Original subtitles

THE TOWER OF BABEL

IS ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC STORIES IN THE BIBLE.

IT TELLS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF A VERTIGO-INDUCING TOWER

THAT REACHES TO HEAVEN.

YOU'D SEE THIS LARGE, MOUNTAIN-LIKE SHAPE

COMING UP OUT OF THE HORIZON.

BUT ANGERED BY HIS PEOPLE'S BETRAYAL,

GOD TAKES ACTION TO STOP PROGRESS IN ITS TRACKS.

IT'S A FANTASTICAL TALE...

BUT AN INCREDIBLE NEW DISCOVERY SUGGESTS THAT THE TOWER OF BABEL

WAS NOT SIMPLY A WORK OF FICTION...

THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT

THAT THIS JOLLY WELL EXISTED, AND THIS IS A PICTURE OF IT.

AND EXPERTS NOW BELIEVE THEY KNOW

WHERE THE LEGENDARY TOWER ONCE STOOD.

THAT'S A REAL BRICK FROM THE TOWER OF BABEL.

COULD THESE BE THE REMAINS

OF THE GREATEST LOST WONDER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD?

THE RELICS OF THE PAST HOLD SECRETS...

WRITTEN IN GOLD, STONE AND BLOOD.

WE CAN UNLOCK THEM.

THESE ARE THE SECRETS OF HISTORY'S GREATEST TREASURES.

MODERN-DAY IRAQ.

A COUNTRY RAVAGED BY A DECADE OF WAR.

BUT DESPITE THE YEARS OF HOSTILITY

UNDER THE DICTATORSHIP OF SADDAM HUSSEIN...

EVIDENCE STILL SURVIVES

FROM AN UNBELIEVABLY RICH AND COLORFUL PAST.

2,500 YEARS AGO

THIS WAS THE CENTER OF A VAST REGION CALLED MESOPOTAMIA;

THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION.

AND THESE ARE THE REMAINS OF ITS CAPITAL--

A CITY THAT HAS BECOME FABLED IN FOLKLORE

BUT THAT ACTUALLY EXISTED.

BABYLON.

Mark Altaweel: BABYLON WAS A REAL PLACE--

IT WAS DEFINITELY A CITY.

IT WAS EXCAVATED DURING THE LATE 19th CENTURY

BY A GERMAN EXPEDITION,

AND IT CERTAINLY CERTIFIED THAT THIS WAS BABYLON.

IT WAS GERMAN ARCHAEOLOGIST ROBERT KOLDEWEY

WHO FIRST IDENTIFIED THE BURIED RUINS OF BABYLON IN 1899.

FOR 18 YEARS HIS TEAM WORKED RELENTLESSLY

TO EXPOSE THE LOST METROPOLIS THAT HAD BEEN BURIED

UNDER 2,000 YEARS OF SHIFTING SAND.

BABYLON WAS A VERY LARGE CITY--

CERTAINLY MORE THAN 100,000 PEOPLE,

PERHAPS EVEN MORE THAN THAT--

150, 200,000 MIGHT BE SOMEWHAT REASONABLE.

THE RUINS OF BABYLON

REVEALED MANY SECRETS ABOUT THE LOST CITY.

BUT KOLDEWEY WAS CONVINCED THAT WITHIN THE RUBBLE

HE'D FIND THE REMAINS OF A BUILDING

THAT HAD BECOME A LEGEND--

THE TOWER OF BABEL,

THE SUBJECT OF ONE OF THE STRANGEST STORIES IN THE BIBLE.

Irving Finkel: ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, GOD PUNISHED MANKIND

FOR THEIR ARROGANCE IN TRYING TO REACH HEAVEN.

THE TALE IS SET

WHEN THE WHOLE OF EARTH SPOKE ONE LANGUAGE.

IT TELLS OF THE CONSTRUCTION

THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT WHEN GOD SEES THE TOWER OF BABEL,

HE IS ENRAGED.

GOD'S ANGER STOPS CONSTRUCTION IN ITS TRACKS.

HE SCATTERS THE POPULATION ACROSS THE EARTH,

AND MULTIPLE LANGUAGES ARE SPAWNED.

GOD GOT CROSS, DECIDED THIS WAS ARROGANT BEHAVIOR...

HAD TO BE PUNISHED, HAD TO BE STOPPED.

IT'S AN INCREDIBLE STORY--

BUT COULD IT BE BASED ON TRUTH?

ROBERT KOLDEWEY, THE MAN WHO UNCOVERED THE RUINS OF BABYLON,

BELIEVED IT WAS.

MORE THAN A CENTURY LATER, ANOTHER ARCHAEOLOGIST

IS DETERMINED TO PROVE KOLDEWEY WAS RIGHT.

Jeff Allen: I GET PEOPLE SAYING TO ME "BABYLON?

I THOUGHT THAT WAS JUST A LEGEND,

THAT'S ONLY A MYTH."

AND I SAY NO, NO--

I'VE BEEN WORKING HERE SINCE 2009.

JEFF ALLEN IS A PROGRAM DIRECTOR

FOR THE WORLD MONUMENTS FUND.

HE'S BEEN WORKING IN IRAQ

TO PRESERVE THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS OF THE ONCE-LOST CITY...

A CITY THAT ASTONISHINGLY WAS MADE ALMOST ENTIRELY OF MUD.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE

ARE THE INNER CITY WALLS OF BABYLON.

THEY WERE MADE OUT OF MUD BRICK.

IN THE ANCIENT BABYLONIAN TIMES,

MUD BRICK WAS THE FOUNDATION FOR MOST STRUCTURES,

THAT IS IT'S THE BUILDING BLOCK

UPON WHICH MOST OF THEIR ARCHITECTURE WAS BUILT.

INCREDIBLY, OVER 2,000 YEARS

AFTER BABYLON WAS BUILT,

MANY OF THE CITY'S MUD BRICK STRUCTURES

HAVE BEEN UNEARTHED.

THEY GIVE ARCHAEOLOGISTS A CLUE

AS TO THE SHEER SCALE AND GRANDEUR OF THE ANCIENT CITY.

WHEN THE ORIGINAL EXCAVATIONS BEGAN IN 1899,

ONE OF THE BIGGEST STRUCTURES THEY UNCOVERED

WAS THE ISHTAR GATE--

A VAST ENTRANCE TO THE CITY,

NAMED AFTER A BABYLONIAN GODDESS.

IF YOU'RE A VISITOR,

YOU WANTED TO VISIT A CITY LIKE BABYLON,

WHICH WAS AT THE TIME THE WORLD'S LARGEST CITY.

YOU WANT TO AT LEAST SET THE RIGHT TONE

WHEN SOMEONE ARRIVED

THAT THIS WAS A PLACE OF SERIOUS RECKONING

AND IT WAS A PLACE THAT WAS IMPORTANT,

AND I THINK THIS IS LIKE ADVERTISING TO THE WORLD

THAT THIS IS A GREAT, POWERFUL KINGDOM

THAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO ENTER INTO.

AS KOLDEWEY'S TEAM UNEARTHED

MORE OF THE GRAND CITY ENTRANCE,

THEY FOUND THOUSANDS OF FRAGMENTS OF COLORED BRICK.

TODAY THEY SURVIVE AS PART OF A FULL-SIZE RECREATION

OF THE ISHTAR GATE...

THE STAR ATTRACTION AT A BERLIN MUSEUM.

SO IF THE ANCIENT BABYLONIANS COULD CREATE A STRUCTURE

AS GRAND AS THE ISHTAR GATE...

COULD THEY HAVE USED THE SAME MUD BRICK TECHNOLOGY

TO BUILD A SKYSCRAPING STRUCTURE LIKE THE BIBLE'S TOWER OF BABEL?

EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT THE ISHTAR GATE

WAS JUST A PART OF A MASSIVE BUILDING PROJECT

UNDERTAKEN IN BABYLON DURING THE 6th CENTURY B.C.

BUT WHO WAS BEHIND IT?

A NAME, STAMPED INTO HUNDREDS OF THE UNEARTHED MUD BRICKS

PROVIDES THE ANSWER...

KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR II,

A RULER WHOSE AMBITIONS FOR BABYLON

WERE ON A SCALE THAT DWARFED ANY OTHER CITY OF ITS TIME.

THE CITY OF BABYLON

WAS ALREADY A VERY LARGE, IMPRESSIVE CITY

EVEN BEFORE THE TIME OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR.

HE DID NOT SIMPLY WANT TO REPLICATE HIS PREDECESSORS--

HE WANTED TO GO ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT THEY WERE DOING.

HE MADE IT EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE.

BY 590 B.C., BABYLON HAD ESTABLISHED ITSELF

AS THE EPICENTER OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S VAST EMPIRE.

AN EMPIRE THAT STRETCHED FROM MODERN-DAY ISRAEL

TO THE BORDERS OF IRAN...

NORTH INTO SYRIA AND SOUTH INTO ARABIA.

BABYLON WAS ESSENTIALLY A CENTER,

A MAJOR CENTER OF THE KNOWN CIVILIZED, IF YOU WILL, WORLD

DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.

SO IT WAS A LARGE EMPIRE FOR ITS DAY,

SPANNING MUCH OF THE NEAR EAST.

AS A RULER,

NEBUCHADNEZZAR HAD A FIERCE REPUTATION...

A SKILLED WARRIOR DESCRIBED IN THE BIBLE

AS A DESTROYER OF NATIONS.

BUT WHILE RULING WITH AN IRON FIST,

HE WAS DETERMINED TO LEAVE HIS MARK ON THE CITY.

AND EVIDENCE SUGGESTS HE DID.

A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF WHAT NEBUCHADNEZZAR ACTUALLY PLANNED

CAN BE FOUND IN LONDON'S BRITISH MUSEUM.

THIS CLAY TABLET WAS UNCOVERED IN IRAQ IN THE 17th CENTURY.

ITS ANCIENT TEXT REVEALS HIS MASTER PLAN

FOR SUPERSIZING BABYLON.

THIS SPLENDID OBJECT IS CALLED

THE EAST INDIA HOUSE INSCRIPTION

OF KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR II OF BABYLON,

AND WE HAVE LOTS OF INSCRIPTIONS FROM THIS KING

BECAUSE HE REBUILT THE CITY,

AND WHEN HE DID ALL THESE OPERATIONS,

THEY WERE WRITTEN DOWN, THEY WERE RECORDED

SO THAT NO ONE WOULD EVER FORGET,

AND HE EXPLAINS BASICALLY WHAT HE DID

TO CHANGE THE FACE OF BABYLON.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S VAST CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM

UTILIZED MILLIONS OF MUD BRICKS TO CREATE AN ANCIENT METROPOLIS,

A CITY LIKE NO OTHER IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.

IF YOU WANT TO GET A HANDLE

ON WHAT BABYLON WAS LIKE,

IT WAS PROBABLY SOMETHING LIKE MANHATTAN,

WHERE YOU HAVE SKYSCRAPERS AND VERY EXPENSIVE PUBLIC BUILDINGS

AND MONUMENTAL BUILDINGS.

EVERYONE HAS HEARD OF BABYLON, AND IT ACTUALLY IS A REFLECTION

OF THE SPLENDOR OF THE CITY AND THE LAVISH WAY IT WAS DECORATED.

BUT COULD NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S VISION

REALLY HAVE STRETCHED AS FAR

AS THE TOWERING STRUCTURE DETAILED IN THE BIBLE--

A REAL TOWER OF BABEL?

BACK IN 1913, AFTER 15 YEARS OF EXCAVATIONS,

THE GERMAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS MADE AN EARTH-SHATTERING DISCOVERY.

BUT FLOODING AND WAR

WOULD MAKE FURTHER EXPLORATION IMPOSSIBLE...

UNTIL NOW.

I THOUGHT AS A KID THIS WAS FOLKLORE OR LEGEND--

AND THEN A LOT OF PEOPLE STILL THINK OF IT IN BIBLICAL TERMS

AS SOME KIND OF LEGEND,

BUT THEY DON'T REALLY KNOW THAT IT ACTUALLY EXISTED.

I'M REALLY AT THE PLACE WHERE THE TOWER STOOD.

THE TOWER OF BABEL IS THE BIBLE'S APOCALYPTIC TALE

OF THE CONSTRUCTION...

AND DESTRUCTION

OF A MIGHTY STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN THAT INCURRED THE WRATH OF GOD.

BUT COULD THIS FANTASTICAL STRUCTURE REALLY HAVE EXISTED?

IN 1913, GERMAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTHING THE RUINS OF BABYLON

CLAIMED THEY'D FOUND EVIDENCE THAT IT DID.

NOW, THANKS TO SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY,

THE TRUE SCALE OF THEIR DISCOVERY CAN BE REVEALED.

COULD THESE BE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE FABLED TOWER?

FOR DECADES, CONSTANT FLOODING FROM THE NEARBY EUPHRATES RIVER

HAS MADE ACCESS IMPOSSIBLE.

BUT NOW, AFTER THE DRIEST SUMMER IN OVER 50 YEARS,

THE FOUNDATIONS HAVE FINALLY EMERGED.

THIS IS A RARE MOMENT WHEN THE WATER TABLE

IS EXTREMELY LOW IN IRAQ THIS SUMMER,

AND IT'S GOING TO ALLOW US A CHANCE

TO ACTUALLY GO DOWN IN AN AREA

THAT'S USUALLY OFF LIMITS BECAUSE OF FLOODING.

AS YOU CAN SEE, AN IMPRINT

IS LEFT ON THE SURFACE AFTER EXCAVATIONS

THAT SHOW YOU ROUGHLY THE PROFILE,

AN OUTLINE HERE IN BABYLON.

THE SHEER SIZE OF THE FOUNDATIONS

SUGGESTS THAT THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO

WORK BEGAN HERE ON A VAST CONSTRUCTION.

SINCE 2009, ARCHAEOLOGIST JEFF ALLEN

HAS BEEN FORCED TO STUDY THE FLOODED EXCAVATIONS

FROM THE BANKS.

THIS ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY

WILL FINALLY ALLOW HIM TO STEP DOWN

INTO THE RECENTLY EXPOSED FOUNDATIONS.

NORMALLY WHERE I'M STANDING,

I'D BE WAIST DEEP IN WATER--

ACTUALLY ABOUT THIS HIGH, JUDGING BY THE WATERLINES.

BUT BECAUSE WE'RE HERE DURING A VERY DRY SUMMER,

THE BASE SURROUNDING THE CORE IS ACTUALLY DRY,

SO WE'RE ABLE TO GET A BETTER CONCEPT

OF THE SIZE OF WHAT THIS TOWER WAS THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.

DURING THE ORIGINAL EXCAVATIONS BACK IN 1913,

ARCHAEOLOGISTS RECORDED EACH OF THE FOUR SIDES

TO BE JUST OVER 90 METERS LONG-- THAT'S NEARLY 300 FEET--

THE SAME LENGTH AS A FOOTBALL FIELD.

SO I'VE NOW WALKED ABOUT 90 PACES,

AND GIVEN MY TALL HEIGHT, THAT'S ABOUT A METER A PACE...

ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF THE TOWER OF BABYLON...

AND IT'S ANOTHER 90 METERS THAT WAY

TILL WE REACH THE NORTHEAST CORNER.

THE FOUNDATIONS ONLY PROVE CONSTRUCTION WAS STARTED.

THERE ARE NO CLUES HERE

TO CONFIRM THE STRUCTURE WAS ACTUALLY COMPLETED.

BUT AN ANCIENT TABLET FROM 6th CENTURY BABYLON--

NOW IN THE LOUVRE MUSEUM IN PARIS--

PROVIDES TANTALIZING EVIDENCE

OF A FINISHED STRUCTURE LIKE NO OTHER.

THE ESAGILA TABLET DESCRIBES THE DIMENSIONS

OF A SKYSCRAPING TOWER WITH FOUNDATIONS

OF THE EXACT SAME MEASUREMENTS AS THOSE FOUND IN BABYLON.

CRUCIALLY, THE ANCIENT TABLET

ALSO REVEALS THE HEIGHT OF THE BUILDING.

THERE'S ACTUALLY A LOT OF INFORMATION

IN THIS LOUVRE TABLET,

SO IF YOU'RE A GOOD MATHEMATICIAN

AND A VERY CAREFUL DRAFTSMAN,

YOU COULD MAKE A GOOD RECONSTRUCTION IN YOUR MIND

ON THE BASIS OF THIS INSCRIPTION IN PARIS.

INCREDIBLY, THE TABLET DESCRIBES A STRUCTURE

THAT REACHED AN ASTONISHING 300 FEET INTO THE SKY.

IT WAS CALLED THE ETEMENANKI.

TRANSLATED, IT MEANS,

"HOUSE OF THE FOUNDATION OF HEAVEN AND EARTH."

THE NAME EERILY ECHOES THE BIBLE'S DESCRIPTION

OF A TOWER WHOSE TOP REACHES TO HEAVEN.

WHEN ONE'S VISUALIZING THIS BUILDING

WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THIS ANCIENT INSCRIPTION,

IT IS REMARKABLE THAT THE GROUND PLAN IS 90 BY 90.

BUT ALSO, THE HEIGHT OF THE BUILDING IS ALSO 90 METERS.

SO THE THING WAS CONCEIVED AS A HUGE BLOCK.

THE FOUNDATIONS PROVIDE EVIDENCE

THAT THE PROJECT BEGAN...

AND THE ESAGILA TABLET REVEALS THE DIMENSIONS

FOR AN ENTIRE STRUCTURE.

BUT WAS IT ACTUALLY POSSIBLE

TO BUILD A 300-FOOT-TALL TOWER IN BABYLON,

A CITY MADE ALMOST ENTIRELY OF MUD BRICKS?

TO FIND OUT, DR. STEPHEN RESSLER,

A LEADING EXPERT IN ANCIENT BUILDING METHODS,

WILL USE 21st CENTURY TECHNOLOGY

TO TEST THE LIMITATIONS OF THE PRIMITIVE BUILDING MATERIAL.

Stephen Ressler: MY GOAL IS TO DETERMINE,

AS BEST WE CAN FROM AN ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE,

IF ETEMENANKI COULD ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED.

COULD THIS MASSIVE STRUCTURE

HAVE BEEN BUILT TO A HEIGHT OF 90 METERS OR SO

AND ACTUALLY STOOD UP, CARRIED LOAD STRUCTURALLY,

GIVEN THAT IT WAS MADE

OF A RELATIVELY WEAK STRUCTURAL MATERIAL, MUD BRICK.

TODAY, USING STEEL, A 300-FOOT TOWER

NEEDS A FOUNDATION OF AS LITTLE AS 50 FEET SQUARE--

A FRACTION OF THE FOUNDATIONS AT BABYLON.

BUT A SIMULATED STRESS TEST REVEALS

THAT A MODERN-SHAPED STRUCTURE BUILT OF MUD BRICKS

WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE IN ANCIENT TIMES.

Wolfgang Fischer: YOU CAN SEE THE DIFFERENT STRESS LEVELS

ARE INDICATED BY DIFFERENT COLORS,

WHEREAS RED IS THE HIGHEST STRESS

AND BLUE IS THE LOWEST.

AND RED IS ACTUALLY SHOWING THAT THE STRESS

IS BEYOND THE CAPABILITY OF THE MATERIAL.

THAT MEANS THE TOWER WOULD BREAK.

THE HUGE STRESSES INCURRED

BY THE RECTANGULAR DESIGN

ARE TOO GREAT FOR THE MUD BRICKS AT THE BASE OF THE TOWER.

IF THE TOWER OF BABEL HAD BEEN THIS SHAPE,

IT WOULD HAVE CRASHED TO EARTH.

BUT WOULD A MASSIVE TOWER

WITH THE FOOTPRINT OF THE BABYLON FOUNDATIONS

HAVE BEEN ANY BETTER?

LET'S LOOK AT THE ALTERNATIVE

WHERE THE TOWER IS WIDER,

SEE IF ADDING THAT WIDTH GIVES US ANY ADVANTAGE.

HERE AGAIN WE SEE

THAT THE STRESS IS INCREASING WITH HEIGHT

AND THAT WE HAVE THE HIGHEST STRESS AT THE BOTTOM

AND THE LOWEST AT THE TOP, AS EXPECTED.

HERE AGAIN, WE HAVE A RED AREA

INDICATING THAT THIS TOWER WOULD ALSO CRUSH.

THE SECOND TEST SHOWS

A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN STRESS THROUGHOUT THE STRUCTURE.

BUT IF THE TOWER OF BABEL HAD BEEN THIS DESIGN,

THE SHEER WEIGHT OF MATERIALS

WOULD HAVE CAUSED THE BRICKS AT THE BASE OF THE TOWER

TO SHATTER.

THE TOWER WOULD ONCE AGAIN HAVE COLLAPSED.

SO COULD ANY STRUCTURE WITHSTAND THE WEIGHT

OF 300 FEET OF PILED-HIGH MUD BRICKS?

ONE ANCIENT MEGASTRUCTURE OFFERS CLUES

TO WHAT DESIGN COULD HAVE WORKED.

THIS IS IRAQ'S GREAT ZIGGURAT OF UR.

LOCATED LESS THAN 200 MILES FROM BABYLON,

IT'S THE FIRST STAGE OF A MESOPOTAMIAN STEPPED TOWER.

BUILT OVER 4,000 YEARS AGO,

JUST AFTER EGYPT'S GREAT PYRAMID OF CHEOPS,

IT'S A RARE SURVIVOR OF A MUD BRICK TOWER.

IMPORTANTLY, IT WAS BUILT

1,500 YEARS BEFORE THE FABLED TOWER OF BABEL.

SO THE ZIGGURAT OF UR WAS A STAGED TOWER AS WELL

THAT WAS BUILT IN THE CITY OF UR

DURING THE LATE THIRD MILLENNIUM B.C.

UNDER THE SO-CALLED UR III KINGDOM.

IT'S THE BEST-PRESERVED ZIGGURAT THAT WE KNOW OF

IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA,

AND BECAUSE IT'S WELL PRESERVED

WE CAN GET A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT A ZIGGURAT LOOKS LIKE.

TODAY, ONLY THE FIRST STAGE

OF THE GREAT ZIGGURAT OF UR SURVIVES.

ANCIENT RECORDS HAVE REVEALED

THAT ORIGINALLY IT WOULD HAVE BEEN

THE LARGEST OF FOUR PLATFORMS,

TOWERING OVER 130 FEET INTO THE SKY.

BUT DESPITE ITS VAST SIZE,

THIS ANCIENT STRUCTURE WAS LESS THAN HALF THE HEIGHT

OF THE TOWER DESCRIBED IN THE ESAGILA TABLET.

SO IF YOU GO TO UR TODAY, YOU WOULD SEE

THIS WELL-PRESERVED, VERY IMPRESSIVE-LOOKING ZIGGURAT,

BUT IF YOU WENT TO BABYLON IN THE 6th CENTURY B.C.,

YOU WOULD SEE AN EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE STRUCTURE,

TWICE THE SIZE OF THE ZIGGURAT AT UR.

SO CAN MODERN-DAY SCIENCE PROVE

THAT A 300-FOOT-HIGH TOWER COULD HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED

USING A ZIGGURAT DESIGN?

SO LET'S LOOK AT THE ZIGGURAT.

LET'S LOOK AT THE PYRAMIDAL SHAPE

AND SEE IF WE GET ANY ADVANTAGE FROM THAT SHAPE.

THIS SHOWS ALSO THE BUILD-UP OF THE HEIGHT,

IT SHOWS ALSO THE DIFFERENT STRESSES BY COLOR.

AGAIN, RED IS THE HIGHEST.

AND WE CAN SEE THERE IS NO RED ANYMORE.

THIS TOWER WOULD SURVIVE ITS OWN WEIGHT.

THAT'S FASCINATING.

IT REALLY SEEMS TO SUGGEST

THAT THESE ANCIENT ENGINEERS KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING.

INCREDIBLY, SCIENCE PROVES

THAT THE TOWER OF BABEL COULD HAVE EXISTED--

AND ALL THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS IT WAS A ZIGGURAT...

A HUGE MULTI-TIERED PLATFORM CROWNED WITH A TEMPLE SHRINE.

THE ETEMENANKI WAS A TOWER THAT ROSE UP TOWARDS HEAVEN...

JUST LIKE THE BIBLE'S TOWER OF BABEL.

BASED ON THESE ANALYSIS RESULTS

IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IT IS ENTIRELY FEASIBLE

THAT ETEMENANKI EXISTED, THAT IT COULD BE BUILT,

AND THAT IT COULD BE BUILT TO ITS ADVERTISED HEIGHT.

IN THEORY IT WOULD HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE

TO BUILD THE TOWER OF BABEL.

AND NOW, AN INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY WILL REVEAL

JUST WHAT THIS AMBITIOUS ANCIENT WONDER ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE

TO THE PEOPLE OF BABYLON OVER 2,500 YEARS AGO.

THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT

THAT THIS JOLLY WELL EXISTED, AND THIS IS A PICTURE OF IT.

THE FRAGILE REMAINS OF THE LEGENDARY CITY OF BABYLON

IN MODERN-DAY IRAQ HAVE REVEALED MANY SECRETS.

THE GREATEST OF ALL WAS THE DISCOVERY OF A VAST STRUCTURE

THAT ANCIENT RECORDS SUGGEST WAS THE TOWER OF BABEL...

A SKYSCRAPING MONUMENT

FROM ONE OF THE BIBLE'S MOST INCREDIBLE STORIES.

ANCIENT TEXTS HAVE ALLOWED EXPERTS

TO IMAGINE WHAT THE BUILDING MIGHT HAVE LOOKED LIKE.

BUT NOW, ASTOUNDING NEW EVIDENCE HAS EMERGED.

INSCRIBED ON THE SURFACE OF A PRIVATELY OWNED TABLET

IS AN IMAGE THAT SENSATIONALLY REVEALS

EXACTLY WHAT THE TOWER OF BABEL LOOKED LIKE.

Andrew George: THIS IS A VERY STRONG PIECE OF EVIDENCE

THAT THE TOWER OF BABEL STORY IN THE BIBLE

WAS INSPIRED BY THIS REAL BUILDING.

THIS REMARKABLE TABLET,

WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN FILMED BEFORE,

DATES TO THE 6th CENTURY B.C.

IT WAS DISCOVERED IN BABYLON OVER A CENTURY AGO.

UNBELIEVABLY, NO ONE REALIZED HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS

UNTIL PROFESSOR ANDREW GEORGE, AN EXPERT IN ANCIENT TEXTS,

BROUGHT ITS FAINT CARVINGS BACK TO LIFE.

AT THE TOP HERE, THIS PART, THERE IS A RELIEF

DEPICTING A STEPPED TOWER

AND HERE A FIGURE OF A HUMAN BEING

CARRYING A STAFF WITH A CONICAL HAT ON.

BELOW THAT RELIEF IS TEXT

WHICH HAS BEEN CHISELED INTO THE MONUMENT,

AND THE LABEL IS EASILY READ--

IT READS "ETEMENANKI ZIGGURAT BABILI"--

AND THAT MEANS THE ZIGGURAT OR TEMPLE TOWER

OF THE CITY OF BABYLON.

THIS TABLET PROVIDES THE FIRST-EVER IMAGE

OF THE REAL TOWER OF BABEL.

IT CONFIRMS THE BUILDING WAS A MESOPOTAMIAN STEPPED TOWER...

AND ILLUSTRATES THE SEVEN TIERS OF THE ANCIENT MEGASTRUCTURE.

SIGNIFICANTLY, IT ALSO CLEARLY IDENTIFIES THE MAN BEHIND IT--

MESOPOTAMIA'S MOST FAMOUS RULER, KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR II.

THE BUILDING AND ITS BUILDER

ON THE SAME, ON THE SAME RELIEF.

BUT WHILE THE IMAGES ARE EXTRAORDINARY,

THE TABLET'S ANCIENT TEXT ALSO REVEALS A DETAILED ACCOUNT

OF THE TOWER'S CONSTRUCTION...

AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY,

HOW NEBUCHADNEZZAR WENT ABOUT BUILDING IT.

IT READS, "FROM THE UPPER SEA,"

WHICH IS THE MEDITERRANEAN,

"TO THE LOWER SEA," AND THAT'S THE PERSIAN GULF,

"THE FAR-FLUNG LANDS AND TEEMING PEOPLE OF THE HABITATIONS

I MOBILIZED IN ORDER TO CONSTRUCT THIS BUILDING

OF THE ZIGGURAT AT BABYLON."

INCREDIBLY, THIS ANCIENT ACCOUNT

IS IDENTICAL TO THE BIBLICAL STORY

OF HOW THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS CONSTRUCTED.

FOR SCHOLARS, THE TABLET OFFERS FURTHER PROOF

THAT THE TOWER OF BABEL WASN'T JUST A WORK OF FICTION.

IT WAS AN ACTUAL BUILDING FROM ANTIQUITY.

IT'S GOT EVERYTHING ON IT, REALLY.

NOT ONLY THE PICTURE AND THE KING AND THE PROFILE

AND THE MAP, BUT ALSO IN THE TEXT.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS OBJECT,

THE WHOLE THING IS LIKE ENCAPSULATED

INTO ONE CONVINCING BAR OF GOLD THAT THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT,

THAT THIS MONUMENT AS WE UNDERSTAND IT FROM THE BIBLE

JOLLY WELL EXISTED, AND THIS IS A PICTURE OF IT.

BUT IF THE REMAINS DISCOVERED IN IRAQ

WERE THE TOWER OF BABEL--

THE MYTHICAL STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN--

WHERE WERE THE STAIRS?

IT'S THE QUESTION THE ORIGINAL EXCAVATION TEAM

WERE DETERMINED TO DISCOVER BACK IN 1913.

INCREDIBLY THEY FOUND WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR.

THESE ARE PHOTOS FROM THE ORIGINAL EXCAVATIONS

OVER 100 YEARS AGO,

AND SOMEWHERE IN HERE THEY FOUND

THE BEGINNING STEPS OF ETEMENANKI,

AND THESE STEPS LED TO MY LEFT

UP TOWARDS THE CENTRAL PART OF THE TOWER.

THE EVIDENCE FROM THE RUINS IN IRAQ...

THE ANCIENT TABLET DESCRIPTIONS...

THE MUD BRICK ANALYSIS...

AND THE ACCOUNT OF THE TOWER'S CONSTRUCTION

CREATE A COMPELLING CASE THAT THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS REAL.

BUT HOW DID THE BIBLICAL STORY COME ABOUT?

FOR EXPERTS, THE ANSWER CAN BE FOUND BY LOOKING BACK

TO ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN HISTORY.

IN 586 B.C., IN A BID FOR WORLD SUPREMACY,

KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR LAID SIEGE TO JERUSALEM,

500 MILES TO THE WEST.

HIS ARMY SACKED THE CITY

AND CAPTURED THE MOST HIGHLY SKILLED

AND HIGHLY EDUCATED CITIZENS.

BROUGHT TO BABYLON AS PRISONERS OF WAR,

THEY WERE FORCED TO WORK FOR NEBUCHADNEZZAR.

IT WAS THE START OF WHAT'S NOW KNOWN

AS THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY.

BUT CRUCIALLY, WHILE IN BABYLON,

THE CAPTIVES BECAME KNOWN

THE VERY AUTHORS OF THE BIBLE.

THAT EXPERIENCE CONVERTED THEM

INTO THE JEWISH PEOPLE.

AND THOSE OF COURSE ARE THE PEOPLE

WHO WROTE THE OLD TESTAMENT,

WHO PRODUCED THE HEBREW TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT,

WHICH WE ALL KNOW ABOUT.

I THINK VERY LIKELY THE JEWISH POPULATION

EXILED IN BABYLON IN THE 6th CENTURY B.C.

BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR

VERY LIKELY UTILIZED THE TOWER AS THEIR INSPIRATION

FOR THE TOWER OF BABEL STORY IN THE BIBLE.

THEY MAY HAVE SEEN IT

AS A SYMBOL OF THEIR OPPRESSION, ESSENTIALLY,

THIS LARGE, LOOMING BUILDING

WHERE THEY LIVED IN THIS FOREIGN CITY,

A CULTURE THEY DIDN'T KNOW VERY WELL,

AND SO I THINK IT BECAME SYMBOLIC TO THEM.

EXPERTS ARE NOW CERTAIN

THE BIBLE'S TOWER OF BABEL WAS REAL.

AND 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.

THIS IS AN ORIGINAL BRICK FROM BABYLON.

IT CARRIES TRACES

OF AN UNUSUAL CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL FROM THE TIME--

BITUMEN, AN ANCIENT TAR MORTAR

THAT'S SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED IN THE BIBLICAL TALE.

TUCKED IN THE CORNER OF THIS CASE

IS SOMETHING VERY INTERESTING

FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THE TOWER OF BABEL,

BECAUSE THIS IS ONE OF THE ACTUAL BRICKS

WHICH NEBUCHADNEZZAR COMMISSIONED.

WE KNOW IT'S NEBUCHADNEZZAR

BECAUSE THERE'S A STAMPED INSCRIPTION ON THE FRONT.

DOWN THE EDGE YOU CAN SEE THIS MURKY BLACK STUFF,

THIS IS BITUMEN.

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.

ALL THE EVIDENCE SAYS

THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS A REAL BUILDING.

BUT WHY DOES THE BIBLE SAY IT WAS NEVER FINISHED?

COULD IT HAVE BEEN DESTROYED...

JUST AS THE BIBLE SAYS?

FOR GENERATIONS, ARTISTS HAVE DEPICTED

THE BIBLE'S TOWER OF BABEL IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES.

BUT NOW, SCHOLARS ARE CONVINCED

THAT THE STORY WAS INSPIRED BY A REAL BUILDING...

A SEVEN-TIERED ZIGGURAT, LOCATED IN WHAT WE NOW KNOW AS IRAQ.

TODAY, 2,500 YEARS ON, ONLY THE FOUNDATIONS REMAIN.

AS YOU CAN SEE IT DOESN'T RESEMBLE

MUCH OF WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE IN THE PAST,

BUT YOU WOULD BE A DAY OR TWO RIDE AWAY

AND YOU'D SEE THIS LARGE, MOUNTAIN-LIKE SHAPE

COMING UP OUT OF THE HORIZON.

IT'S BELIEVED THE ORIGINAL TOWER

WAS ALMOST 300 FEET SQUARE AND CLOSE TO 300 FEET HIGH.

TO HAVE BUILT A TOWER THAT BIG

WOULD HAVE TAKEN 17 MILLION MUD BRICKS,

WITH EACH HANDMADE ON SITE.

INCREDIBLY, 2,500 YEARS LATER,

SOME OF THOSE ORIGINAL BRICKS STILL SURVIVE.

WE'RE AT THE BASE OF THE CORE OF THE TOWER,

AND HERE'S A RARE OPPORTUNITY

WHERE YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE ORIGINAL BAKED, FIRED BRICKS

THAT ENCASED THE CENTRAL CORE STILL REMAINING.

THAT'S A REAL BRICK FROM THE TOWER OF BABEL.

I'M HOLDING IT RIGHT IN MY HAND.

IT'S THE ORIGINAL REAL McCOY.

THE ORIGINAL FIRED BRICK...

THE HUGE FOUNDATIONS

AND THE NEW EVIDENCE FROM THE ANCIENT TABLET

REVEALING THE TOWER AND ITS BUILDER,

KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR II,

ALL POINT TO A VERY REAL STRUCTURE--

AN AWE-INSPIRING TOWER OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS.

BUT WHAT DID IT ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE LOOMING OVER BABYLON?

NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME...

THE LATEST EVIDENCE

WILL MEET CUTTING-EDGE 21st CENTURY TECHNOLOGY.

DR. MATTHEW NICHOLLS,

AN ARCHAEOLOGIST AND COMPUTER MODELER,

WILL ATTEMPT TO RECREATE

THE ANCIENT WORLD'S MOST SPECTACULAR BUILDING

IN ALL ITS GLORY.

Matthew Nicholls: WHEN I'M MAKING 3D DIGITAL MODELS

OF THE PAST,

WHAT WE START WITH IS THE EVIDENCE,

LIKE ANY ANCIENT HISTORIAN OR ARCHAEOLOGIST WOULD,

SO WE SURVEY WHAT EVIDENCE IS AVAILABLE FOR THIS BUILDING,

AND THERE'S ACTUALLY QUITE A LOT.

SO WE PUT ALL OF THIS TOGETHER,

AND IT GIVES US A GOOD BASIS FOR STARTING TO RECONSTRUCT IT.

AFTER MONTHS OF RESEARCH

AND WEEKS OF COMPUTER MODELING,

DR. MATTHEW NICHOLLS CAN FINALLY BRING THE TOWER OF BABEL

BACK TO LIFE.

WE'RE LOOKING HERE AT THE SITE OF THE TEMPLE

IN ANCIENT BABYLON--

THIS BIG BLANK SPACE MORE OR LESS

IN THE CENTER OF THE CITY IS WHERE IT STOOD.

THE ZIGGURAT ITSELF WE CAN BUILD UP IN LAYERS,

SORT OF LIKE A WEDDING CAKE.

AND IMMEDIATELY I DO THAT,

YOU CAN SEE THIS IS GOING TO BE A REALLY SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING.

TO GET UP TO THAT BASE YOU NEED A STAIRCASE TO CLIMB UP,

SO THE NEXT THING TO GO IN HAS TO BE SOME SORT OF STAIRCASE,

AND WE KNOW, AGAIN, FROM PICTURES AND FROM EXCAVATION,

THAT THERE WAS SYSTEM OF STAIRCASES

RUNNING UP THE SOUTH FACE

TO GET PEOPLE UP TO THAT FIRST LEVEL,

SO I'VE PUT THEM IN HERE.

THE NEXT LAYERS IN THIS ZIGGURAT WEDDING CAKE

ARE THESE INTERMEDIATE LEVELS,

EACH ONE SET IN FROM THE PREDECESSOR

AND CLIMBING UP ABOVE IT.

SO YOU GO UP AND UP EACH INTERMEDIATE LAYER--

ALL THE WAY, ALL SIX OF THEM,

AND YOU FIND YOURSELF ON THIS TOP PLATFORM.

THE ANIMATION REVEALS THE TRUE SCALE

OF THE TOWER DEPICTED ON THE ANCIENT TABLET.

BUT WHILE RECORDS CONFIRM ITS SHAPE AND DIMENSIONS...

LITTLE WAS KNOWN ABOUT THE TEMPLE

PERCHED ON TOP OF THE BUILDING.

ONCE THE CROWNING GLORY OF THE TOWER OF BABEL,

THE TEMPLE WAS THE SOLE REASON

FOR THE EXISTENCE OF ANY ZIGGURAT.

THE IDEA OF THIS TEMPLE

WAS A WAY TO BRING THE GODS TO EARTH

AND TO ALLOW PEOPLE FROM EARTH TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE GODS.

BUT WHAT DID THE TEMPLE AT THE SUMMIT

LOOK LIKE ON TOP OF THE TOWER?

INCREDIBLY, A CLUE TO ANSWERING THE QUESTION WAS DISCOVERED

JUST 10 MILES AWAY FROM BABYLON AT ANOTHER GREAT STRUCTURE.

THIS IS BORSIPPA,

THE CRUMBLING REMAINS OF ANOTHER

OF KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S PRIZED ZIGGURATS.

TODAY IT'S JUST A FRACTION OF ITS ORIGINAL SIZE--

BUT STILL DOMINATING THE LANDSCAPE,

2,500 YEARS AFTER IT WAS CONSTRUCTED.

IF YOU WERE STANDING HERE,

YOU COULD SEE THE TOWER OF BABYLON OVER THERE.

IMAGINE YOURSELF IN THE PAST,

THERE WOULD BE NOTHING OVER TWO STORIES TALL

EXCEPT THESE ZIGGURATS.

BURIED WITHIN THE RUBBLE

OF THIS CRUMBLING TOWER,

ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED A CLAY CYLINDER

INSCRIBED WITH AN ANCIENT TEXT.

ONCE DECODED, IT REVEALED

AN ACCOUNT BY KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR

DETAILING THE FINISHING TOUCHES TO HIS TWO GREAT ZIGGURATS--

AT BORSIPPA AND CRUCIALLY IN THE HEART OF BABYLON.

WHAT'S REALLY INTERESTING ABOUT THIS CYLINDER

IS WHAT IT SAYS--

IT GIVES US A CLUE

ABOUT WHAT THE TOWER OF BABYLON, ETEMENANKI,

ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE.

TO THE DELIGHT OF EXPERTS,

THE ANCIENT TEXT DESCRIBED A TOWER

WITH A TEMPLE RICHLY DECORATED

IN THE FINEST LAPIS LAZULI BLUE GLAZED BRICKS...

AND SHINING JEWELS.

IF YOU'D COME TO IT YOU WOULD SEE

POTENTIALLY REFLECTIONS FROM THE LIGHTS ON THE BRICKS,

AND IT WOULD'VE, SORT OF, YOU KNOW,

BEEN ANOTHER KIND OF LEVEL OF AWE, I THINK,

BECAUSE IT WOULD, SOMETHING LITERALLY

WOULD BE PIERCING INTO YOUR EYES

AND POTENTIALLY BLINDING YOU MAYBE EVEN.

WITH THE LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE IN PLACE,

DR. MATTHEW NICHOLLS CAN NOW COMPLETE

THE FINAL PHASE OF HIS 3D BUILD.

ALL OF THE ACCOUNTS

SHOW A TALL, IMPOSING, RICHLY DECORATED STATUE

APPROPRIATE FOR THE CHIEF BABYLONIAN GOD.

SO IF WE TURN THE TEMPLE ON,

THE TEXTS TALK ABOUT IT BEING DECORATED

IN THIS LOVELY LAPIS LAZULI OR BLUE GLAZED FIRED BRICK.

SO WE PUT THAT TEMPLE ON AT THE TOP

WITH A SORT OF DOUBLE HEIGHT TO IT.

AND FROM THE VERY TOP OF IT--

IF WE GO AND STAND ON THE ROOF UP HERE,

YOU GET THIS REALLY SPECTACULAR VIEW

OUT OVER THE WHOLE OF THE ANCIENT CITY OF BABYLON

ALL THE WAY OUT TO ITS WALLS AND GATES

AND THE EUPHRATES RIVER AND THE DESERT PLAINS BEYOND.

ALL THE EVIDENCE SAYS THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS FINISHED.

BUT THE BIBLE STATES IT WAS DESTROYED BY GOD MID-BUILD.

SO IF THE TWO TOWERS REALLY WERE ONE AND THE SAME,

WHY WOULD THE BIBLE CLAIM IT WAS INCOMPLETE?

SCHOLAR IRVING FINKEL THINKS HE HAS THE ANSWER.

HE BELIEVES IT GOES BACK TO THE MOMENT

CAPTURED JEWISH SLAVES ARRIVED IN BABYLON FOR THE FIRST TIME

AND SET EYES ON A STEPPED TOWER

THAT WAS UNLIKE ANY BUILDING THEY'D SEEN BEFORE IN JERUSALEM.

THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT LAY AHEAD.

AND WE CAN BE CERTAIN THAT WHEN THE TOWER OF BABEL,

THE ZIGGURAT, WAS STILL IN ITS ORIGINAL FORMAT,

THEY WOULD HAVE SEEN IT FROM A VERY GREAT DISTANCE

AGAINST THE HORIZON, THIS TOWERING EDIFICE,

AND THEY MUST HAVE SAID TO THEMSELVES,

"WHAT'S THAT? WHAT'S THAT?"

AND I HAVE A FEELING THAT IT WAS THE PROFILE THAT THEY FIRST SAW

THAT GAVE THEM THE IDEA THAT THIS BUILDING WAS UNFINISHED.

AND THE WHOLE POINT ABOUT THE STORY

IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS

IS THE WORK IS UNFINISHED

AND THE BUILDING IS STOPPED HALFWAY THROUGH.

IT'S AN INTRIGUING THEORY--

BUT IF THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS A REAL BUILDING FROM ANTIQUITY,

HOW HAVE ARTISTS OVER THE CENTURIES

GOT THE DISTINCTIVE DESIGN SO WRONG?

THERE ISN'T MUCH DESCRIPTION IN THE BIBLE ITSELF,

SO OF COURSE THAT CREATED

A LOT OF SORT OF FREEDOM, IF YOU WILL,

TO DEPICT WHAT THIS TOWER MUST HAVE LOOKED LIKE.

SO IT'S TYPICALLY DEPICTED IN A KIND OF CONICAL SHAPE,

WHERE YOU'D CIRCLE AROUND AND GO UP DIFFERENT LEVELS,

BUT IN REALITY WE KNOW IT'S A STAGED TOWER.

BUT ONE RADICAL ACCOUNT OF THE TOWER OF BABEL

WOULD PROVE INVALUABLE

TO RENAISSANCE AND MEDIEVAL ARTISTS.

IT WAS FROM THE GREEK HISTORIAN HERODOTUS,

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WRITERS OF ANTIQUITY

AND THE SO-CALLED FATHER OF HISTORY.

HERODOTUS MENTIONS THE TOWER OF BABYLON.

UNFORTUNATELY WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY HOW ACCURATE

THE ACCOUNTS OF HERODOTUS.

VERY LIKELY HE WAS NEVER VISITED THE CITY,

AND THIS PROBABLY EXPLAINS WHY THERE IS LIKELY TO BE

VERY MUCH ERROR IN HIS ACCOUNTS.

IT WAS NOT UNTIL MID TO LATE 19th CENTURY

WHEN PEOPLE BEGAN TO VISIT MESOPOTAMIA OR MODERN-DAY IRAQ

AND BEGAN TO SEE THESE REMAINS OF THESE ZIGGURATS

THAT A PICTURE OF WHAT A TOWER,

AN ANCIENT TOWER OF BABYLON, WOULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE.

BUT THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS NOT JUST ANOTHER ZIGGURAT.

IT WAS THE CENTERPIECE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S PRIZED CAPITAL.

SO IF THE ZIGGURATS AT BORSIPPA AND AT UR SURVIVED,

WHY IS THERE NOTHING OF THE TOWER OF BABEL LEFT TODAY?

TODAY THIS IS ALL THAT REMAINS OF THE TOWER OF BABEL--

AN OVERGROWN DITCH, CARVED INTO THE EARTH IN MODERN-DAY IRAQ.

BUT ALL EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT THE TOWER OF BABEL

WAS THE MOST SPECTACULAR BUILDING OF ANTIQUITY,

A STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

THAT THE BIBLE SAYS INCURRED THE WRATH OF GOD.

HE DESTROYED THE TOWER

AND SCATTERED HUMANITY ACROSS THE EARTH.

THIS FANTASTICAL STORY IS THE BIBLE'S EXPLANATION

FOR THE MANY LANGUAGES THAT EXIST AROUND THE WORLD.

THIS LITTLE STORY, WHICH IS ACTUALLY SO COMPACT,

HAS GOT A LOT IN IT.

BUT ON ONE LEVEL, IT SEEMS TO ME A GOOD ANSWER TO EXPLAIN

WHY IT IS THERE ARE SO MANY LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD.

IT'S BECAUSE GOD GOT CROSS,

DECIDED THIS WAS ARROGANT BEHAVIOR...

HAD TO BE PUNISHED, HAD TO BE STOPPED.

BABYLON WAS AN INTERNATIONAL CITY,

AND SO IT WOULD HAVE HAD MANY LANGUAGES,

AND I THINK HAVING MANY LANGUAGES AND A TALL TOWER

MAKES SENSE IN A STORY TOGETHER.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S ZIGGURAT WAS THE BIGGEST ONE EVER MADE,

IT WAS THE MOST IMPRESSIVE,

AND IT MUST HAVE HAD A VERY POWERFUL EFFECT

ON PEOPLE WHO SAW IT FOR THE FIRST TIME

AND WHO LIVED UNDER IT,

BECAUSE WHEREVER YOU WERE IN THE CITY,

YOU WOULD SEE THIS THING.

EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT THE JEWS HELD CAPTIVE IN BABYLON

AFTER THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM

SAW THE HUGE TOWER BEING BUILT.

AT FIRST THEY WERE MESMERIZED BY THE AWE-INSPIRING STRUCTURE.

BUT OVER TIME IT BECAME A SYMBOL OF THEIR OPPRESSION...

OF HUMAN ASPIRATION AND OF OVERREACHING AMBITION.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE EARLY CHAPTERS OF THE BIBLE,

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 TEXT

INCORPORATED THEM TO TELL THEIR OWN STORY.

THE TOWER OF BABEL

IS ONE OF THE BEST-KNOWN STORIES IN THE BIBLE.

BUT WHAT BECAME OF THE MESMERIZING TOWER?

FOR EXPERTS IN ANCIENT CONSTRUCTION,

THE ANSWER IS ALL TOO CLEAR.

IT'S CRITICAL TO RECOGNIZE THAT MUD BRICK

IS A PERISHABLE STRUCTURAL MATERIAL.

IT'S REASONABLY EFFECTIVE IN DOING WHAT IT DOES,

AND THAT'S WHY IT'S STILL USED EXTENSIVELY

THROUGHOUT MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD TODAY,

BUT MOST CONSTRUCTION FOLKS RECOGNIZE

THAT MUD BRICK STRUCTURES HAVE A DESIGN LIFE

OF AT MOST 30 YEARS.

BEYOND THAT POINT, UNLESS THEY'VE BEEN SUBJECTED

TO NEAR CONSTANT MAINTENANCE,

THEY SIMPLY DISSOLVE AND HAVE TO BE RECONSTRUCTED.

BUT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE SUGGESTS

THAT THE TOWER OF BABEL OUTLIVED ITS SHELF LIFE.

UNBELIEVABLY IT WAS STILL IN EXISTENCE

250 YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR.

IN 331 B.C., ALEXANDER THE GREAT,

CONQUEROR OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE,

ARRIVED IN BABYLON.

HE CHOSE THE CITY TO BE HIS CAPITAL

AND SET ABOUT RENOVATING THE NOW CRUMBLING TOWER.

IT'S TAKEN DOWN BY ALEXANDER THE GREAT

WITH THE INTENTION OF RECONSTRUCTING IT AGAIN

IN A MORE GRANDER WAY, BUT AS WE KNOW,

ALEXANDER THE GREAT DIED HERE AT BABYLON,

SO IT WAS NEVER COMPLETED.

SO IF THE TOWER WAS TAKEN DOWN,

WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ITS 17 MILLION MUD BRICKS?

SOME ARE STILL HERE IN IRAQ,

RETURNING TO THE MUD FROM WHERE THEY CAME.

WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IS THE MUD BRICK CORE,

WHICH HAS OF COURSE ERODED

INTO A SORT OF LARGE DOLLOP OF CHOCOLATE,

BUT IT'S BASICALLY A MASONRY CORE OF MUD BRICK,

AND THE AREA AROUND

WAS WHERE THE ENCASING FIRED BRICK MATERIAL WAS,

AND THAT, OF COURSE, HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY

AND USED BY PEOPLE IN LATER CONSTRUCTIONS FOR CENTURIES.

THE FACT THAT MOST OF THE TOWER OF BABEL HAS GONE

IS NO SURPRISE TO EXPERTS.

IT SUPPORTS EVIDENCE OF AN ANCIENT BABYLONIAN TRADITION

OF RECYCLING AND REBUILDING THAT CONTINUED FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY HIGH QUALITY BRICK,

OTHERWISE PEOPLE WOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN IT AWAY LIKE THEY HAVE,

AND THERE'S VIRTUALLY NONE OF IT LEFT, AS WE SEE HERE TODAY.

WHILE LITTLE REMAINS OF THE REAL TOWER OF BABEL,

THE BIBLICAL TALE IT INSPIRED IS EVERLASTING...

THE STORY OF A MIGHTY TOWER IN A FAR-OFF LAND,

WRITTEN BY A DESPERATE POPULATION IN EXILE,

HELD CAPTIVE BY A RUTHLESS KING,

AND THIS WAS THEIR WAY TO REWRITE HISTORY.

IT'S A FICTION ROOTED IN TRUTH.

THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS A REAL BUILDING,

A GENUINE LONG LOST WONDER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.

THE FACT IS THIS--

THAT THE TOWER OF BABEL CANNOT BE DISMISSED

AS A FABLE OR AN INVENTION.

IT IS IN FACT LITERALLY BASED ON THE EXISTENCE OF A BUILDING.

WE KNOW WHERE THAT BUILDING WAS, WE KNOW HOW BIG IT WAS,

WE KNOW WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE, WE KNOW WHO BUILT IT,

AND WE EVEN KNOW THE CIRCUMSTANCES

UNDER WHICH KNOWLEDGE OF THIS BUILDING

INTRUDED INTO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE PEOPLE--THE JUDEANS--

WHO WROTE THAT TEXT IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS.

SO THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT

THAT THE ONE AND THE OTHER ARE THE SAME THING,

AND AS IT WERE, THE TOWER OF BABEL EXISTED.