Did the Tower of Babel exist?

Posted by Suzanne Hill Dec 27, 2006

In the Mesopotamian plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in what is now Iraq, is a mound of broken brick buildings and debris. This is all that remains of the ancient city of Babylon.

What we know about the Tower of Babel today comes only from the little archaeological evidence found of ancient Sumerian culture and from ancient scrolls. Nebuchadnezzar described how "gold, silver, and precious stones from the mountain and from the sea were liberally set into the foundations” and how he used innumerable multitudes of workmen to help with the re-construction of the remains. Archaeologists discovered a core consisting of the ruins of previous ziggurats or towers which had been leveled and enlarged several times, before Nebuchadnezzar added a casing of mud bricks 15 meters thick. Of this structure only the ground plan and traces of the three stairs leading up to it have been preserved.

In 458 B.C., after the tower had been crumbling for many years, the Greek historian Herodotus visited the tower, or at least the later version of it. Today we have a tablet giving measurements and the eye-witness account of Herodotus: “It has a solid central tower, one furlong square, with a second erected on top of it and then a third, and so on up to eight. All eight towers can be climbed by a spiral way running around the outside, and about halfway up there are seats for those who make the journey to rest on.” He describes the squares or stages of the tower in different colors with a temple at its top.

Though the tower has been gone for many years, its biblical story has continued to inspire artists.