, screams, sings. And they do all sorts of other abominations...

Received the Mad Prophet today. He is a good man, and, in my opinion, his intelligence is much better than his reputation. He received this nickname a long time ago and completely undeservedly, since he simply makes forecasts and does not prophesy. He doesn't pretend to be. He makes his forecasts based on history and statistics...

The first day of the fourth month of the year 747 from the beginning of the world. Today I am 60 years old, for I was born in the year 687 from the beginning of the world. My relatives came to me and begged me to marry so that our family would not be cut off. I am still young to take on such concerns, although I know that my father Enoch, and my grandfather Jared, and my great-grandfather Maleleel, and great-great-grandfather Cainan, all married at the age that I have reached on this day...

Another discovery. One day I noticed that William McKinley looked very sick. This is the very first lion, and I became very attached to him from the very beginning. I examined the poor fellow, looking for the cause of his illness, and discovered that he had an unchewed head of cabbage stuck in his throat. I couldn't pull it out, so I took a broomstick and pushed it in...

...Love, peace, peace, endless quiet joy - this is how we knew life in the Garden of Eden. Living was a pleasure. The passing time left no traces - no suffering, no decrepitude; illnesses, sorrows, and worries had no place in Eden. They were hiding behind its fence, but could not penetrate it...

I'm almost a day old. I showed up yesterday. So, in any case, it seems to me. And, probably, this is exactly so, because if there was the day before yesterday, I did not exist then, otherwise I would remember it. It is possible, however, that I simply did not notice when it was the day before yesterday, although it was...

This new creature with long hair really bothers me. It sticks out in front of my eyes all the time and follows me on my heels. I don’t like it at all: I’m not used to society. I wish I could go to other animals...

Dagestanis is a term for the peoples originally living in Dagestan. There are about 30 peoples and ethnographic groups in Dagestan. In addition to Russians, Azerbaijanis and Chechens, who make up a significant proportion of the population of the republic, these are Avars, Dargins, Kumti, Lezgins, Laks, Tabasarans, Nogais, Rutuls, Aguls, Tats, etc.

Circassians (self-called Adyghe) are a people in Karachay-Cherkessia. In Turkey and other countries of Western Asia, Circassians are also called all people from the North. Caucasus. Believers are Sunni Muslims. The Kabardino-Circassian language belongs to the Caucasian (Iberian-Caucasian) languages ​​(Abkhazian-Adyghe group). Writing based on the Russian alphabet.

To the question Where is the Tower of Babel in our time asked by the author Eurovision the best answer is The ruins of the tower are located on the banks of the Euphrates, about 90 km south of modern Baghdad in Iraq.
The Tower of Babel (Hebrew: מגדל בבל‎ Migdal Bavel) is a tower to which the biblical legend is dedicated, set out in the first nine verses of chapter 11 of the book of Genesis. According to this legend, after the Flood, humanity was represented by one people speaking the same language. From the east, people came to the land of Shinar (in the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates), where they decided to build a city (Babylon) and a tower high to heaven in order to “make a name for themselves.” The construction of the tower was interrupted by God, who created new languages ​​for different people, because of which they ceased to understand each other, could not continue the construction of the city and the tower, and were scattered throughout the earth. Thus, the story of the Tower of Babel explains the emergence of different languages ​​after the Flood.

During excavations in Babylon, the German scientist Robert Koldewey managed to discover the foundation and ruins of a tower. The tower mentioned in the Bible was probably destroyed before the time of Hammurabi. To replace it, another was built, which was erected in memory of the first. According to Koldewey, it had a square base, each side of which was 90 meters. The height of the tower was also 90 meters, the first tier had a height of 33 meters, the second - 18, the third and fifth - 6 meters each, the seventh - the sanctuary of the god Marduk - was 15 meters high.
The tower stood on the plain of Sahn (the literal translation of this name is “frying pan”) on the left bank of the Euphrates. It was surrounded by the houses of priests, temple buildings and houses for pilgrims who flocked here from all over Babylonia. The topmost tier of the tower was lined with blue tiles and covered with gold. A description of the Tower of Babel was left by Herodotus, who thoroughly examined it and, perhaps, even visited its top. This is the only documented account of an eyewitness from Europe.
"In the middle of each part of the city a building was erected. In one part there is a royal palace, surrounded by a huge and strong wall; in the other there is a sanctuary of Zeus-Bel with copper gates that have survived to this day. The temple sacred area is quadrangular, each side is a length of two stages. In the middle of this temple sacred area a huge tower is erected, one stage long and wide. On this tower stands a second one, and on it there are a total of eight towers - one on top of the other. An external staircase leads up around all of these. towers. In the middle of the stairs there are benches - probably for rest. On the last tower there is a large, luxuriously decorated bed and next to it there is no image of a deity. no person spends the night here, with the exception of one woman, whom, according to the Chaldeans, the priests of this god, God chooses from all the local women.

And the goal was rebellion against G-d. To prevent this plan from coming true, the Almighty confused languages ​​and scattered the builders of the Tower of Babel throughout the world. The place where the tower was built was named Bavel (Russian) Babylon ) - from the word "balal" - "mixed". The generation of builders of the Tower of Babel began to be called the “generation of the Schism” - "dor aflaga". The story of the construction of the Tower of Babel and the confusion of languages ​​is told in the chapter Noah, at the beginning of the book of Bereshit (Genesis) (Bereishit 11:1-9).

Construction of the Tower of Babel begins

The initiator of the construction of the Tower of Babel was King Nimrod, who by that time had subjugated the whole world and, feeling the fullness of unlimited power, began to rebel against G-d. In the weekly chapter “Noah” of the first book of the Pentateuch (the book of Bereshit) it is reported that Nimrod “became a hero on earth. He was a hero in fishing before the Lord." (Genesis 10:8). Rashi explains these words this way: Nimrod began to incite the whole world to revolt against the Almighty, calling for the construction of the Tower of Babel. He laid nets with his speeches and caught people in them. “Before the Lord” means “deliberately angered G-d,” “in acknowledging Him, he acted in defiance.”

IN 1996 year (1764 BC), at the call of Nimrod, his subjects settled in the Shinar valley and began to build a tower “with its peak reaching to the sky.” In the absence of other building materials, they began to make bricks from clay and bake them in a kiln. (Genesis 11:2-3). The tower grew quickly, 600 thousand people took part in its construction - almost the entire population of the earth at that time. Only Noah (Noah), his son Shem, Shem’s great-grandson Eber, Shem’s son Ashur, as well as the forefather Abraham (then still called Abram) did not take part in this.

For what purposes was it built?

At that time people lived in harmony with each other. They were united by a common language (the holy language of Hebrew) - the language given by G-d himself to the First Man. They had common values: they all wanted to live in safety - without wars, without any disasters (for example, another Flood), they sought to create a prosperous society led by a strong ruler. At the same time, their common goal was to establish the greatness of the human race, to achieve “independence” from the Creator of the world.

This is why the Tower was needed. Some thought that by climbing it they would escape the Flood. Others believed that living all of humanity in one place would help avoid wars. Still others were going to install idols on top of the Tower, worship them and rule the world without the help of G-d. The fourth went even further: they wanted to put a sword in the hands of the idol in order to threaten G-d in this way. Among the builders there were those who did not admit the possibility of Supreme control of the world at all. In their opinion, the Flood was just a natural phenomenon that occurs once every 1656 years (this period passed from the Creation of the world to the Flood). To prevent this from happening again, they wanted to support the vault of heaven with a high tower.

Unfulfilled plan

The builders of the Tower, rebelling against G-d, wanted to glorify themselves, “to make a name for themselves” (Genesis 11:4). They went towards seemingly reasonable goals (ensuring security, achieving unity and prosperity in society) in a fundamentally wrong way. Therefore, they not only did not achieve what they wanted, but also came to the opposite results.

The further construction progressed, the less human life was valued. Everyone cried with grief when the brick fell down, but no one paid attention to the man who crashed to death. And after the Almighty, having punished them, “confused” their languages, they began to quarrel and kill each other. It became impossible not only to work, but also to live together, and people “scattered across the earth.”

How were the builders punished?

Several punishments were sent to the builders of the Tower of Babel:

1. Mixing of languages
2. Scattered throughout the earth
3. Destroying them with your own hands
4. Transformation into monkeys and elephants

1. Mixing of languages

In the weekly chapter of Noah we read: “And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men were building. And the Lord said: Behold, there is one people, and they all have one language, and they began to do this... Let us come down and confuse their language there, so that they will no longer understand one another’s speech.” (Genesis 11:5-7).

Before the Tower of Babel, there was one common language - the holy language (Hebrew). In addition, each nationality had its own language. During the construction period, people communicated only in Hebrew and were like “one people.” But this advantage was used for the wrong purpose - not to serve G‑d, but for the opposite purpose. Therefore, the Almighty made them forget Hebrew, and they each began to speak their own language.

The place where the Tower was built, and subsequently the city and the entire empire of Nimrod received the name Bavel (Babylon ) - from the word "balal", that is "mixed". This word is also associated with the concept "bilbul"- confusion. The generation of schism was in a state of spiritual fog, having lost its guidelines and clear awareness of the Truth.

2. Scattered throughout the earth

People of the generation of schism settled in one place. In addition to the construction of the Tower, there was another meaning in this - to violate the command of the Almighty to settle throughout the entire earth, given after the Flood

The Tower of Babel is not on the "official" list of wonders of the world. However, it is one of the most outstanding buildings of Ancient Babylon, and its name is still a symbol of confusion and disorder. During excavations in Babylon, the German scientist Robert Koldewey managed to discover the foundation and ruins of a tower. The tower mentioned in the Bible was probably destroyed before the time of Hammurabi. To replace it, another was built, which was erected in memory of the first. According to Koldewey, it had a square base, each side of which was 90 meters. The height of the tower was also 90 meters, the first tier had a height of 33 meters, the second - 18, the third and fifth - 6 meters each, the seventh - the sanctuary of the god Marduk - was 15 meters high.

The tower stood on the plain of Sahn (the literal translation of this name is “frying pan”) on the left bank of the Euphrates. It was surrounded by the houses of priests, temple buildings and houses for pilgrims who flocked here from all over Babylonia. The topmost tier of the tower was lined with blue tiles and covered with gold. A description of the Tower of Babel was left by Herodotus, who thoroughly examined it and, perhaps, even visited its top. This is the only documented account of an eyewitness from Europe.
"In the middle of each part of the city a building was erected. In one part there is a royal palace, surrounded by a huge and strong wall; in the other there is a sanctuary of Zeus-Bel with copper gates that have survived to this day. The temple sacred area is quadrangular, each side is a length of two stages. In the middle of this temple sacred area a huge tower is erected, one stage long and wide. On this tower stands a second one, and on it there are a total of eight towers - one on top of the other. An external staircase leads up around all of these. towers. In the middle of the stairs there are benches - probably for rest. On the last tower there is a large, luxuriously decorated bed and next to it there is no image of a deity. no person spends the night here, with the exception of one woman, whom, according to the Chaldeans, the priests of this god, God chooses from all the local women.

There is another sanctuary in the sacred temple site in Babylon below, where there is a huge golden statue of Zeus. Nearby there is a large golden table, a footstool and a throne - also golden. According to the Chaldeans, 800 talents of gold went into making [all these things]. A golden altar was erected in front of this temple. There is another huge altar there - adult animals are sacrificed on it; On the golden altar, only sucklings can be sacrificed. On a large altar, the Chaldeans burn 1,000 talents of incense each year at a festival in honor of this god. There was also in the sacred area at the time in question a golden statue of the god, entirely made of gold, 12 cubits in height. I myself did not have a chance to see her, but I am only reporting what the Chaldeans told. Darius, the son of Hystapes, passionately desired this statue, but did not dare to capture it..."

According to Herodotus, the Tower of Babel had eight tiers, the width of the lowest was 180 meters. According to Koldewey’s descriptions, the tower was one tier lower, and the lower tier was 90 meters wide, that is, half as much. It is difficult not to believe Koldewey, a learned and conscientious man, but perhaps in the time of Herodotus the tower stood on some terrace, albeit a low one, which over the millennia was razed to the ground, and during excavations Koldewey did not find any trace of it. Each large Babylonian city had its own ziggurat, but none of them could compare with the Tower of Babel, which towered over the entire area like a colossal pyramid. It took 85 million bricks to build, and entire generations of rulers built the Tower of Babel. The Babylonian ziggurat was destroyed several times, but each time it was restored and decorated anew. The ziggurat was a shrine that belonged to the entire people, it was a place where thousands of people flocked to worship the supreme deity Marduk.

Tukulti-Ninurta, Sargon, Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal took Babylon by storm and destroyed the Tower of Babel - the sanctuary of Marduk. Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt it. Cyrus, who took control of Babylon after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, was the first conqueror to leave the city undestroyed. He was struck by the scale of E-temen-anka, and he not only forbade the destruction of anything, but ordered the construction of a monument on his grave in the form of a miniature ziggurat, a small Tower of Babel.

And yet the tower was destroyed again. The Persian king Xerxes left only ruins of it, which Alexander the Great saw on his way to India. He was also amazed by the gigantic ruins - he also stood in front of them as if spellbound. Alexander the Great intended to build it again. “But,” as Strabo writes, “this work required a lot of time and effort, because the ruins would have had to be removed by ten thousand people for two months, and he did not realize his plan, since he soon fell ill and died.”

The biblical story about a grandiose structure - the Tower of Babel, still haunts numerous scientists who are trying to either refute or prove the veracity of this story. According to this well-known legend, one day people wanted to build a tower that would reach the sky, and this did not please God, who, as punishment for human pride and self-confidence, deprived people of a common language.

The builders, who ceased to understand each other, abandoned their idea, and the place where this significant historical event took place was named Babylon, which translated from Aramaic means “confusion.”

However, some philologists are ready to argue with this interpretation, since in Hebrew Babylon sounds like Babel. And the words Bab-il and Bab-ilu, which are often found in ancient inscriptions and are consonant with “Babylon,” most likely mean “gate of god,” which is more consonant with the original than the Aramaic balbel.

Be that as it may, experts from all over the world are trying to find traces of the legendary building that took place in ancient times. According to British scientists, they were able to discover reliable evidence of the existence of the Tower of Babel. And they were helped in this by the private collection of one of the businessmen, which includes cuneiform tablets and a fragment of stone with carvings. Deciphering the inscriptions made it possible to establish that they contain a detailed description of the “Stela of the Tower of Babel”, and the picture depicts King Nebuchadnezzar himself, who ruled Babylon 2500 years ago.

According to the current version, the famous Tower of Babel is the ziggurat of Etemenanki, an ancient temple 91 meters high. This assumption has been put forward by experts a long time ago, since the ruins of the once great Babylon were discovered by Robert Koldewey at the end of the century before last. The newly discovered city confirmed the existence of one of the wonders of the world - the Gardens of Babylon, and also provided “food for thought” about the biblical tower.

Actually, the found structure (Etemenanka Temple) is not exactly a tower, it is rather a pyramid, the width of which is 90 meters. The top of this structure was once crowned with a golden statue of the supreme god of the Babylonians, Marduk. According to one version, during the construction of this grandiose temple, King Nebuchadnezzar used captive slaves captured in the kingdom of Judah, who spoke different dialects, and such a variety of languages ​​amazed the Jews, who had not yet encountered multilingualism. Perhaps it was this moment that served as the basis for the plot of the Tower of Babel.

The discovered ziggurat of Etemenanki has seven tiers, but the famous historian Herodotus describes the Tower of Babel as eight-tiered, with a width of 180 meters at the base. Archaeologists suggest that the “missing” tier may well be located below, underground.

Despite the fact that experts seem to have decided on the location of the Tower of Babel, a similar legend exists about the pyramid located in the city of Cholula (Mexico). This grandiose structure, up to 160 feet high, is very reminiscent of the pyramids of Egypt, and even surpasses them in size. The legend of this unique building was recorded back in 1579 by the historian Durand, and the plot is very similar to the biblical one. Although there is a high probability that it was the Spanish missionaries who presented the construction of this colossal pyramid in this way.

In general, the legend about the mixing of languages ​​with the help of the Tower of Babel is unique in its own way, since the legends of other nations are similar to it, either in the first part (building a “staircase” to heaven), or in the second - which simply talks about the mixing of languages.

For example, some African tribes in the vicinity of the Zambezi have legends that tell that the god Niambe once demanded obedience from people. But the people did not want to submit to him and decided to kill Niambe. Then the god hastily climbed into the sky, and the masts fastened together, along which people also climbed to the sky in an attempt to catch the fugitive, collapsed, and the pursuers died.

The Ashanti also have a similar legend, where the offended god left the earth and ascended to heaven. Only in this case, pestles for pushing grains, which were placed one on top of the other, acted as a ladder for people.

In Africa (in the Wasena tribe) there is a very interesting legend about how people began to speak different languages. As it should be, at first all nations had one language, but during a severe famine people lost their minds and scattered to different parts of the world, muttering incomprehensible words, which then became the language of some nationality. The Californian Maidu Indians also have their own version of the confusion of languages, according to which, on the eve of one of the festivals, people stopped understanding each other, and only married couples could communicate with each other in the same language.

But God appeared at night to one of the spellcasters and gave him the gift of understanding each of the languages, and this “mediator” taught people everything: how to cook, hunt, and observe established laws. Then all the people were sent in different directions.

Legends of many nations reflect the fact that people once had a common language, and some scientists are even trying to establish what language the first inhabitants of the Garden of Eden, including the insidious serpent, spoke. There have been and still are a great many languages ​​and dialects on the planet, and a huge number of them can no longer be restored.

Unfortunately, these initially imperceptible losses over time turn into complex puzzles, contained in symbols and letters incomprehensible to subsequent generations. Although some of these inscriptions no doubt contain information that could shed light on some of history's greatest mysteries.

Tower of Babel- a legendary structure of antiquity, which was supposed to glorify its builders for centuries and challenge God. However, the daring plan ended in disgrace: having ceased to understand each other, people were unable to complete what they started. The tower was not completed and eventually collapsed.

Construction of the Tower of Babel. Story

The history of the tower is based on spiritual roots and reflects the state of society at a certain historical stage. Some time passed after the Flood and Noah's descendants became quite numerous. They were one people and spoke the same language. From the texts of the Holy Scriptures we can conclude that not all of Noah’s sons were like their father. The Bible briefly speaks of Ham's disrespect for his father and indirectly refers to the grave sin committed by Canaan (Ham's son). These circumstances alone show that some people did not learn lessons from the global catastrophe that occurred, but continued on the path of resistance to God. Thus the idea of ​​a tower to heaven was born. The authoritative historian of antiquity Josephus Flavius ​​reports that the idea of ​​construction belonged to Nimrod, a strong and cruel ruler of that time. According to Nimrod, the construction of the Tower of Babel was supposed to show the power of united humanity and at the same time become a challenge to God.

This is what the Bible says about it. People came from the east and settled in the valley of Shinar (Mesopotamia: basin of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers). One day they said to each other: “... let's make bricks and burn them with fire. …let us build ourselves a city and a tower, its height reaching to heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves, before we are scattered over the face of all the earth” (Gen. 11:3,4). Many bricks were made from baked clay and construction began on the infamous tower, later called the Tower of Babel. One tradition claims that the construction of the city began first, while the other tells of the construction of a tower.

Construction began, and, according to some legends, the tower was built to a considerable height. However, these plans were not destined to come true. When the Lord came down to earth to “see the city and the tower,” He saw with regret that the true meaning of this undertaking was arrogance and a daring challenge to Heaven. In order to save people and prevent the spread of evil on such a scale as happened in the time of Noah, the Lord violated the unity of people: the builders stopped understanding each other, speaking in different languages. The city and the tower turned out to be unfinished, and the descendants of the sons of Noah dispersed to different lands, forming the peoples of the Earth. The descendants of Japheth went north and settled Europe, the descendants of Shem settled in southwest Asia, the descendants of Ham went south and settled in southern Asia, as well as in Africa. The descendants of Canaan (Son of Ham) settled Palestine, which is why it was later called the land of Canaan. The unfinished city received the name Babylon, which means “confusion”: “for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout all the earth.”

The Bible notes that the Tower of Babel was supposed to fulfill the insane task of the builders who decided to “make a name for themselves,” that is, to perpetuate themselves, to rally around a certain center. The idea to build a tower of unprecedented size “to the skies” spoke of a daring challenge to God, an unwillingness to live in accordance with His will. Finally, its creators hoped to take refuge in the tower in the event of a repeat of the Flood. Josephus Flavius ​​described the motives for creating the tower: “Nimrod called the people to disobey the Creator. He advised building a tower higher than the water could rise if the Creator sent a flood again - and thereby take revenge on the Creator for the death of their ancestors. The crowd agreed, and they began to consider obedience to the Creator shameful slavery. They began to build the tower with great desire.”

The tower being erected was not an ordinary structure. At its core, it carried a hidden mystical meaning, behind which the personality of Satan was visible - a gloomy powerful creature who one day decided to lay claim to God’s throne and started a rebellion in Heaven among the angels. However, having been defeated by God, he and his overthrown supporters continued their activities on earth, tempting every person and wanting to destroy him. Invisibly behind King Nimrod was the same fallen cherub; the tower was for him another means of enslavement and destruction of humanity. That is why the Creator’s answer was so categorical and immediate. Construction of the Tower of Babel was stopped, and it itself was then destroyed to the ground.Since that time, this building began to be considered a symbol of pride, and its construction (pandemonium) - a symbol of crowds, destruction and chaos.

Where is the Tower of Babel located? Ziggurats

The historical authenticity of the Biblical story about the tower to heaven is now beyond doubt. It has been established that in many cities of that time on the coasts of the Tigris and Euphrates, majestic ziggurat towers were built, intended for the worship of deities. Such ziggurats consisted of several stepped tiers, tapering upward. On the flat top there was a sanctuary dedicated to one of the deities. A stone staircase led upstairs, along which a procession of priests ascended during services to music and chants. The grandest ziggurats ever discovered was found in Babylon. Archaeologists excavated the foundation of the structure and the lower part of its walls. Many scientists believe that this ziggurat is the Tower of Babel described in the Bible. In addition, descriptions of this tower on cuneiform tablets (including the name - Etemenanki), as well as its drawing, have been preserved. It was found that it was recovering from destruction. The found tower, according to available data, included seven to eight tiers, and the height estimated by archaeologists was ninety meters. However, there is an opinion that this tower is a later version, and the original had incomparably larger dimensions. Talmudic traditions say that height of the Tower of Babel reached such a level that a brick falling from above would fly down for a whole year. Of course, this should hardly be taken literally, but we may be talking about values ​​an order of magnitude greater than scientists assume. Indeed, the found tower was obviously a fully completed structure, while the structure described in the Bible, according to legend, was never completed.

Babylonian myth of the Tower of Babel

The tradition that the Bible conveys to us is not the only one. A similar theme is present in the legends of peoples living in different parts of the Earth. And although the legends about the Tower of Babel are not as numerous as, for example, about the Flood, there are still quite a lot of them and they are the same in meaning.

Thus, the legend of the pyramid in the city of Choluy (Mexico) tells about ancient giants who decided to build a tower to heaven, but it was destroyed by celestials. The legend of the Mikirs, one of the Tibetan-Burman tribes, also tells of giant heroes who planned to build a tower to heaven, but whose plan was stopped by the gods.

Finally, in Babylon itself there was a myth about the “great tower”, which was “the likeness of heaven.” According to the myth, its builders were the underground gods of the Anunnaki, who erected it for the purpose of glorifying Marduk, the Babylonian deity.

The construction of the Tower of Babel is described in the Koran. Interesting details are contained in the Book of Jubilees and the Talmud, according to which the unfinished tower was destroyed by a hurricane, and the part of the tower that remained after the hurricane fell into the ground as a result of an earthquake.

It is significant that all attempts by the Babylonian rulers to recreate even smaller versions of the tower failed. Due to various circumstances, these buildings were destroyed.

Country Sinaar

A very interesting story is about the Tower of Babel, set out in the Book of Jubilees - an apocryphal book that mainly sets out the events of the book of Genesis in the countdown of “jubilees”. Jubilee means 49 years - seven weeks. A special feature of this book is the exact chronology of events in relation to the date of the creation of the world. In particular, here we learn that the tower took 43 years to build and was located between Assur and Babylon. This land was called the country of Sinaar... read

The Mystery of Babylon

At the moment when the builders of the Tower of Babel began work, the spirit of self-destruction of mankind invisibly came into action. Subsequently, the Bible speaks of the mystery of Babylon, with which the highest measure of wickedness is associated. When the tower builders were stopped by the division of tongues, the mystery of Babylon was suspended, but only until a time known only to God... read

The European Union is an empire restored

Despite the passing of millennia, the spirit of Babylon in humanity has not faded away. At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, Europe united under the banner of a single parliament and government. In essence, this meant the restoration of the ancient Roman Empire with all the ensuing consequences. After all, this event was the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy relating to the end of times. Surprisingly, the European Parliament building turned out to be built according to a special design - in the form of an unfinished “tower to the sky.” It's not hard to guess what this symbol means... read

/images/stories/1-Biblia/06-Vavilon/2-300.jpg

The role of windows

Today, windows play a more significant role in the interior of a home than before. They not only offer views of...