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of which gives an account of the rebuilding of this ancient shrine at Borsippa, the modern
Birs Nimrod. Schrader's translation runs as follows:--
"We announce the following: The temple of the seven lights of the earth, the tower of
Borsippa, which a former king (E. Lenormant translates `the most ancient king,' thus
taking the temple back to the beginning of Babylonian history) had erected and had
completed to a height of 42 yards, whose pinnacle, however, he had set up, since remote
days had fallen to ruin. There was no proper care of the gutters for its water; rain and
storm had washed away its bricks; the tiles of its roofing were split; the bricks of the
building were flooded away to heaps of ruins. To restore it the great god Merodach
urged (?) my mind; its site, however, I did not injure, did not change its foundation walls.
In a month of good fortune, on an auspicious day, I improved the bricks of its building,
and the tiles of its roofing, into a compact edifice; renewed its substructure, and put the
inscription of my name on the cornice of its edifice. To restore it and set up its pinnacle I
raised my hand; as it was ages before, I built it anew; as it was in remote days, I erected
its pinnacle."
The fact that Nebuchadnezzar speaks of this ruin as dating back from "ages before,"
"remote days," and to the "most ancient king" shows the extreme antiquity of the
building. Archeologists have identified this tower, renewed by Nebuchadnezzar, with
the TOWER OF BABEL. In the wall cases can be seen coloured tiles, which
Nebuchadnezzar used to reface the tower. He constructed it as a seven-staged building,
giving each stage its own colour. The description of the New Jerusalem seems to have
something in common with the idea suggested here. The tower was called Ziggurat, or
Zikkurat, which has been connected with Zakar, to remember (see the meaning of the
name Zechariah). The meaning of the word ziggurat is " a memorial." Gen. 11: tells us
that one of the objects of the builders was to make a "name." The mound of ruins covers
an area of 49,000 square feet, and is nearly 300 feet high. When Alexander the Great
sought to repair the ruined structure, 10,000 workmen, labouring for two months, failed
to clear the rubbish away sufficiently to commence successful building operations, and
therefore the work was abandoned.
The Scriptures tell us that the brick was burned "thoroughly," and that they had "slime
(or bitumen) for mortar." One writer, speaking of a part of the masonry, says that it is
"so compact that no stone can be loosened from it, apparently indestructible, and, though
split from one end to the other by some unknown catastrophe, still standing erect with its
bricks elegant and perfect." It is very probable that the Lord has arranged that this
memorial of human pride and rebellion shall remain until He comes in judgment upon
Babylon. The bronze door step (No. 90,851) was taken from the ruined temple at Birs
Nimrod, and contains the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar.