The legend of the Tower of Babel, which people could not raise to heaven (God punished the daring builders, mixing their languages so that they would no longer understand each other) is widely known. For a long time, official science treated it as one of the myths. But at the end of the 19th century, archaeologists unexpectedly discovered the ruins of an ancient city, which, in their opinion, was the famous Babylon.
From time immemorial, about 100 kilometers from Baghdad, there were hills with flat tops. The local population was convinced that they were of natural origin, and devout Muslims even climbed them to perform their prayers. In the spring of 1899, German archaeologist Robert Koldewey began excavations on the Sahn plain, where the mysterious burial mounds were located. A few months later, three brick walls were uncovered, one of which encircled a deep ditch. It turned out to be a rampart on which 360 watchtowers were located. The inner fence stretched for as much as 18 kilometers. It looks like archaeologists have discovered a huge city built over 4,000 years ago!
Among the finds were fragments of glazed bas-reliefs, copper-covered gates, statues of winged lions … The artifacts were made at a very high technological level, which did not at all correspond to the ideas of the late 19th century historians about the culture of ancient Mesopotamia.
Modern scholars suggest that Babylon was built by representatives of the Sumerian civilization - a people who, according to myths and legends, descended from the stars several thousand years ago and settled between the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Sumerians knew how to build stone fortress cities and create exquisite gold items that nowadays cannot be copied by any, even the most skilled jeweler. In addition, they practiced human sacrifice: among the ruins of ancient cities, tombs with the remains of hundreds of people who have taken a violent death are found. However, if the version about the cosmic origin of the Sumerian civilization is correct, then maybe we are talking about some medical experiments? There is also such a hypothesis: the Sumerians were destroyed by the Flood. Under the cultural layer keeping traces of the life of this people,there is a two-meter layer of clay left after an old flood. Perhaps the legendary Noah was one of the representatives of this civilization. But, apparently, not the only one who survived the global catastrophe. It is possible that some of the Sumerians managed to leave the flooded areas and founded Babylon.
Why Babylon? Koldewey believes that during the excavations he was able to find evidence of the existence of two "wonders of the world" that are mentioned in the legends about him: the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Tower of Babel!
In the northeastern part of the ancient city, archaeologists have unearthed destroyed cellars with an unusual vaulted shape. Inside each underground room was.
I. Shlionskaya