Continuing the theme of "princes", I would like to digress a little and try to interpret one biblical myth using the available data and topics:
It is officially believed that the name "Babylon" got into the Greek language (Βαβυλών) from the Akkadian "Babil, Babilim", which means "the gate of the gods", but the Bible gives an indication that "Babylon" is "to mix", which scientists immediately found an explanation in "Hebrew" בלבל (bilbel), with which I, of course, do not agree. My etymology will be very primitive outwardly, but its meaning is much more interesting.
All we know from this legend is that a bunch of people came together to build a tall tower. There was a contact between "God" and this crowd, after which they all dispersed, speaking in different dialects.
Of course, the geographical location of Babylon is "known to everyone."
But for some reason, the "enlighteners of the people" do not want to accept, finally, the fact that everything that has "Hebrew", and even more so "Biblical" roots, must be double-checked for authenticity (and every time it is found false). I was convinced of this, analyzing the names that officially also have Hebrew roots … such as Ivan, for example, in which there is nothing at all from the proposed "Yahweh be merciful", but there is quite a common European "loach", like "Ilya" and others.
So with the official Babylon, I also did not grow together.
Promotional video:
Pandemonium
On our website, Andrei Kadykchansky has already pointed out such a funny thing as "pandemonium", with which Russians associate "Babylon". The situation resembles a dialogue from Tarantino's film Death Proof:
So it is with us, friends: Pandemonium is the "Creation of the Pillar"!
Thanks, Cap.
Now let's take a look at where the "Tower" came from in the legend. Already in the Latin Vulgate, the word "turrim" was used quite specifically, that is, "tower" or "tour".
But if we open the Hebrew version of Genesis, we will see that the word “migdal” is responsible for the “tower” there. Officially, of course, the "tower", but look at the root. The same as in the Arabic "majad", and here it is a stone's throw to the Greek "megas", that is, "big, mighty, great." The very Arabic "majah" is "honor, praise, splendor." GREAT sculpting. That is, exaltation is an increase.
Simply put, Migdal is not necessarily a "tower", but in general something big (great). And they built this "greatness" for what? - "and let's make a name for ourselves." Isn't this the same "exaltation"? After all, as they ask us: "What name should I call you?"
The Greek version speaks of "πύργον". Etymologists believe that the European "-burg" in the names of some fortified cities (well, for example, St. Petersburg BURG) arose from the same root. This "tower" can be compared with the Trojan citadel Πέργaμον:
And we see the root "πύρ" in "πῡρaμiς", that is, "pyramid". Among the Armenians, by the way, “burgn” (բուրգն) is also a “pyramid, a fortress”. In Latin, "burgus" is "fortification, fortress". In Arabic, "بُرْج" (burj) means "citadel, tower, spire." That is, a high fortification (as they say in the chapter about Babylon - "head in heaven" in the Greek version or "up to heaven" in Russian). And the hint of the pyramids has surfaced for a reason.
Incidentally, I will note that the mentioned Trojan Pergamum, judging by the description, is, well, a copy of a Slavic temple.
And we have, then, "pillar / pillar". The first root is "stand" here, and the second is "forehead". It's funny, but the Greek λόφος is "scruff, withers, crown, crown." That is, somewhere nearby, but not the forehead. For the Western Slavs, the "forehead" is not only the forehead itself, but also the skull in general. A "tower" with a "head" can be compared. It is not for nothing that they say "give it to the tower, demolish the tower."
That is, everything is to one thing: a pillar, a tower, a migdal, a pyrgos - it's all about something high and strong (stable).
Buddhists call such things the Sanskrit word "Stupa" (which is the same root for our "pillars"):
Stupa in Sanchi, India.
Black Stupa, Laos.
Stupa Kiri Vehera, Sri Lanka.
Stupas Borobudur, about. Java, Indonesia.
From Wikipedia:
The word "stupa (स्तूप)" itself means: "heap, mound, top, crest, tuft of hair, top of the head." Yeah, again "forehead" and "head"))).
It goes without saying that all this is fair to refer to such an ancient concept as KURGAN.
From Wikipedia:
From Dahl's dictionary:
Salbyk Kurgan, Khakassia.
Black grave, Chernigov, Ukraine.
Uppsala Haugr, Sweden.
Caokia, Illinois, USA.
By the way, a small mound is still being made in Orthodox cemeteries - a mound - over a pit with a coffin on which a cross is being erected.
Well, in 2017, the news spread on the Internet that a part of the wall of one of the Inca pyramids collapsed in Peru, under which there was an ordinary earthen embankment:
From which the logical conclusion followed that all the ancient pyramids are mounds, and stone blocks constitute only its outer facing:
And I don't even understand why this fact caused at least some surprise. After all, this is logical! And in the case of the Egyptian pyramids, it was never hidden at all that they were Tomb, that is, MILLS for the burial of the pharaohs, that is, the most ordinary mounds.
And, as befits a real mound, they must stand forever. The very word "stupa" or "pillar" speaks about this, because we have the same "persistent" root in the word "permanent", for example. Everlasting memory!
Family mounds were built by the whole family, and for great people - by all the people. And in the legend of the Babylonian pyrgos-migdale-turus-pillar, all the people erected just a mound. And they faced it with fired brick.
It was built for the sake of "name" (ὄνομα, שֵׁם), that is, for glory. Mounds-stupas-pillars are also being erected for glory. That's just not for the glory of the deceased, or rather, not only for the glory of the deceased. After all, here we come to what was said in the article "Princes and Centaurs" - they received a blessing on the mounds.
That is why there were such holidays as "Krasnaya Gorka", "Radonitsa" - this is a direct reference to the hill-hill-mound! In the 19th century, people went to the graves of their ancestors, where they organized a festive feast and festivities. But this is the 19th and 20th centuries, but imagine what happened before, when the tradition has not yet lost its meaning? - "you should lay the treasures for the family and women in labor", "Even for the family and Rozhanitsa, steal bread and sires and honey …"
Now you should understand why Russians call “Pandemonium” a large and noisy crowd of people: the crowd is having a feast, everyone is eating, drinking, talking …
And in this case, it is immediately clear that Rod is not some kind of encyclopedic "god", and not quite an "ancestor cult." This is something different, ideological. That on which the whole Kurgan culture rests!
The funeral service has remained in a highly degraded form until now, having lost its meaning and turned into a "waste of money to feed everyone." There is no more "pandemonium", but there is some semblance of funeral feast and a trip to the cemetery. And earlier there they also received the "blessing" along with the Name. Yes, yes, for the sake of which people went to the future "Babylon", "before we scatter over the face of the whole earth," where God contacted them, giving them different languages.
By the way, it is interesting that the word “mouth, lip” is used for “language” in all versions of Genesis, and not actually “tongue” or “speech”: for the Jews - safa - שָׂפָה, in the Latin version - labium, among the Greeks - χεῖλος. And notice how the Greek "heylos" is similar to our slang "hailo." Recently I very often come across the fact that Russian jargon reveals some images much more accurately than the usual "cultural" speech.
Of course, in Genesis everything is interpreted incorrectly, and as in any literary myth or fairy tale, in principle, where there is a plot, but the main actions and symbols are preserved, as you can see. And scattering across the face of the whole earth is normal! I had it partially in the article about Heroes.
And whom in our fairy tales does the hero visit before a long hike? Yeah, here's the answer to the name Babylon …
Continued: Part 2.
Author: peremyshlin