Men engaged in Building Columns; from Babylonian Cylinder.
There is also no representation on any of the Babylonian gems which can with any certainty be described as belonging to this story. Mr. Smith, however, picked out three from a series of these carvings which he thought might be distorted representations of the event. In these and some others of the same character, figures have their hands on tall piles, as if erecting them; and there is a god always represented near in much the same attitude. There is no proper proportion between the supposed structure and the men, and no stress can consequently be laid on the representations. The Babylonian origin of the story is, however, self-evident. According to Genesis, mankind after the flood travelled from the east, that is from Kharsak-kurra, “the mountain of the East,” now Elwend, where the Accadians believed the ark to have rested, to the plain of Shinar or Sumir. Both Alexander Polyhistor and Abydenus state that the building of the Tower of Babel was known to Babylonian history, Babel, in fact, being the native form of the name which the Greeks changed into Babylon. The legend of Etana given in the last chapter seems to imply that the Tower was supposed to have been built under the superintendence of this mythical hero. However that may be, a fragment of the native story of its construction was discovered by Mr. Smith, and though shockingly mutilated, is sufficient to show what the Babylonians themselves believed on the matter.
It is evident from the wording of the fragment that it was preceded by at least one tablet, describing the sin of the people in building the tower. The fragment preserved belongs to a tablet containing from four to six columns of writing, of which portions of four remain. The principal part is the beginning of Column I.
Column I.
- 1. .... them the father ....
- 2. the thought of his heart was evil,
- 3. .... he the father of all the gods had repudiated;
- 4. the thought of his heart was evil,
- 5. .... of Babylon he hastens to the submission (?),
- 6. [small] and great he confounded (on) the mound.
- 7. .... of Babylon he hastens to the submission,
- 8. [small] and great he confounded (on) the mound.
- 9. Their walls all the day he founded;
- 10. for their destruction (punishment) in the night
- 11. .... he did not leave a remainder.
- 12. In his anger also (his) secret counsel he pours out:
- 13. [to] confound (their) speeches he set his face.
- 14. He gave the command, he made strange their counsel
- 15. .... the going he inspected it.
- 16. .... he took (selected) a shrine.
There is a small fragment of Column II., but the connection with Column I. is not apparent.
Column II.
- 1. Sar-tuli-elli (the king of the illustrious mound, i.e. Anu) destroys (or punishes).
- 2. In front had Anu lifted up ....
- 3. to Bel-esir his father ....
- 4. Since his heart also ....
- 5. who carried the command ....
- 6. In those days also ....
- 7. he lifted him up ....
- 8. The goddess Dav-kina ....
- 9. My son I rise and ....
- 10. his number(?) ....
- 11. he did not ....
There is a third portion on the same tablet belonging to a column on the other side, either the third or the fifth.
Reverse Column III. or V.