Popular Culture Review 30.1
how his world and his universe functions . He comes to know that night is “ the shadow of the earth itself , cast against the sky ” (“ Tower ” 11 ). He and the others reach a point on the tower where they see “ storms from above and from below ” and where people “[ harvest ] crops from the air ” ( 14 ). After climbing a number of weeks , the miners find themselves “ at precisely the same level as the moon when it passed ; they had reached the height of the first of the celestial bodies ” ( 14 ). When they reach the level of the sun , the intense heat forces them to travel at night . Passing this level , Hillalum finds that the sun shines “ upward , which [ seems ] unnatural to the utmost ” ( 15 , emphasis in original ). When they are level with the stars , the miners discover that a star has hit the tower , leaving “ a knotted mass of black heaven-metal , as large as a man could wrap his arms around ” ( 16 ). Finally , they reach the vault of heaven itself , “ a solid carapace enclosing all the sky ” ( 16 ) that “[ seems ] to be made of fine-grained white granite , unmarred and utterly featureless ” ( 18-19 ). Hillalum ’ s travels to the top of the tower allows him to discover both the meaning and significance of the physical world , not through religion or faith , but through his own observation .
Since , in the geocentric view , the Earth is “ situated in the middle of a great volume of water ,” the Babylonians and the Elamite miners fear that breaking into the vault of heaven will release another Great Flood ( Robishaw 60 ). They believe Yahweh caused the Great Flood , or the “ Deluge ,” by releasing “ the waters of the Abyss ... from the springs of the earth , and ... [ from ] the sluice gates in the vault ” ( 19 ). Concerned that they may hit one of these reservoirs , the Babylonians enlist Egyptian masons who design a system using large blocks of granite that will “ slide down until [ they ] rest in the recess of the floor ” and will completely block any opening ( 22 ). Using this design , they are able to safe-
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