# The Tower Of Babel in Google Maps - what is it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350 "2018-08-09T17:02:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/1 "2018-08-09T17:02:14Z")
If you search Googe Maps for “Tower Of Babel”, you actually get something in/near the ruins of Babylon, that looks like the base of an ancient building. Assuming it’s not the actual base of a tower that is the basis of the myth, does anybody know what it is/was? https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.5359344,44.4208788&z=17&output=embed&dg=ntvb&q=Tower%2Bof%2BBabel It’s not that big a base, I think less than 200 feet by 200 feet, I can’t imagine it could have been a very tall tower if it was a tower. Some of the reviews are funny - “the staff was a bit hard to understand”… ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/2 "2018-08-09T17:25:25Z")
Weird that an ancient archaeological site would have a phone number in London. And that when it rings, Mormons pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/3 "2018-08-09T17:31:15Z")
Why wouldn’t it be the actual ruins of the tower that’s the basis of the myth (or at least, modern archaeologists’ best guess as to it)? And yeah, it wouldn’t have been a very tall tower by modern standards, but a step ziggarut with that base would be about a hundred feet tall (or more, depending on what slope they could get), which isn’t that shabby. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/4 "2018-08-09T17:37:04Z")
The tower that was at that site is called [Etemenanki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etemenanki). Speculated by some (based on very loose reasoning) to be the Tower of Babel in the Bible. Note that the co-ordinates given in the Wikipedia article takes you to the same site. The article says the tile was stripped by Alexander the Great. Unprotected, unmaintained mud bricks and earth fill don’t last a long time, even in a desert environment. (It’s always a good idea to be wary of “proof” provided by certain people about the historicity of the Bible.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/5 "2018-08-09T17:54:00Z")
Interesting size comparison midway down [this](https://isthatinthebible.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/the-tower-of-babel-did-it-exist-and-what-does-the-story-mean/) page. It wasn’t Great Pyramid sized but it was no slouch for its time, either. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/6 "2018-08-09T18:51:34Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Interesting size comparison midway down [this](https://isthatinthebible.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/the-tower-of-babel-did-it-exist-and-what-does-the-story-mean/) page. It wasn’t Great Pyramid sized but it was no slouch for its time, either. Huh. I’ve been at the top of three of those. All impressive. I’d have liked to see the Babylonian one when it was standing. ---
**Author:** ![Panther\_Modern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@Panther\_Modern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panther_Modern)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/7 "2018-08-09T19:29:04Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Weird that an ancient archaeological site would have a phone number in London. And that when it rings, Mormons pick it up. It’s a ~mystery~ ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/8 "2018-08-09T21:57:24Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The tower that was at that site is called [Etemenanki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etemenanki). Speculated by some (based on very loose reasoning) to be the Tower of Babel in the Bible. > > Note that the co-ordinates given in the Wikipedia article takes you to the same site. > > The article says the tile was stripped by Alexander the Great. Unprotected, unmaintained mud bricks and earth fill don’t last a long time, even in a desert environment. > > (It’s always a good idea to be wary of “proof” provided by certain people about the historicity of the Bible.) Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/9 "2018-08-10T17:28:12Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Huh. I’ve been at the top of three of those. All impressive. I’d have liked to see the Babylonian one when it was standing. All three? Did you get arrested for climbing the Great Pyramid? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/10 "2018-08-19T04:33:48Z")
Who would have thought it? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/11 "2018-08-19T04:39:43Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Weird that an ancient archaeological site would have a phone number in London. And that when it rings, Mormons pick it up. Well, you know how it is. You move from the UK to Iraq, but you keep your old mobile number because if you don’t you will lose your ability to recover your password for half a dozen different websites. This must be the same for Mormons as for the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/12 "2018-08-19T04:52:23Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Who would have thought it? How long does it take to get through the language options? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tower-of-babel-in-google-maps-what-is-it/819350/13 "2018-08-19T17:14:53Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > All three? Did you get arrested for climbing the Great Pyramid? It is illegal now but it wasn’t always so, although I doubt **Jonathan Chance** climbed it before 1951.