The Tower of Babel

The tower of Babel, mentioned in Genesis 11, is a common topic among people. Even those who don't follow the faith seem to have a sort of interest in the event. Of course, some use it as means to claim God was a tyrant, but we will be getting to this shortly. First, what proof do we actually have that this event occurred? Where did it occur, and when? Well, let us take a look in the great book we all love, the Bible.

To find out if this tower actually existed, it is important to find where and when the tower existed. We read this in Genesis, "And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there" (Genesis 11). So, they settled in the land of Shinar

Maps For Refrence:

Map By Karl Musser [link]

The yellow area shown is Shinar.

Map By Google Maps [Link]

Here is a broader map. The circle is a rough depiction of where it is.

It is read in verse 4 that they built a city, "come, let us build...a city and a tower" (Genesis 11:4). Then, the Bible tells us, "...The Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city...the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth." (Genesis 11:8-9). So they built a city and the tower(Genesis 11:5), then they left by the hands of the Lord. So we must find a building in Shinar that was made then the people left. Now, this is extremely vague, so let us do a bit more searching.

The word used for tower in the text is "מִּגְדָּ֑ל[mid-gal]." Now, this can mean a tower, but it can also mean simply a structure that is tall. By the context and details we will go into further, it seems likely this is in reference to a Ziggurat, and many modern scholars seem to agree with this assessment.

What is A Ziggurat?

Very simply it is a temple[like a synagogue, mosque, etc] where people would worship Mesopotamian gods. It seems likely this tower was in reference to a ziggurat for several reasons.

In verse 4 this is written, "Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth" (Genesis 11:4, ESV). Why is this important? Scholar John H. Walton writes this, "Throughout Mesopotamian literature, almost every occurrence of the expression describing a building "with its head in the heavens" refers to a temple with a ziggurat. As a sample, here is the description by Warad-Sin, king of Larsa, who built the temple É-eš-ki-te: "He made it as high as a mountain and made its head touch heaven...It is this language, along with the indication...gives textual confirmation that the tower is a ziggurat. This would have been transparent to the ancient reader." (Site Below). The Bible tells us they wanted the tower to have its top in the Heavens, but as Mr. Walton notes, this is an expression commonly used in Mesopotamian literature. As mentioned before, where the Bible describes Mesopotamia, the tower lies.

What We Know So Far:

A rough location of where the tower is (Shinar)
The tower most likely is a Ziggurat
The Lord dispersed them after the creation of the tower

So now all we have to find is an abandoned Ziggurat in Shinar(as in a Ziggurat abandoned for thousands of years, not as in now if that makes sense). Encyclopaedia Britannica notes, "Approximately 25 ziggurats are known, being equally divided among Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria" (Site Below).

Sadly, all 25 ruins lie in Shinar so that is a pain. At the very least, we just have to investigate 25 Ziggurats. The most probable seems to be a Ziggurat found in Eridu. Primarily since it was abandoned three times in its history(around 3800BC, around 2900BC, and its final abandonment in 660BC).

Insanely, there was a Ziggurat built before its second abandonment around 2900BC. "...almost overnight [Eridu] was completely abandoned, quickly buried under enormous drifts of sand that filled the deserted buildings, with only the main mound left standing. The temple itself was rebuilt twice in the protoliterate period, like an island in the desert, but the accumulation of loose sand seems to have made the area surrounding the main mound uninhabitable. When after some centuries, the area was once more inhabited, the population chose another spot, about a kilometre to the north, and few efforts were made to rebuild the shrine on the main mound" (Gwendolyn Leick, Full Site Below).

To conclude, based on the evidence, it seems likely that the tower of Babel not only existed, but was in Eridu.

Works Sited:

Biblehub.com. 2021. Genesis 11:5 Hebrew. [online] Available at: <https://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/11-5.htm> [Accessed 12 March 2022].

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "ziggurat". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Feb. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/technology/ziggurat. Accessed 12 March 2022.

Kessler, P., n.d. General Map of Sumer. [online] Historyfiles.co.uk. Available at: <https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/FeaturesMiddEast/MesopotamiaSumerMap.htm> [Accessed 12 March 2022].

Koldewey, R., 2022. File:Etemenanki Babylon (3).png - Wikimedia Commons. [online] Commons.wikimedia.org. Available at: <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Etemenanki_Babylon_(3).png> [Accessed 12 March 2022].

Leick, G., 2002. Mesopotamia The Invention of the City. London: Penguin Group, pp.18-19.

Mark, J., 2010. Eridu. [online] World History Encyclopedia. Available at: <https://www.worldhistory.org/eridu/> [Accessed 12 March 2022].

Master, M., 2021. File:Hammurabi's Babylonia 1.svg - Wikimedia Commons. [online] Commons.wikimedia.org. Available at: <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hammurabi%27s_Babylonia_1.svg> [Accessed 12 March 2022].

Mikhalchyk, A. and Михальчук, А., n.d. The Tower of Babel Alexander Mikhalchyk. [online] Commons.wikimedia.org. Available at: <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Tower_of_Babel_Alexander_Mikhalchyk.jpg> [Accessed 12 March 2022].

Walton, J., 2009. Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). [online] Zondervan Academic. Available at: <https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/tower-of-babel> [Accessed 12 March 2022].