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The story of the prophet Daniel...
The pace of the camels quickened as the huge baggage train of warriors and prisoners descended the foothills. Babylon lay like a sparkling jewel in the desert twilight air. The only sounds were the clump, clump of feet and squeaking wheels. Daniel gazed at the full moon shining on the Euphrates which ran like a ribbon of silver cutting the city in half.
Daniel’s feet were now calloused by the 900 mile trek. He could see the outline of the double wall 28 miles long and 27 yards thick intersected by 25 brass gates on each side. As they approached the city, torches lit up the lofty entrance of the twin gates of the goddess Ishtar. Long rows of bright yellow lions, dragons and wild oxen were menacing and sinister as they stood in eerie relief against the deep blue glazed tile. The weary travelers crossed the 33 foot wide brick bridge spanning the Euphrates.
King Nebuchadnezzar was a builder. The buildings of Babylon surpassed all the ancient cities of the orient.1 The 1,800 foot wide temple of Marduk loomed up in the darkness 1,500 feet.2 Opposite rose a reconstruction of the Tower of Babel...a pyramid shaped Ziggurat rising in seven great stages. At the top was Marduk’s chapel. The Babylonians called it Etemenanki, “house of the Foundations of Heaven and Earth.”3
The procession passed cheering crowds down the Processional Way of the god, Marduk. The broad avenues were ruler straight in contrast to the narrow winding streets of Jerusalem. Each succeeding avenue was named after a Babylonian god...Zabala, Adad, Sin (the moon god), Enlil (Lord of the World), and Shamash (the sun god of justice).4
Behind the cheering crowds, long shadows revealed houses three to four stories high. Nebuchadnezzar’s name was on every brick. Ogling temple prostitutes were on every corner creating a carnival atmosphere. There were 55 chapels to Marduk, 300 chapels to earthly deities, 600 to heavenly deities, 180 altars to Ishtar, 180 altars to Nergal and Adad, and 12 altars dedicated to miscellaneous gods.
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