Tower of Babel

[pam]

HelloI was watching a program the other day about ancient architecture. Anyway, in the program, Bob Brier mentioned that the Tower of Babel (in Babylon) was destroyed by Alexander the Great. I had never heard that before. Is that true, and if so, why did he destroy it? Thanks for your help.Sincerely,
Pam

[kenny]

Pam hailAs far as I am aware Alexander destroyed nothing in Babylon.I think it fair to say Apart from torching Perseplois there not a lot else he destroyed,, Sorrt Thebes was lflattened but as whole Alexander left religions and buildings intact.I think the Persians much more guilty of that type of thing.Kenny

[jona]

Of course Alexander sacked the building, it is mentioned by Diodorus and Arrian. Here's the story:http://www.livius.org/es-ez/etemenanki/ ... i.htmlJona

[heinrich]

Hi KennyOf course you're entitled to a right to admire Alexander, but there's no reason to ignore the facts.According to the written sources, Alexander ordered the sack of Thebes, the upper city of Halicarnassus, Tyre, Gaza, several buildings in Babylon (city wall, "tower of Babel"), Persepolis, several citadels in Aria, the town of the Branchidae, Cyropolis and about *every (!!)* settlement in Sogdia, a couple of cities in the valley of the river Kabul and several cities in the Punjab and Sind. Archaeology adds Dascylium and a few settlements in Pamphylia.These are just the settlements that were destroyed according to both Arrian and the Vulgate. If you accept as evidence that what is mentioned in one single source, the list would be longer.HM

[jona]

Of course you are right, but you already point at the complication: written sources versus archaeology.Although our sources say so, Persepolis was not (repeat not) destroyed. There's simply no archaeological evidence. The only buildings destroyed by fire are the palace of Xerxes, the Apadana, and the Treasury. That's all. Persepolis was still 180 years after Alexander.Jona

[Taphoi]

It is a vile distortion of the history:"Here too [Babylon] is the tomb of Belus [aka ziggurat or tower of Babel], now in ruins, having been demolished by Xerxes, as it is said. It was a quadrangular pyramid of baked brick, not only being a stade [c. 165m] in height, but also having sides a stade in length. Alexander intended to repair this pyramid; but it would have been a large task and would have required a long time (for merely the clearing away of the mound was a task for 10000 men for two months), so that he could not finish what he had attempted; for immediately the king was overtaken by disease and death. None of his successors cared for this matter; and even what was left of the city was neglected and thrown into ruins, partly by the Persians and partly by time and by the indifference of the Macedonians to things of this kind, and in particular after Seleucus Nicator had fortified Seleucia..." Strabo 16.1.5Thus Alexander was clearing away the debris in order to rebuild the already ruined ziggurat when he died. He is in fact the hero here and Seleucus and the Persians are the villains.Best wishes,Andrew

[jona]

To which may be added that the villains are villains only in the Greek sources. During the reigns of the Persian and Seleucid kings, Esagila and Etemananki appear to have functioned normally. The normal repairs to keep a building made of tiles were probably done on the correct moments.However, Alexander did these repairs on a far larger scale and did probably order full reconstruction, which meant removing the old building to clear the building ground. The rebuilding of Etemenanki is a running gag in the later cuneiform sources. In the end, Antiochus ordered the reconstruction again and performed a sacrifice, but fell during this sacrifice. Angry, he ordered his elephants to destroy the last remains.This is the last reference to the demolishing and rebuilding of Etemenanki, but it is interesting to see that the largest ziggurat ever was build almost immediately after, in Uruk.Jona

[a spiropoulos]

a old biography from venice in greek states that darius gathered his forces to attack alexander
in the plains of the temple of babel, if this is so, and darius used it in his war with alexander, they alexander would have to destroy it to take away
the advantage of the high point from darius.
as