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Since very ancient
times , man has
tried to get as
close as possible
to his gods .
WHAT THE BIBLE SAY
ABOUT ZIGGURAT?
GENESIS 11
3 They said to each other ,
" Come , let's make bricks and
bake them thoroughly ." They
used brick instead of stone ,
and tar for mortar . 4 Then they
said , " Come , let us build
ourselves a city , with a tower
that reaches to the heavens , so
that we may make a name for
ourselves and not be scattered
over the face of the whole
earth ."
IS KORAN AND BIBLE
HAD THE SAME VIEWS
OVER THIS?
KORAN
28 : 38 . Pharaoh said : " O Chiefs !
no god do I know for you but
myself : therefore , O Haman !
light me a (kiln to bake
bricks ) out of clay , and
build me a lofty palace , that I
may mount up to the god of
Moses : but as far as I am
concerned , I think ( Moses ) is a
liar !" ( Yusuf Ali's Quran
Translation )
{ The Pyramids of Egypt
are Tombs not Temples }.
It is believed to have
resembled the later
Eridu Ziggurat which was
built in 4100 B . C .
Over the many
thousands of years ,
successive kings added
to the Ziggurat , so
that by the time of
king Ur - Nammu , thirteen
layers of temples had
been added ; with
material from each
previous addition , used
as a platform for the
next ; one on top of the
other .
Ur - Nammu , wishing to
build the greatest
Ziggurat yet built ,
directed that previous
construction be dug
away to form the
platform for his new
ziggurat .
Construction Note :
• The core of a Ziggurat is
solid and made of mud brick ,
the sides and tops ( or
terraces ) is made of
waterproof baked brick .
These cylinders were written for the
Babylonian king Nabonidus who
reigned from about 555 B.C. to 539 B.C.
The text on these cylinders revealed
that the ziggurat had been rebuilt by
Nabonidus.
The cylinder reads;
I am Nabonidus, king of Babylon, patron of Esagila and Ezida, devotee
of the great gods. Elugalgalgasisa, the ziggurat of Egishnugal in Ur,
which UrNammu, a former king, built but did not finish it (and) his
son Shulgi finished its building. On the inscriptions of UrNammu and
his son Shulgi I read that UrNammu built that ziggurat but did not
finish it (and) his son Shulgi finished its building.
Now that ziggurat had become old, and I undertook the construction of
that ziggurat on the foundations which UrNammu and his son Shulgi
built, following the original plan with bitumen and baked brick. I
rebuilt it for Sin, the lord of the gods of heaven and underworld, the
god of gods, who lives in the great heavens, the lord of Egishnugal in
Ur, my lord.
Sin, lord of the gods, king of the gods of heaven and underworld, god of
gods, who lives in the great heavens, when you enter with joy into this
temple may the welfare of Esagila, Ezida and Egishshirgal, the temples
of your great divinity, be always on your lips. And let the fear of your
great divinity be in the heart of your people so that they will not sin
against your great divinity.
Let their foundations be established as the heavens. As for me,
Nabonidus, king of Babylon, save me from sin against your great
divinity, and give me life until distant days. And as for Belshazzar my
firstborn son, my own child, let the fear of your great divinity be in his
heart, and may he commit no sin; may he enjoy happiness in life.
It cannot be discounted that the Hebrew myth of the Tower of Babel
was inspired by Nabonidus's additions to the UrNammu Ziggurat,
rather than the Ziggurat of Eridu, as suggested by David Robl. Upon
ZIGGURAT
AND
TOWER OF BABEL
The city of
babylon
babylon
ZIGGURAT
OF
E - TEMEN - AN - KI
etemenanki
etemenanki
( House of the platform of Heaven and
260’ X 260’
60’
110’
300’ X 300’