Was the Bible Right?
Undated (Genesis 11)·Creation to Babel·Site

The Tower of Babel and the Ziggurats

Scripture: Genesis 11:1–9

The massive brick Ziggurat of Ur, a Mesopotamian temple tower
The massive brick Ziggurat of Ur, a Mesopotamian temple tower · Photo: Alli Khalil · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

The claim

People in the land of Shinar build a city and a tower 'with its top in the heavens', and God scatters them.

What archaeology found

Mesopotamian cities were dominated by ziggurats, stepped temple towers built of mud brick. Babylon's great ziggurat, Etemenanki ('House of the foundation of heaven and earth'), was rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar II. Koldewey's excavations (1899–1917) traced its foundations. Genesis 11:3 notes the builders used baked brick and bitumen instead of stone and mortar, which is exactly the Mesopotamian technique.

Sources

  1. Robert Koldewey, The Excavations at Babylon, Macmillan (1914)

Verdict history

  • SupportedInitial verdict.