Recorded in the Old Testament, the Tower of Babel explains how mankind began to speak the various languages that exist today. Following the Great Flood all of Noah's descendants spoke just one language and decided to build in their city a tower that would reach the heavens. God becomes aware of their tower and as a result changes their languages so that they could no longer speak to each other, which stops the building of the tower. Consequently, without being able to understand each other, all of the workers leave to for the far places of the world to create their own communities. Explained in Genesis 10:8-10 after the great flood Noah's great-grandson, Nimrod travels to the east establishing the cities Babel, Erek, Akkad and Kaineh becoming their ruler. Later on the cities Babel and Erek become Babylon and Erech and located in the ancient nation of Sumer. Biblical historians have determined that construction of the Tower of Babel began, around 2100BC. Written in Genesis 11:1-9, is the explanation of the building of the tower and how God changed everyone's language. The Tower of Babel legend in the Old Testament describes the building of a temple designed to reach the heavens. Likewise, a Sumerian myth named Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta also describes a similar theme. …show more content…
In Genesis 10 there are up to 70 different clans, nations and languages spread out over the majority of the ancient Near East before the Tower of Babel was constructed. In Genesis 11 mankind lives only in the Mesopotamian Valley and speaks just one language. Previously mentioned in the verses from Genesis 10, which confirms the descendants of Noah along with the names of their clans and their individual nations. According to these verses there is a total of 70 names of clans, lands and nations that each have their own language. To the right is a map that shows the location of several of the these clans or nations that were descendants of
The Babylonian Enuma Elish and the Hattian Kumarbi Cycle are both succession myths that, although written by two different cultures, have certain characters in common, such as the Babylonian god Ea. There are many similarities in the portrayal of Ea in both works. For one, in both works Ea is depicted as a trickster god, deceiving Kumarbi into biting a rock and Apsu into falling asleep in order for him to kill him. However, Ea is also shown to be wise, acting as adviser of the gods in both myths. Moreover, like all trickster gods, Ea shapes the world around him in many ways. One way that he does so in the Enuma Elish is by transforming Anu into his palace, while in the Kumarbi Cycle he allows for Tessub’s birth.
People have been trying to explain the existence of humans and the origins of our world since ancient times. There are many different theories and myths that attempt to describe the earliest beginnings of our present world. In the Ancient Near East one of the most popular creation myths was the Babylonian creation myth also known as Enuma Elish. Hebrew nomads like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David lived in tents while traveling to different locations in search of water and pastures for their livestock. Nomads were constantly moving and searching for other places which would have allowed them to hear many different creation myths throughout the Ancient Near East. These nomads would have been surprised by the first chapter of Genesis because it was extremely different than any other creation story they had ever heard of, especially from the Babylonian epic of Enuma Elish. The way Genesis is written would be very attractive and inviting to the Hebrew nomads because it was more realistic and gave human life value more than any other creation myth they would have heard at that time.
"Sumerian/Babylonian When on HIgh (Enuma Elish) "Creation and Marduk." [Dennis Bratcher, Tr. Http://www.cresourcei.org/enumaelish.html]." Ancient Mythology East and West. Comp. David Branscome. Print.
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the lord said, ‘I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created-people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.”(Genesis 6:5-8)
Upon discovering humanities attempt to build a tower to the Heavens, God didn’t like that so he said, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth (Gen 11: 7-8). We can thank the Lord for all the various languages, cultures, and peoples spread across the globe today.
“And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy the earth. Make yourself an ark…” (Genesis 6:13-14, English Standard Version) “For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.” (Genesis 6:17, ESV) “And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.” (Genesis 6:19, ESV) “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.” (Genesis 6:22, ESV) “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the second month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.” (Genesis 7:11-12, ESV) Everyone has heard the story of Noah’s ark and the great Flood. But is that all it is? Just a story? If a catastrophe of this scale really happened, it would have left plenty of evidence behind. And it did. The fossil record shows evidence of a small period of time in which all the major groups of life (phyla) appear without ancestors. (Wieland, n.d.) This alleged explosion of evolution is called the Cambrian explosion. However, Christians believe the Cambrian explosion is actually the Flood, in which all life on earth is rapidly buried by sediments picked up from the flood waters. Another piece of evidence for the Flood is the perfectly preserved mammoths. The mammoths show signs of being instantly buried and frozen, many while standing up. (Brown, 1995-2013) Evidence for this is fou...
"Sumerian/Babylonian When on HIgh (Enuma Elish) "Creation and Marduk." [Dennis Bratcher, Tr. Http://www.cresourcei.org/enumaelish.html]." Ancient Mythology East and West. Comp. David Branscome. Print.
The Epic of Gilgamesh by George Andrew is based on Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk. Gilgamesh is one-third a man and two-thirds a god. He built beautiful temple towers and surrounded his city with a wall. King Gilgamesh was strong, wise and beautiful. Though he has all the beauty, he was a cruel man. He raped the women that he liked even though the women had husbands or were daughters of noblemen. He also loathed over his servants. He relied on forced labor to build his projects, and the people complained of the endless oppression. The gods heard the pleas of the people and created a wild man by the name Enkidu, who was meant to keep Gilgamesh in check. Enkidu and Gilgamesh became great friends. The gods inflicted Enkidu with a strange illness
Genesis is the book about creation and beginnings that can be interpreted in many different ways, especially with the story about the Tower of Babel. The Tower of Babel is a commonly known story that may seem simple when your first read it, but when you look deeper into the text it actually has a more complex meaning. Through the use of different literary elements in the Old Testament, helps the reader to have a better understanding of the story and its actual meaning. The Tower of Babel is also told through different perspectives, one being from the society’s point of view and the other from God’s. This story illuminates the disobedient nature in humans and how God responds to that.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem of a hero named Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is seventy- five percent god and twenty- five percent human. Gilgamesh is a fierce warrior and is used to getting what he pleases whenever he wants, but he is not satisfied with all the things he has. Gilgamesh is lonely and wishes for a companion of some sort. The gods notice that Gilgamesh is starting to become too powerful for his own good and decide to create another being somewhat similar to Gilgamesh, but more powerful so that he is able to defeat Gilgamesh and bring him to his knees. They create a similar being named Enkidu. Enkidu starts off as just a very powerful being wondering the wilderness by himself. He, like Gilgamesh is lonely and wishes to find someone
Following that further, the belief that the humans existed to serve the gods influenced much of the Sumerian literature. Stories such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, Atrahasis poem, and The Enuma Elish all portrayed this belief. For instance, the Atrahasis poem, a creation story of a young god, Enki who is being awaken from his nights slumber by his mother who is telling him that he is create servants to the gods who will then reproduce more servants. So he molds clay in the form of a human and with the help of Niamh and the goddesses the fashion the faces of the gods. Also, among the creation stories was the Tale of the Enuma Elish. The Enuma Elish is a story that explains how Earth and the Cosmos were created. In the tale the two gods (Anu, and Tiamat) created lesser gods to create the universe. Things go smoothly until there is eventually a war between the gods. Then rise’s the god Marduk. Marduk kills the Goddess Tiamat; with her severed body Marduk is able to create the Earth and the cosmos. Then Marduk later creates mankind to serve as servants to the gods. With the god’s creation of hum...
Language is universal, but there are different meanings and sounds, which vary from one culture to another. In China citizens speak many languages, but about 94% speak the Chinese language. The difference in dialects was overcome by the written word and eventually a version of Mandrin became the “official speech” (The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 1996,p.304). In America there are many ethnic groups with many varieties of language. The U.S. was created through many people from different countries migrating to the new states. In the U.S. there is an “official speech” which is the English language. The language of both these countries are not only different in meaning and sound, but also reflect the way in which the people in these societies live, believe, and function.
Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation, LW King Translator from The Seven Tablets of Creation, London 1902. Downloaded from sacred-texts.com/ane/enuma.htm February 7,2014
Did the Great flood really happen? Was it all just a big made up story? Or did the Bible speak the truth. Evidence from all around the world has pointed to the fact that the flood happened. The city of Ur was destroyed by a flood. All the different stories in the world of the flood save one family. Abraham could have carried the story of the flood of Ur. The theories of the flood do not contradict the Bible. Also the Black Sea wasn’t always a body of water. Although the Great Flood was thought to be a myth, scientists may have found evidence the flood existed because scientists may have found the boat, they have found houses underneath the Black Sea, and many cultures have variations of the flood.
"Noah Movie Review 2014." Kansas City Examiner (MO) 28 Mar. 2014: NewsBank. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.