Cuneiform evidence - the Tower of Babel

[jona]

Several Greek sources mention a Babylonian building that is called the temple or tomb of Belus. Descriptions are clear and it is easy to identify this building with the Etemenanki, a part of the shrine of the god Marduk, who was often called Bel ("Lord"). This building, which was built by king Nebuchadnessar and had the shape of a 90 meters high pyramid, can also be identified with the "tower of Babel" from the Biblical book Genesis. More: http://www.livius.org/es-ez/etemenanki/etemenanki.html .When Alexander captured Babylon in 331, he ordered the reconstruction of this building. Obviously, it had become ruinous, or perhaps it was never finished (as is implied in the Bible).In 323, he returned to Babylon and found the building unfinished. According to Arrian, he blamed the priests of Bel (the Chaldaeans), because they had seized the money.This can be shown to be untrue. At least three cuneiform texts prove that during the reign of Alexander, payments were made for the reconstruction of Etemenanki.(1) On 26 January 325, a man named Rumahat-Bel paid enough money to pay the wages of 31 laborers; tablet published by M.W. Stolper, *Late Achaemenid, Macedonian, and Early Seleucid records of deposit and related texts* (1993) p.68-70; (2) According to *Cuneiform Texts of the British Museum* 49, number 5, a Babylonian named Iddin-Bel, son of Bagaparta (a Persian name), paid, on 5 March 327, an amount of money on behalf of his two sons. One the young men is called "the parchment writer of Theodosius" - a Greek name. This payment illustrates the international importance of the Etemenanki.(3) Finally, *Cuneiform Texts of the British Museum* 49, number 6, mentions a payment on 5 February 327 by a man named Baruqa, i.e., Baruch, a Jew. This shows that even Jews paid for the construction of the Etemenanki. Possibly, part of the Babylonian Jewish community celebrated "pagan" festivals too. Babylon may have been like Bombay before the separation of Pakistan and India - Hindus and Muslims gladly joining each other's festivals.Other Jews may have had more problems with Alexander's reconstruction of the "tower of Babel". The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (http://www.livius.org/jo-jz/josephus/josephus.htm ) mentions a strike by Jewish laborers (*Against Apion* 1.22).So, Arrian is wrong. However, the project remained unfinished until Alexander arrived. According to Diodorus, he ordered 20,000 soldiers to carry away the remains of the Etemena

[jona]

So, Arrian is wrong. However, the project remained unfinished until Alexander arrived. According to Diodorus, he ordered 20,000 soldiers to carry away the remains of the Etemenanki; archaeologists have identified a very large amount of damaged bricks in the northeast of Babylon.Yet, the work remained unfinished, and several successors of Alexander are known to have ordered the final reconstruction of the Etemenanki: Perdikkas, Seleukos, and Antiochus. They are all mentioned in Babylonian chronicles (e.g., http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/chron10_01.html).What became of the tower of Babel? The truth is actually almost funny. An unpublished tablet in the British Museum (which, I am told, will be published in 2005) mentions that king Antiochus sacrificed on the site of the Etemenanki, as a first step towards finishing the project. However, he stumbled and fell, and angrily ordered his elephant drivers to destroy what was left of the ancient building...Jona--
Jona Lendering
http://www.livius.org

[susan]

Jona
This is very interesting. Would Theodosius have been in Alexander's army ?Susan

[jona]

Nobody knows, I am afraid. He is just a name; but he must have been a wealthy man because he employed a scribe.Jona