The Tower

The Tower of Babel

The Tower glistened in the skyline of the thriving city of Babel. Babel, the capital of the empire of Babylon, the land of Gilgamesh and Hamourabi, the land of literacy, freedom, trade, and art. The Tower reached into the heavens, serving as a lighthouse for wary travelers. It stood as an icon of cooperation, and a symbol of man’s handiwork. Although it swayed along with gusts of wind, the Tower stood erect, impenetrable and indestructible and became the beacon for the progressive empire. The lands of Babylon thrived, and the people enjoyed splendor unmatched in the entire world.

The Tower gathered its strength from the conviction of men, and was fastened together by the bond of their sweat and toil. The generation that had idealized it, created and constructed it, bore proudly the name, and found joy in their hearts when they were in its radius. However, this loyal generation passed away, and their descendants were not as steadfast about the Tower as were they. Some began to question whether the Tower was not too ostentatious a symbol for their humble empire. Others worried that it was too tall, and might block the sun. A few were even concerned about the Tower’s maintenance, and worried about the decreasing swelling in their satchels. Nevertheless, the people of Babel were proud of their Tower, and swore loyalty to it in the manner of their fathers and mothers.

As the second generation began to fade, a new generation came to rule the empire. They had forgotten their grandparents, and felt a need to reevaluate all that which had preceded them. They found need to reform the markets, and the army. They did away with outdated traditions, and introduced new ways of calculating taxes. But when the question of the Tower arose once again, this modern generation was divided. The traditional half praised the Tower’s beauty, and reminded of the importance of the Tower to the people of the empire. The other half berated the traditionalists, calling them outmoded, and close-minded. They called the Tower a symbol of Babylonian arrogance and wanted it removed to end the cost of maintenance, and to erase the symbol of the Tower, which they believed had so aggravated their neighbors, who had become dire enemies.

Still the Tower remained the beacon of the city, standing upright, in the middle, unflinching, and confident in the midst of grave scrutiny.

This generation, too, came and went, and nothing conclusive was decided about the Tower, but a compromise was made: not to build another Tower, and to reduce the maintenance on the one they had.

A new generation came to rule the land, and they too forgot their grandfathers, let alone their great-grandfathers. They looked at the Tower as an enigma and anomaly. They wondered at its purpose, and tried to ask their fathers and their mothers, but found that their languages had changed. They stopped all maintenance of the Tower, and sat in council trying to decide its fate. They wondered at is meaning, and often complained at how it blocked the sun. Although it provided light to make the night as bright as day, they cursed it for its overbearing height. A few voices were heard of, but never heard, reminding of how the Tower was the strength of the empire of Babylon, but such an opinion was so unpopular, confessing to it would be either treason or suicide. After great deliberation, it was decided to let the Tower rest, alone and unmaintained, until another generation decided what purpose it was to serve.

Meanwhile, the nations surrounding thriving Babylon, cast jealous glances at the successes of the great empire. They did not seek to use it as a model for themselves, but only sought a way to topple it, and take its riches as their booty. They saw the Tower from their strongholds, and realized that it could not be taken militarily, and so they prayed that they would find another way to bring down Babylon, whom they hated as a nemesis, and envied like a jealous lover. From time to time the rulers of these nations would attack the realm of Babylon, in hopes of weakening the empire. However all of their attacks were easily repelled. Further, they realized that the people of Babylon were happy, and their own citizens flocked to escape to that safe haven, rather than endure miserable lives under unjust rulers. The leaders of these wicked lands realized the foreboding loss of rule, and made a concerted effort to topple the empire. They began to sacrifice all that they could, men, women and children in an attempt to weaken Babylon. They could not penetrate deeply, but their efforts did cause a disturbance to the routine of the blissful Babylonians. The Babylonians could not end their enemies’ tormenting attacks, and as they did not have heart for war, they became determined to make peace with them. They yearned to return to carefree times, and were enthusiastic over the outcome of the peace council.

The hostile nations had spied on Babylon, as access was easily granted. They observed the Tower, and wondered about its abandonment. They realized it was made of a specific stone that was only found in Babylon; a beautiful stone, composed of many colors, iridescent, and refracting. Then they declared their terms. They would agree to peace only if Babylon exported their precious stone to them. The Babylonians conferred for a short while, and decided that they should take apart the Tower, which they believed no longer served a purpose, and distribute the stone among the hostile nations, in hopes of sowing a lasting peace. A single voice was heard opposing this decision. The voice was old and frail, but firm in its conviction. A man, withered with the wisdom of many deeds, an original builder of the Tower, warned “Do not give up the Tower, for it is your Tower, it is your symbol, it is your heart, and the heart of the empire in which you dwell. We built it as a reminder to ourselves, and to you, of human achievement, and the importance of our existence. It is the link of all humanity, of all who believe in the resilience of cooperation and freedom. Heed this dire warning, the destruction of the great Tower will mean the downfall of the empire, as surely as the failure of the heart leads to a mortal’s death.” Some were moved by this reminder, and took longer to consider their decision, but ultimately, they decided that the only practical solution was to do as their enemies insisted.

So, the people of Babylon began to dismantle the Tower that their ancestors had built. They did it shamelessly, and worked as vigorously at dissecting it, as their predecessors had in erecting it. They distributed the stone to all their enemies, and lived in the hope of a return to the carefree happiness they had in days past. Their enemies eagerly accepted the stones of the Tower of Babel, and used them to build protective walls around their borders with Babylon. These walls were taller than the highest palaces they had ever constructed, and were utterly impenetrable. Finally, the people of Babel had completed the destruction of the Tower, and had given away every piece of precious stone. They felt relieved and went back to living as they had before.

However, the enemies of the great empire of Babel did not find it in their hearts to sustain the peace. They now saw the empire as vulnerable, and found sanctuary behind the walls that they had erected with the precious stone. They began to mount incursions into the land of the Empire of Babel. At first they only succeeded in causing minor damage, but soon small villages were ransacked and burned, and outer roads became too dangerous for travel. The people of Babel, indignant, decided to take a strong position now, and end this atrocious state of affairs. They gathered their mighty armies, and marched against their enemies. However, when they reached their borders, they realized that they were encircled, surround by insurmountable walls erected out of the stone they themselves had given up. They lost heart at the sight, and fled in despair seeking a place of refuge. By instinct they fled to the center of the great city of Babylon, where the Tower had once stood. Under its aegis the people had thrived, and inside its walls they had found protection. Now, as there was no Tower, there was no hope.

At once the enemies, seeing the forces of Babylon retreating, gathered their own armies, and marched. They burned, raped, looted, and massacred all that was in their path, to punish what they deemed as Babylonian arrogance. They finally reached the capital, Babel, and beamed when they saw the people, gathered, hopeless, in the center, where the mighty Tower once stood. That day, the conquerors showed no mercy, and slaughtered unrelenting, all of the Babylonians who had sought the Tower as refuge. The foundation of the Tower became a lake of blood, and the decay of death prevented many generations from building on that spot. And thus, the great empire of Babylonia was brought to its knees, its citizens humiliated, killed and subjugated, as the empire searched and found it’s heart missing, in fragments delivered to its enemies.