Archaeologists find ancient brick which could prove existence of Tower of Babel

Tower of Babel: Archaeologists find brick to prove existence

The Bible contains many mysterious stories, perhaps the most captivating being the Tower of Babel.

According to the Bible, in Genesis 11:1-9, the tower was built in the land of Shinar — Babylonia — sometime after the great flood, which is today considered to be Iraq.

Historians aren’t entirely sure whether the tower was real or a mere metaphor, and no trace of it can be found anywhere. 

But this hasn’t stopped countless researchers from attempting to prove its existence, and a handful of relics found in and around the former site of Babylon have helped that search.

One above all has proved the most interesting to archaeologists when some “unusual construction material” was discovered on a brick believed to come from the same time the tower was built. 

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On closer inspection, they found that the brick was commissioned by King Nebuchadnezzar II — the man who researchers believe ordered the tower’s construction.

In 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar had his eyes on dominating the known worlds and set out to capture the city of Jerusalem some 500 miles to the west.

He captured many of the city’s most highly skilled workers, along with the educated class, and took them back to Babylon, and forced them to create for him a grand metropolis.

Their arduous journey, and how their presence in Babylon could reveal the tower’s location, was explored during the Smithsonian Channel’s documentary, ‘Secrets Unlocked: Tower of Babel’.

Some experts, like Dr Irving Finkel of the British Museum, believe the captured people were forced to build the Tower of Babel and soon began to view it as a sign of their oppressor.

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“When you look at the early chapters of the Bible,” he said, “it is clear that some of it is drawn from the Judeans’ own records, and some of it incorporates narratives which they must have encountered for the first time in Babylon, which were so powerful and striking that the authors, the philosophers who worked on the Hebrew texts, incorporated them to tell their own story.”

The documentary’s narrator noted: “There’s a compelling clue in the story that backs up a theory that Jewish slaves witnessed the tower being built during their time in captivity.”

The discovery of the original Babylon brick appears to back this theory, a relic discovered during excavations. “It carries traces of an unusual construction material from the time: bitumen, an ancient tar, and mortar that’s specifically mentioned in the biblical tale,” said the narrator.

Archaeologists know Nebuchadnezzar commissioned the brick because his name is stamped on the front. Initially, that may have proved the jewel in the crown, but after researchers sent the brick off for analysis, they were stunned by the results. 

The black, soot-like material attached to it was bitumen, an ancient material rare in today’s age, and one that signaled a breakthrough.

As Dr Irving explained “In the book of Genesis it literally says that they use brick for stone and bitumen for mortar; it’s expressly said there.

“What we have here is one brick and its bitumen which fits exactly into that special context. There can be no doubt that the stimulus for the story and the narrative must have taken shape during the Babylonian exile.”

According to the researchers, it could prove that the tower was real, its existence written by a “desperate population in exile held captive by a ruthless king”.

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