Tower of babel in Biblical History

Bible History

Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

What is Tower of Babel?
THE TOWER OF BABEL
named only once in the Bible, and then as incomplete. Gen 11:4, 1 Chr 6:5. It was built in the plain of Shinar, of burnt bricks, with "slime" (probably bitumen) for Birs Nimrfld Reconstructed. (After Layard.) mortar. Jewish traditions and early profane writers say that the tower was destroyed. The captive Jews at Babylon imagined they recognized it, however, in the famous temple of Belus, which some would identify with the temple of Nebo at Borsippa, the modern Birs Nimrud. Rawlinson thinks that Birs Nimrud cannot be identical with either the temple of Belus or the tower of Babel, but concedes that it may be used to show the probable form of the Babel tower. The Birs Nimrud is one of the most striking ruins on the plain, and is 6 miles southwest of Hillah, on the Euphrates. This immense mound is about 2300 feet in circumference and 235 to 250 feet high, and was built of burnt bricks, each brick being 12 inches square and 4 inches thick. Several of them bear an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar. The tower is represented as in the form of a pyramid, built in seven receding stories, each placed upon the south-western side of the one below, and each of the first three being 26 feet high, each of the last four being 15 feet high. On the seventh story was a temple or ark, perhaps with a statue of the god Belus. George Smith, the Assyriologist (and the Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. iii. p. 155, ninth edition, adopts Smith's view), says, "The Birs Nimrud is most probably the tower of Babel of the book of Genesis." Mr. Smith describes another ruin called Babil or Mujelliha as the one which in his view covers the site of the temple of Belus, and the great tower of Babylon (not Babel). Birs Nimrud seems to have been a temple dedicated to the heavenly bodies, and the inscriptions on cylinders found there record that Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the edifice after it had been left unfinished by others. Further excavations may solve these unsettled questions. See Rawlinson's Herodotus, and George Smith's Assyrian Discoveries, 1875. BAB'YLON (Greek form of Babel), the noted capital of the Chaldaean and Plan of Babylon, showing the largest extent, as given by Herodotus, and the smaller, quoted by Ctesias, with the ruins according to Oppcrt. Babylonian empires, situated on both sides of the Euphrates river, about 200 miles above its junction with the Tigris, BAB BAB 300 miles from the Persian Gulf, and about 60 miles south-west from the modern city of Bagdad. The valley is broad, and the Euphrates is now about 600 feet wide and 18 feet deep at this place. Extent of the City. It was the largest known ancient city in extent. According to Herodotus, the city was a vast square on both sides of the Euphrates, enclosed by a double line of walls, about 56 miles in circuit and including about 200 square miles. Ctesias and others make the circuit about 42 miles, enclosing about 106 square miles. The walls, according to Herodotus, were about 335 feet high and 75 feet broad. Ctesias, quoted by Diodorus, states that they were 200 feet high and built by 2,000,000 men. Later writers, regarding these measurements as incredible, give the circuit of the walls at about 40 miles, their height at 75 to 190 feet, and their width at 32 feet, or wide enough to allow two chariots to pass each other on the top. M. Oppert and Rawlinson as explorers hold that the ruins warrant the statement of Herodotus as to the extent of Babylon. Its size --if 200 square miles --largely exceeded that of any modern city. The area of London is 122 square miles; Paris, 30; Pekin, 50; New York (1873), 42; and Philadelphia, 129 square miles. The wall of Babylon was surmounted by 250 towers, and it had 100 gates of brass. Jer 51:68; [1]miumiu ?? ?? Streets and Buildings--Babylon is described as cut into squares some say 676 --by straight streets crossing each other at right angles, those at the river being closed by brazen gates, as the banks of the river were fortified by high walls; the river was crossed by drawbridges and lined with quays; the two palaces on opposite sides of the river were connected by a bridge, and also by a tunnel under the river. Among the wonderful buildings were, (1.) Nebuchadnezzar's Palace, an immense pile of buildings, believed to be nearly 6 miles in circumference. (2.) The Hanging-Gardens one of the Seven Wonders of the world, built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his queen, Amytis, who longed for her native mountains. These gardens were 75 feet high and covered 3 1/2 acres, enclosed in an area of larger extent, some say 1000 feet on each side. Upon this mountain was soil of depth to support the largest trees, and water was drawn up from the river by means of a screw. (3). The Temple of Belus, a vast pyramid or tower, 600 feet square, having eight stages, or stories, and according to Rawlinson 480 feet high, with a winding ascent passing around it, and a chapel of a god at the top. Scripture History. Babylon is named over 250 times in the Bible. It was founded by Nimrod, Gen 10:10; its builders dispersed, Gen 11:9. Then, except some allusion to Shinar, Gen 14:1, the Chaldaeans, Job 1:17, and the Babylonish garment, Josh 7:21, it drops out of Scripture history until the era of the Captivity. It was often subject to Assyria, 2 Chr 33:11, and was the residence of at least one Assyrian king. After the fall of Nineveh, b.c. 625, it became an independent kingdom, and under Nebuchadnezzar was enlarged, beautified, and reached the height of its magnificence. See Isa 13:19; [2]miumiu ??Isa 47:5; Jer 51:41, where it is called " the glory of kingdoms," " the golden city," " the praise of the whole earth," etc. It was the home of the chief of the captive Jews, Dan 1:1-4, and was taken by the army of Cyrus under Darius, Dan 5. Its desolation was frequently foretold. Isa 13:4-22; Jer 25:12; Jer 50:2-3; Jer 25:51; Dan 2:31-38; Hab 1:5-10. It was taken by Alexander the Great, who died there. It gradually became a complete ruin, fulfilling the prophecy, Babylon " shall never be inhabited, . . . wild beasts of the deserts shall lie there." Ruins--Though for centuries Babylon has been the source of building-material for the towns of all the adjacent region, yet the ruins are very extensive, covering, according to Oppert, 200 square miles. Among them are, (1.) The Babil or Mujelliha, 600 feet square and 140 feet high, probably the site of the ancient temple of Belus. The mound is mainly built of sun-dried brick and filled with burnt brick, the latter bearing the name of Nebuchadnezzar. (2.) The Kasr, or Nebuchadnezzar's palace, south of Babil, about 2100 feet long by 1800 feet broad, and 70 feet high. It is composed of bricks, tiles, and fragments of stone. Some of the bricks are glazed; others resemble fire [3]www.miumiu-yahoos.com BAB BAB brick, and bear the name of Nebuchadnezzar. (3.) The Amram, a large mound, possibly the ruins of the Sculptured Lion over a Prostrate Man. (Discovered in the ruins of Babylon by Rich.) famous hanging - gardens, though more probably a palace of the earlier kings. See Rawlinson's Five Ancient Monarchies, 1870, ii. 532. (4.) Birs Nimrud, 6 miles south-west of Hillah, at ancient Borsippa, and by many regarded as covering the tower of Babel. See Babel. Many corroborations of Scripture have Birs Nimrud. (After Plumptre's Biblical Educator ) been furnished by the Assyrian tablets deciphered by Oriental scholars. Near the hanging-gardens a sculptured lion standing over a man with outstretched arms may illustrate the mode of punishment to which Daniel was condemned. Dan 6:16. George Smith, after a careful exploration, quite decidedly dissents from historians and other explorers in ascribing so great an extent to Babylon. In his opinion, there is no ground in the inscriptions or ruins for making Babylon over about 8 miles in circuit, or nearly the same size as its sister-city, Nineveh. He regards its shape as a square with one corner cut off. At the north was the temple of Belus, now the mound Babil; about the centre of the city were the palace and hanging-gardens, both now represented, in his view, by the mound Kasr, as he places the gardens between the palace and the river. George Smith concludes that the few pits and tunnels made in the ruins are acknowledged to be insufficient to decide any of the questions as to sites, which can only be done by satisfactory excavations, and hence that the "recovery of Babylon is yet to be accomplished." Assyrian Discoveries, 1875, pp. 55-59. -- The modern town of Hillah now occupies a portion of the space covered by the ruins of ancient Babylon, and a telegraph connects it with the city of Bagdad. See Chaldea, Assyria.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'tower of babel' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
bible-history.com - Schaff's

Copyright Information
© Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Schaff's Bible Dictionary Home
Bible History Online Home

Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
Online Bible (KJV)
Naves Topical Bible
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Schaff's Bible Dictionary
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
Hitchcock's Bible Dictionary

Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Popular in the New Testament

Popular in the
New Testament