CHAPTER 1
The Biblical Account of Babel
The account of the building of Babel and its tower is told in Genesis 11. It begins with the statement that all the people spoke the same language. Next, we are told of the "exodus" of a group of people from the area first settled by Noah and his descendants after the flood:
GEN 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
Ron accepted the Biblical narrative as the final authority, and what this passage told him was that the people who left the area of the ark traveled to the west. Common sense adds the additional information that they traveled along a river- a water supply for the people as well as their flocks and herds would have been an absolute necessity. Therefore, Ron concluded that they began their journey at the beginning of one of the mountain streams that was a tributary of the Euphrates River near the area of the ark and followed it to the west until they came to a plain.
Studying topographical and flight maps of the region, he saw where the Euphrates River exited the mountainous region- roughly a 250 mile journey from the region of the ark. And there, where the mountains ended, was a tremendous plain! After more study, he found another route he believed they also could have taken which would have brought them to the same plain but by an easier and more direct path. This second route would have taken them in a southwest direction for about 140 miles until they reached the west side of Lake Van. From there, they would have traveled along a river about 50 miles through a mountain pass then exiting onto the vast plain where they would travel west until they reached the Euphrates. These are the only 2 natural east-west routes across Anatolia (PH, p. 7). Which route they took, we may never know. However, both would have brought the group to the same general area.
Putting himself in their place, Ron reasoned that once they found this massive plain, they would have traveled no further, provided the region contained all the natural resources that they would have needed, which it did. (We will discuss these later). Here was what he believed was the "plain in the land of Shinar" where they "dwelt". On the map, you can see the location of Mt. Ararat (the region of the ark) and in the top center is a black dot- this marks the spot where the mountains end and the plain begins, where Ron believes Babel was located.
"A Plain in the Land of Shinar"
The term "land of Shinar" has been interpreted to mean only the area far south of Ron's site- the area of Babylon. But in fact, we have no firm evidence of the boundaries of this "land of Shinar". Akkadian cuneiform texts mention "Shanhara" as being in northern Mesopotamia, west of Ninevah, the same mountainous region that is today called "Singar". The Amarna Letters (Egyptian) also mention a land called "Shanhar" which is also in northern Syria. These examples are in the same general region as Ron's site. In fact, the name may even today still be reflected in a road sign of a town very near the site Ron examined- see photo at right. (In Turkish, "Ç" is pronounced "Ch").
The next Biblical mention of Shinar occurs at a much later date:
DAN 1:2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god;...
Since this above verse refers to the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar's time, we know where it is located, which is far south of this region. Therefore, there are several possibilities to consider- perhaps "Shinar", like "Mesopotamia", referred to the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Since the Tigris begins east of Ron's site it would therefore be include in it; or perhaps in Daniel 1:2 it refers to the region (Babylonia) that during his time was dominated by the people (Chaldeans) who came from the more northerly region. Another Scripture adds additional information which we will discuss later when we study the cities of Asshur.
Baked Bricks and "Slime"
GEN 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
They built the city and tower of Babel with baked brick and used "slime" for mortar. Several weeks ago, when Ron again visited the region and examined a very large tell, he took samples of the baked brick and the mortar. The very black mortar consisted of a mixture of sand and tar (bitumen/asphalt) which hardens when dried. Since this is a petroleum product, we must inquire: did the area Ron had selected have a supply? The 1985 Encyclopaedia Britannica states that the only oil fields in Turkey are in Ramana (west of this site) and Gaziantep (east of this site) both less than 100 miles away. The latest revision of the flight map shows oil wells in the immediate area, and the pipeline between Gaziantep and Ramana follows directly under the region. When Ron and Richard visited the area in 1990, they saw working oil derricks in the immediate vicinity. The presence of oil here, about 4,000 years after the time of Babel, indicates that an ample supply of bitumen most likely could have been obtained by the builders of this infamous city and tower. In fact, it may have been a major reason for selecting the area as this would have been a very necessary commodity.
"Let's Build Us a City and Make Us a Name!"
GEN 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
The command had been given to Noah's family:
GEN 9:1 Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Yet, in the passage about Babel we learn that when the time came that the mass of people set out from the Ararat region, they all congregated together to build ONE city in order to AVOID being scattered "upon the face of the whole earth". They also wanted to "make US a name". Evidences of ancient history all point to the fact that these earliest of people had, for the most part, rejected the true God, the Creator. By the time of Abraham, just a little over 400 years after the flood, we learn that even HIS family wasn't completely faithful to God and combined their worship of Him with that of idols:
JOS 24:2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood [Euphrates River] in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
Yes, the people wanted their OWN name, and they received it as we will soon see. But I dare say it wasn't what they had in mind.God Intervenes
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
This is a very thought-provoking passage that we need to think about. It plainly speaks of the fact that God said "nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do". Noah and his sons were from the pre-flood world, a world whose people most certainly possessed knowledge and technology equal to that of today. This knowledge, at least some of it, was most certainly passed on to their immediate descendants. The only thing that prevented a very advanced civilization from soon erupting was, in my opinion, the lack of personnel and the fact that for many, many years after the flood, they had to concentrate on breeding the animals and cultivating crops to sustain their lives. When the time came that these things were established, the people could concentrate on other things. And with every great mind on earth together in accord and of one language, we cannot imagine what they could have done. We have been "brainwashed" with the idea of early man being primitive and animal-like, but the evidence does NOT show this to be the case.
When we study the archaeological journals and reports, we must be careful to separate the physical evidence from the opinions of the excavators or those writing the reports. They all assume that first came the cave-man, then fire, etc. And they assign dates to archaeological sites based on these assumptions. But, if a "rocket scientist" suddenly found himself in a world of nothing but a barren planet of renewing plant and animal life, would we expect to find or build launch-pads? If the US were covered in dirt and archaeologists one day dug it up, would they date the fancy, modern homes of today as from the same time period as those in Appalachia that have no plumbing or electricity? I suspect they would place hundreds of years between them- maybe even thousands. The point is that when mankind left their first home near Noah and the ark, they had knowledge. What they DIDN'T have were the resources. Later, we will discuss the documented evidences of advanced knowledge in this region that the scholars and historians admit they are at a loss to explain!
So, once again, God intervened. He has a timetable for world events which He controls. When mankind had reached the point of almost complete apostasy, He sent the flood. When mankind again embarked upon a path that was contrary to His plan, He intervened in a manner that caused them to comply with His command to "replenish the earth".
