# Some insight to the Tower Of Babel



## bullethead (Dec 19, 2011)

http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-texts-tell-tales-war-bar-tabs-150403211.html

Ancient Texts Tell Tales of War, Bar Tabs

A trove of newly translated texts from the ancient Middle East are revealing accounts of war, the building of pyramidlike structures called ziggurats and even the people's use of beer tabs at local taverns.

The 107 cuneiform texts, most of them previously unpublished, are from the collection of Martin Schøyen, a businessman from Norway who has a collection of antiquities.

The texts date from the dawn of written history, about 5,000 years ago, to a time about 2,400 years ago when the Achaemenid Empire (based in Persia) ruled much of the Middle East.

The team's work appears in the newly published book "Cuneiform Royal Inscriptions and Related Texts in the Schøyen Collection" (CDL Press, 2011). [Photos of the ancient texts]

Nebuchadnezzar's tower

Among the finds is a haunting, albeit partly lost, inscription in the words of King Nebuchadnezzar II, a ruler of Babylon who built a great ziggurat — massive pyramidlike towers built in ancient Mesopotamia — dedicated to the god Marduk about 2,500 years ago.

The inscription was carved onto a stele, a stone slab used for engraving. It includes a drawing of the ziggurat and King Nebuchadnezzar II himself.

Some scholars have argued that the structure inspired the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. In the inscription, Nebuchadnezzar talks about how he got people from all over the world to build the Marduk tower and a second ziggurat at Borsippa.

"I mobilized [all] countries everywhere, [each and] every ruler [who] had been raised to prominence over all the people of the world [as one] loved by Marduk..." he wrote on the stele.

"I built their structures with bitumen and [baked brick throughout]. I completed them, making [them gleam] bright as the [sun]..." (Translations by Professor Andrew George)

It wasn't the only time Nebuchadnezzar made this boast. In addition to this stele, similar writings were previously discovered on a cylinder-shaped tablet noted Andrew George, a professor at the University of London and editor of the book.

George points out that the image of Nebuchadnezzar II found on the newly translated stele is one of only four known representations of the biblical king.

"The relief thus yields only the fourth certain representation of Nebuchadnezzar to be discovered; the others are carved on cliff-faces in Lebanon at Wadi Brisa (which has two reliefs) and at Shir es-Sanam," George writes in the book. "All these outdoor monuments are in very poor condition and their depictions of the king are much less impressive than that on the stele."

On the stele, a bearded Nebuchadnezzar wears a cone-shaped royal crown with a bracelet or bangle on his right wrist. In his left hand, he carries a staff as tall as he is and in his right he holds an as-yet-unidentified object. He also wears a robe and what appear to be sandals, common footwear in the ancient world.

George goes on to say that the stele was likely originally placed in a cavity of the Babylon ziggurat before being removed sometime in antiquity. (He declined an interview request due to time constraints.)

Conquest of Babylon

Another intriguing inscription, which discusses violence, looting and revenge, dates back about 3,000 years. It was written in the name of Tiglath-pileser I, a king of Assyria. In it, he brags about how he conquered portions of Mesopotamia and rebuilt a palace at a city named Pakute.

One section deals with his conquest of the city of Babylon, defeating a king named Marduk-nadin-ahhe.

"I demolished the palaces of the city of Babylon that belonged to Marduk-nadin-ahhe, the king of the land of Kardunias (and) carried off a great deal of property from his palaces," Tiglath-pileser writes.

"Marduk-nadin-ahhe, king of the land of Kardunias, relied on the strength of his troops and his chariots, and he marched after me. He fought with me at the city of Situla, which is upstream of the city of Akkad on the River Tigris, and I dispersed his numerous chariots. I brought about the defeat of his warriors (and) his fighters in that battle. He retreated and went back to his land."

Grant Frame, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who translated the boastful inscription, writes in the book that the Babylonians may have provoked the Assyrians under the rule of Tiglath-pileser I into attacking them. 

When a female tavern keeper gives you a beer ...

Another newly translated document is the oldest known copy of the law code of Ur-Nammu, a Mesopotamian king who ruled at Ur about 4,000 years ago. He developed a set of laws centuries before Hammurabi's more famous code from 1780 B.C., which includes the "an eye for an eye" rule.

In some ways, Ur Nammu's code is more advanced. For instance, it prescribes a fine for someone who takes out another person's vision, rather than an eye for an eye. Scholars are already aware of much of the code from later versions.

However, the fact that this is the earliest known edition allows researchers to compare it with later copies and see how it evolved. For instance, the copy sheds light on one of the oddest rules governing what you should pay a "female tavern-keeper" who gives you a jar of beer. [10 Intoxicating Beer Facts]

Apparently, if you have the female keeper put the beer on your tab during the summer, she will have the right to extract a tax from you, of unknown amount, in winter.

"If a female tavern-keeper gives [in] summer one beer-jar to someone on credit its nigdiri-tax will be [...] in win[ter]..." (Translation by Miguel Civil)

The lesson? If you live in ancient Mesopotamia don't put the beer on your tab.


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## BANDERSNATCH (Dec 20, 2011)

Just read that on Yahoo earlier today.

I love extra-biblical and archeological support for scripture!

Ok...ok...it's a stretch...but it does sound very similar.


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## bullethead (Dec 20, 2011)

BANDERSNATCH said:


> Just read that on Yahoo earlier today.
> 
> I love extra-biblical and archeological support for scripture!
> 
> Ok...ok...it's a stretch...but it does sound very similar.



Support for scripture??? Yes, real people, places, events but often embellished by authors.

A King gathers many people from foreign lands to come help build his massive structure for his God. It took years upon years.  I'm sure it was huge news to travel across the lands during the times. Someone somewhere hears the story (I don't think the Author of Genesis was ever actually at the structure??) and re-writes his own version using God's anger to explain the foreign languages, all the while the foreign languages were being spoken all along due to the mass amounts of people from FOREIGN LANDS that gathered to help build the structure...which is clearly not a ladder.

I agree Bandy Brother a stretch!


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## 1gr8bldr (Dec 20, 2011)

I don't know if it was real or not. But the story in Gen 11 and 12 are the foundation on which all the remainder of scripture builds upon.


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## bullethead (Dec 20, 2011)

1gr8bldr said:


> I don't know if it was real or not. But the story in Gen 11 and 12 are the foundation on which all the remainder of scripture builds upon.



The Bible is a fantastic read. The stories are awe inspiring. Alone I can see why it's believers believe. Then we hear of the events told by the actual people who lived them. In this case stories about this great "tower" are found written by the man who had it built. He built it for His God and told about the many foreign rulers and their people that came to help. It really lets the air out of the believability of the story told in the bible. As you say, being Gen 11&12 are the foundation for scripture, it is not hard for me to take it for what it really is.....the work of men telling stories.


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## 1gr8bldr (Dec 20, 2011)

These structures built way back then had "religious" intentions. It was not "who could build the coolest one". They had a religious agenda. They, and the tower of babel serve as a visual image of religion today. Mankind, building his own tower, for his own glory,  in which he stands off and admires what he has accomplished. Every brick must be torn down and rebuilt with God as the builder.  The modern day church teaches "how to rebuild what you destroyed". For those with eyes to see and ears to hear.


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## bullethead (Dec 20, 2011)

1gr8bldr said:


> These structures built way back then had "religious" intentions. It was not "who could build the coolest one". They had a religious agenda. They, and the tower of babel serve as a visual image of religion today. Mankind, building his own tower, for his own glory,  in which he stands off and admires what he has accomplished.



I agree.
Do you see the difference in the Genesis Story and the Inscription that was actually on the "Tower"?




1gr8bldr said:


> Every brick must be torn down and rebuilt with God as the builder.  The modern day church teaches "how to rebuild what you destroyed". For those with eyes to see and ears to hear.



That is where you lost me.


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## 1gr8bldr (Dec 21, 2011)

bullethead said:


> I agree.
> Do you see the difference in the Genesis Story and the Inscription that was actually on the "Tower"?
> 
> 
> ...


 Which tower, Did not know about an inscription. Maybe I should go back and check the details of your original post.


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## BANDERSNATCH (Dec 21, 2011)

At the very least we have a reference to the building of some sort of great structure.....

Before this discovery I'm sure you'd have thought it just a made up story with any historical evidence....now we know differently.


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## 1gr8bldr (Dec 21, 2011)

bullethead said:


> I agree.
> Do you see the difference in the Genesis Story and the Inscription that was actually on the "Tower"?
> 
> 
> ...


 The theme that runs through the bible, all has to do with this. It's the keys to the Kingdom of God. Notice 11:3, "They used brick instead of stone". Bricks are man made. Acts 4:11, "he is the stone the builders rejected". I hesitate to go into any more detail. Only if your interested


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## 1gr8bldr (Dec 21, 2011)

BANDERSNATCH said:


> At the very least we have a reference to the building of some sort of great structure.....
> 
> Before this discovery I'm sure you'd have thought it just a made up story with any historical evidence....now we know differently.



I'm confused, is this for me?


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## 1gr8bldr (Dec 21, 2011)

1gr8bldr said:


> Which tower, Did not know about an inscription. Maybe I should go back and check the details of your original post.



Ok, I see. That would have been much later, if you believe the bible we have today. This Tower of Babel was probably built with Nimrod in charge. But as an interesting note, many scholars, which I don't agree with, not because I know that far back, but, honestly, because it would conflict my beliefs, [ how do you like that honesty] say that our OT writings are a copy of the socalled god, Marduk. They have a creation account, etc, that lines up almost exact with ours. I don't know how they determine which was first when looking back that far.


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