The legacy of Babylon's Tower of Babel
Over the years, the Tower of Babel has appeared in many works of art
and other forms, including novels, video games, and TV shows.
Argentinian novelist Jorge Luis Borges wrote a book titled The Library
of Babel, and A.S. Byatt's novel Babel Tower explores the question of
whether language can be shared. The tower even appears in the video
game Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.
But with all the myth, folktale, and mystery surrounding the Tower of
Babel, it is important to know what actually happened to it and why it
is no longer a standing monument in the Middle East.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Credit: Carla216. CC BY 2.0/flickr
Babylon, like many other ancient cities, eventually fell into ruin, and
its citizens plundered the Tower of Babel, using its bricks to build
their own homes. Some time after this (still quite some time ago),
Babylon and its monumental tower sank into the sands of the Iraqi
desert and "disappeared," so to say.
Archaeologists have been working since 1811 to excavate the capital of
the ancient world, but it was aerial photography that provided the
first real clues as to the location of the tower. The photographs show
the tower';s square-shaped outline in the center of the city. Today,
nothing but a waterhole remains.
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