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The Tower of Babel.
Legends, legends about the Tower of Babel
"Biblical traditions
The Tower of Babel is 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 could not complete what they had begun.
The tower was not completed and eventually collapsed.
Construction of the Tower of Babel.
History
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 the descendants of Noah became very numerous.
They were one people and spoke the same language.
From the texts of the Holy Scriptures, it can be concluded that not all the sons of Noah were like their father.
The Bible briefly speaks of Ham's disrespect for his father and indirectly points to the grave sin committed by Canaan (the son of Ham).
These circumstances already show that some people did not learn lessons from the global catastrophe that occurred, but continued the path of resisting God.
So the idea of a tower to the heavens was born.
The authoritative historian of antiquity Josephus reports that the idea of construction belongs 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 a united humanity and at the same time become a challenge to God.
This is what the Bible tells about it.
People came from the east and settled in the Sennaar Valley (Messopotamia: the Tigris and Euphrates River basin).
One day they said to each other: "... let's make bricks and burn them with fire. ... let us build for ourselves a city and a tower as high as the heavens, 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 the construction of the infamous tower, later called the Babylonian Tower, began.
One of the traditions claims that the construction of the city was started first, while the other tells about the construction of the tower.
Construction was started, 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 real meaning of this undertaking was arrogance and an audacious challenge to Heaven.
In order to save people and prevent the spread of evil on such a scale as it happened in the time of Noah, the Lord broke the unity of people: the builders stopped understanding each other, speaking in different languages.
The city and the tower were unfinished.
and the descendants of the sons of Noah dispersed to different lands, forming the peoples of the Earth.
The descendants of Japhet went north and settled in Europe, the descendants of Shem stopped in Southwest Asia, the descendants of Ham went south and settled in the southern part of Asia, as well as in Africa.
The descendants of Canaan (the Son of Ham) settled Palestine, which is why it was later called the land of Canaan.
The unfinished city was called Babylon, which means "confusion": "for there the Lord mixed the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout the whole 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", i.e. to perpetuate themselves, to rally around a certain center.
The idea to build a tower of unprecedented size "to the heavens" spoke of a bold challenge to God, an unwillingness to live in accordance with His will.
Finally, in the tower, its creators hoped to hide in the event of a repeat of the flood.
Josephus described the motives for the creation of the tower: "Nimrod called the people to disobey the Creator.
He advised to build a tower higher than the water can rise if the Creator sends 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 a shameful slavery.
We started building the tower with great desire."
The tower being built was not an ordinary structure.
At its core, it carried a hidden mystical meaning, behind which the personality of Satan was visible - a dark, powerful being who once decided to claim the throne of God and raised a rebellion among the angels in Heaven.
However, being defeated by God, he and his overthrown supporters continued their activities on earth, tempting every person and wanting to destroy him.
Behind King Nimrod, this same fallen cherub was invisible, the tower was for him another means of enslaving and destroying humanity.
That is why the Creator's response was so categorical and immediate.
The construction of the Tower of Babel was stopped, and then it was destroyed to the ground .
Since that time, this structure has been considered a symbol of pride, and its construction (pandemonium) is a symbol of crowding, destruction and chaos.
Where is the Tower of Babel.
Ziggurats
The historical authenticity of the Biblical story about the tower to heaven is now beyond doubt.
It is established that in many cities of that time, majestic ziggurat towers were built on the coasts of the Tigris and Euphrates, intended for the worship of deities
Such ziggurats consisted of several stepped tiers, tapering upwards.
On the flat top there was a sanctuary dedicated to one of the deities.
A stone staircase led up to the top, along which a procession of priests ascended during the divine service to music and chants.
The most grandiose of the ziggurats discovered was found in Babylon.
Archaeologists have unearthed the foundation of the building and the lower part of its walls.
Many scientists believe that this ziggurat is the Tower of Babel described in the Bible.
In addition, there are descriptions of this tower on cuneiform tablets (including the name – Etemenanki), as well as its drawing.
It was found that it was being restored after the destruction.
The found tower, according to available data, included seven to eight tiers, and the height assumed 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 legends say that the height of the Tower of Babel reached such a level that a brick falling from above flew down for a whole year.
Of course, this should hardly be taken literally, but we can talk about values an order of magnitude larger than scientists assume.
Indeed, the found tower was obviously a completely completed structure, while the structure described by the Bible, according to legend, was never completed.
The Babylonian Myth of the Tower of Babel
The tradition that the Bible brings 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 united in meaning.
So, the legend of the pyramid in the city of Cholue (Mexico) tells about the ancient giants who decided to build a tower to the heavens, but destroyed by the celestials.
The legend of the mikirs, one of the Tibetan Burmese tribes, also tells about the giants who planned to build a tower to the heavens, but whose plan was stopped by the gods.
Finally, in Babylon itself there was a myth about the "great tower", which was "like the sky".
According to the myth, its builders were the underground gods Anunnaki, who erected it to glorify Marduk, the Babylonian deity.
The construction of the Tower of Babel is described in the Koran.
Interesting details are contained in the "Book of Anniversaries" and the "Talmud", according to which the unfinished tower was defeated by a hurricane, and the remaining part of the tower after the hurricane fell into the ground as a result of an earthquake.
It is indicative of the fact that all the attempts of the Babylonian rulers to recreate even reduced versions of the tower failed.
Due to various circumstances, these buildings were destroyed.
Sinaar Country
A very interesting story about the Tower of Babel is set out in the Book of Jubilees - an apocryphal book that mainly describes the events of the book of Genesis in the countdown of "anniversaries".
The jubilee is understood as 49 years - seven weeks.
A special feature of this book is the exact chronology of events in relation to the date of creation of the world.
In particular, here we learn that the tower was built for 43 years and was located between Assur and Babylon.
This land was called the land of Sinaar... to read
The Secret of Babylon
At the moment when the builders of the Tower of Babel began to work, the spirit of self destruction of humanity invisibly entered into action.
Later on, the Bible speaks about the mystery of Babylon, which is associated with the highest measure of wickedness.
When the builders of the tower were stopped by the separation of tongues, the mystery of Babylon was suspended, but only until a time that is known only to God... to read
The European Union the restored Empire
Despite the past millennia, the spirit of Babylon has not died out in humanity.
At the end of the XX - beginning of the XXI century, Europe united under the flag of a single parliament and government.
In fact, 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 time.
Surprisingly, the building of the European Parliament was built according to a special project - in the form of an unfinished "tower to the heavens".
It is not difficult to guess what this symbol means... to read
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Comments on: 3
26.07.15, 20:58 Dima
Oh, yes, I remember from my childhood...
The Tower of Babel Legends, legends about the Tower of Babel these stories always inspired fear))
09.10.15, 13: 53 Dmitry
By the way a film about Babylon is very useful even Babylon 5 Lost tales Voices in the dark
09.10.15, 13: 55 Dmitry
the link in the our favorite comment did not appear film.ru/coment.php?nomer=315633
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