Everyone and their mom says Alexander the Great tore down the tower, but died before rebuilding it. They never say why they think this, for example this website https://www.schoyencollection.com/history-collection-introduction/babylonian-history-collection/tower-babel-stele-ms-2063But one Wikipedia entry says this fact comes from Strabo (1st century). Here's a picture of what Strabo says. He says this right after talking about the hanging gardens and walls of Babylon saying they are or were one of the Seven Wonders of the World.But I have some complaints! Strabo does not say Alexander tore down anything, but that it was already in ruins when he arrived, Xerxes only destroyed it. If Xerxes destroyed it, then why does Herodotus describe it as perfectly fine and operational in his time, a few decades after Xerxes would have destroyed it? Alexander was then after Herodotus and found it in ruins? Surely Alexander did tear it down then, as I obviously trust Herodotus way more than Strabo.
Here's Herodotus talking about it.But is the Temple of Belus even the same thing as the original tower of Babel? Josephus talks about the Tower and the Temple of Belus as if they are different, maybe, I didn't read too much because I don't want to get too much from the 1st century. It would be quite shocking that Herodotus is talking about ANOTHER multi-story tower in Babylon which he says "even exists in my time" but it's not the famous tower.I just think it's weird that Herodotus describes the tower as 'Fully armed and operational' with ALL of its stories intact. Implying to me that Alexander the Great dismantled the ENTIRE thing. Or I'm missing some detail I don't know about.
Also Herodotus says the base is two furlongs, and Strabo says it was one Stadium, which seems to be half the size. https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/stadiumBut that's not too weird perhaps. Strabo is certainly not as reliable as Herodotus, not just because he's hundreds of years later, but even Herodotus describes the Caspian sea perfectly, whereas Strabo seems to think the Sea is connected to the ocean north, and other problems.And this is Josephus in one of his many mentions of all this, but like I said I haven't looked at all that.I guess, The original tower stood and was occasionally repaired until the time it was destroyed again by Xerxes, they rebuilt it very quickly, Herodotus talks about it, then Alexander tears it down partly and then people just pick at it over time until now it's just a square hole in the ground. I guess Alexander might do that.
>>18405424The tower of Babel was at that time the temple of Marduk. The ruins of the temple’s foundation bears on it an inscription, “Marduk had me set this tower here to join heaven and earth”, which corresponds to Genesis 11.>>18405431That seems likely as well.
>>18405443I can't find anything about that inscription. But the Temple of Marduk was south of Etemenanki which is also considered the tower of Babel and probably the same thing as the Temple of Zeus-Belus Herodotus is talking about. There can only be so many giant legendary towers in Babylon.
>>18405419>TOMB of Belus, perhaps Strabo is thinking of the semi-mythical person from Egypt/North Africa who supposedly created a colony on the Euphrates. In any case, a "pyramid of bricks" (presumably a ziggurat but it could be an actual funerary pyramid too)>>18405424TEMPLE of Zeus Belos (Baal), a complex which definitely included a multi-stage "tower" (ziggurat) judging from the description>Josephus talks about the Tower and the Temple of Belus as if they are differentIt certainly seems so. One is a Babylonian temple complex, the other is a singular structure in that complex. It's unclear if the "tomb" pyramid is meant to be identified with the ziggurat or if was a smaller structure.That said, this still doesn't explain why Herodotus talks about the ziggurat in full glory when it was supposedly ruined. Though he notes he heard that Xerxes tore down a giant gold statue of Zeus/Baal that existed in Cyrus' time.>>18405431Strabo and Josephus might be basing the story about Alexander on something Hecateus wrote (Josephus cites him here), but his writings don't survive.
>>18405448>But the Temple of Marduk was south of EtemenankiAren’t they both temples of Marduk?
>>18405448>There can only be so many giant legendary towers in Babylon.I see 3, maybe 4 ziggurats in the pic you posted.
For what it's worth:>Herodotus visited (or wrote about) Babylon when the structure was still a functioning, multi-tiered temple complex. To him, it was a living site of worship, hence the "Temple" designation. Writing centuries later, Strabo lived in an era where the ziggurat was a massive, crumbling ruin. By then, a tradition had emerged—likely fueled by Greek misunderstandings of Mesopotamian mythology—that the structure was the burial place of the ancient king/god Belus.>The reason Strabo called it a "tomb" might also stem from a linguistic confusion. In some Babylonian myths, Marduk "dies" and is imprisoned in a "mountain" (a metaphor for the underworld) before being resurrected. To a Greek ear, hearing that a god was in a mountain-like structure could easily be translated as a "tomb.">Strabo and other later Greek sources blamed the Persian King Xerxes for destroying the "Tomb" as punishment for a Babylonian revolt. However, modern archaeological evidence and contemporary tablets suggest the ziggurat was still somewhat intact long after Xerxes. It was actually Alexander the Great who finished the demolition—not out of spite, but because he wanted to rebuild it even grander. He died before the reconstruction could start, leaving the "tomb" as a pile of rubble.
What you have posted >>18405457 is probably true and everyone who has been saying Alexander did it was right. EVEN THOUGH, my problem is there's no ancient source that I know of that says Alexander tore down an 8 story structure, or even if Herodotus was off by a few stories, or if within that 100 years it fell apart a bit, that's still quite a project.I guess sources saying "rebuilding" could imply he first takes it down and it was in decay after 100 years of people walking all over it and doing whatever crazy nonsense Herodotus is saying they were up to inside.I was lastly going to talk about the Sumerian tablet that might have been written during the building of the tower https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr1823.htmOr the continued building, or just another building Enmerkar or Nimrod was building. It seems the languages were already confused. I have heard that there's an Enmerkar tablet saying the tongues were confused at his tower, but I can't find it. Anyway I'll never have another chance to post this if no one has read this or any of the Sumerian tablets which are all so insane they make you realise why Abraham was so ready to get out of there when God told him to. Like the tablet talking about Enki ejaculating the Euphrates into existence. Sumerian Chaldean Babylonian people are the funniest people that ever existed.
