GENESIS | 29
Stairs
Level 7 Stairs
Level 6 Level 5
Stairs Level 4
Level 3
Level 1
The Tower of Babel would have been built in ziggurat form. It probably was ancient Babylon’ s Etemenanki— the“ temple of the foundation of heaven and earth.” Many Babylonian legends and documents describe this structure, as does the Greek historian Herodotus.
Level 2
Stairs
Stairs
The Tower of Babel
Ancients believed that deities dwelt on high places and associated the gods with hills and mountains. Babylon was on low ground— the ziggurat was a substitute mountain. It towered above the dust in the lower air and was an excellent place to observe the stars. From a ziggurat’ s top, heaven seemed closer.
Size comparison( approximate):
Great Pyramid of Giza( tallest building in the ancient world)
Height 480’, base 755.5’
Tower of Babel( tallest brick-structure building of all time)
Height 300’, base 300’
Monadnock Building in Chicago( tallest brick-structure building now standing)
Height 197’, base 62’( 16 floors)
The Esagila Tablet from Uruk describes the Etemenanki with these dimensions. The stairs for the top levels are interior.
Level 4 170’ x 170’ x 20’
Level 3 200’ x 200’ x 20’
Level 2 260’ x 260’ x 60’
Level 1 300’ x 300’ x 110’
Tower of Babel( top view)
Level 7 80’ x 60’ x 50’
Level 6 110’ x 110’ x
20’
Level 5 140’ x 140’ x 20’
American Football Field