Was the Etemenanki ziggurat in babylon real or is it just a myth? what was so important about it anyway?
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Anonymous
ANSWERS: 2
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Etemenanki "temple of the foundation of heaven and earth") was the name of a ziggurat dedicated to Marduk in the city of Babylon of the 6th century BC Neo-Babylonian dynasty. Originally seven stories in height, little remains of it now save ruins. The biblical story of the Tower of Babel was likely influenced by Etemenanki during the Babylonian captivity of the Hebrews. It is unclear exactly when Etemenanki was first built, but it was probably in existence before the reign of Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC middle chronology).
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Etemenanki was important to the Babylonians as a kind of connection between the gods who resided in heaven and those who resided in the netherworld. The golden shrine at the top of the tower was supposed to be a resting place for the gods and the empty core of the tower was their pathway. Supposedly, the gods chose a woman of the people to sleep in the golden bed in the shrine and a god (presumably Marduk)would come down to sleep with her from time to time. On a day to day basis it was a reminder to the people that their gods were with them, as the temple could be seen rising up above even the city walls, its golden roof shining almost as bright as the sun. Fires lit up the shrine at night. The ziggurat is real. You can find a description of its construction on cuneiform tablets dating from ancient times and aerial views, shows its outline very clearly. L. Heinrichs
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