Hi there.<\/p>\n
I used to be a member of the Church and a devout Christian. I recently found something on your website that deeply disappointed me. I am specifically referring to the following answer you gave to “Where is the Tower of Babel?<\/a>” In that answer, you state that Babel is most likely Babylon, which is simply not the case. We can see this when Babel is called the first <\/b>city. This indicates that Babel existed before any of the other Mesopotamian cities.<\/p>\n The only city that fits this description is Eridu. We can also see that Eridu was Babel in the story of Enmarkar and the Lord of Aratta. In this story, he requests tribute from a king of the unknown kingdom of Arrata. The interesting part of the story is that he is requesting tribute to build a “Tower”(ziggurat) in Eridu. The story also speaks of how people need to speak in a single language and says that it once was as such. The last point on Eridu being Babel is that Eridu has a massive unfinished ziggurat. The name of the king who built the ziggurat in Eridu was Enmarkar. The final word in his name, “Kar,” means hunter, giving both Nimrod and Enmarkar the epithet “hunter.”<\/p>\n Babel and Eridu are, by many accounts and evidence, the same place. Ultimately, my problem comes down to this. How are we expected to believe the Church of Christ to be the only <\/b>correct church when the minister of that church doesn’t understand the details of the Bible itself?<\/p>\n I get that where Babel was is not important to the overall message of the church on salvation, but would these inaccuracies not harm the church’s credibility? Would that not put a wrench in the whole “only right” church message? Because the church is demonstrably wrong about both the Bible and history.<\/p>\n This is not meant as an attack, but as someone who once was part of the church, I understand how important the truth is to God and Christianity.<\/p>\n Many blessings.<\/p>\n\t It is unfortunate when someone wishes to claim another person’s knowledge is flawed but then makes mistakes himself.<\/p>\n There are only two passages that mention the city of Babel:<\/p>\n “Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city<\/em>” (Genesis 10:8-12).<\/p>\n “So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth<\/em>” (Genesis 11:8-9).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Nimrod created a small empire in Shinar by ruling over Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh. Nothing in the biblical text says that Babel was the first city. It says it was one of four cities Nimrod used to start his empire. Also, notice that the Bible stated that when the language of men was divided by God, work on the city of Babel stopped. This doesn’t preclude that another city was later built on the old site.<\/p>\n “If one reads the Matter of Aratta beginning with Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, the problems start when Enmerkar wants to beautify the temple of Inanna with materials from Aratta. He asks Inanna what to do and she suggests he send a message to Aratta demanding the materials he needs. Enmerkar casts “the spell of Nudimmud” (the spell of Enki, god of wisdom) which allows everyone, no matter what language they speak, to understand everyone else. He then sends his messenger (“eloquent of speech and endowed with endurance”), who has memorized his words precisely, across the seven mountains with his demands.” [Joshua J. Mark, “Matter of Aratta<\/a>,”\u00a0World History Encyclopedia<\/em>, 8 February 2023].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The actual text of Enmarkar and the Lord of Aratta reads:<\/p>\n “Chant to him the holy song, the incantation sung in its chambers — the incantation of\u00a0Nudimmud: “On that day when there is no snake, when there is no scorpion, when there is no hyena, when there is no lion, when there is neither dog nor wolf, when there is thus neither fear nor trembling, man has no rival! At such a time, may the lands of\u00a0Cubur\u00a0and\u00a0Hamazi, the many-tongued, and\u00a0Sumer, the great mountain of the\u00a0me<\/i>\u00a0of magnificence, and\u00a0Akkad, the land possessing all that is befitting, and the\u00a0Martu\u00a0land, resting in security — the whole universe, the well-guarded people — may they all address\u00a0Enlil\u00a0together in a single language! For at that time, for the ambitious lords, for the ambitious princes, for the ambitious kings,\u00a0Enki, for the ambitious lords, for the ambitious princes, for the ambitious kings, for the ambitious lords, for the ambitious princes, for the ambitious kings —\u00a0Enki, the lord of abundance and of steadfast decisions, the wise and knowing lord of the Land, the expert of the gods, chosen for wisdom, the lord of\u00a0Eridug, shall change the speech in their mouths, as many as he had placed there, and so the speech of mankind is truly one.” [“Enmerkar and the lord of Aratta: translation<\/a>“, 7 September 2001].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This text indicates that people spoke multiple languages, and the desire was to place a spell on people to speak one language. This does not match the biblical record regarding Babel. If this legend were based on some reality, it would have had to have taken place after the incident at Babel. I should also point out that trying to use an ancient legend to establish an accurate portrayal of history is a poor choice.<\/p>\n The fact that one person was known as a hunter and another person happened to have “hunter” as part of his name does not establish that they are the same person.<\/p>\nAnswer:<\/h2>\n