Isaiah 13:20. Universal peace will follow the destruction. Why is the city of Babylon uninhabited? Nebachadnezzar was the most famous of Babylon's rulers, but he wasn't the first. The ruins of Babylon, also known as Babel, date back over 3,000 years. Now, Ham admits that "this structure might seem like an odd addition for a ministry devoted to upholding the authority of God's Word and spreading the gospel through its many outreaches." But he assures us that his motives are "diametrically opposed to the reasons of the original builders over 4,000 years ago." Well, that's a relief. However, after years of destruction, there is not much left of the historical ruins today. But no one has ever touched them. Today there are 193 members, representing countries from all over the world. Now Iraqi officials are hoping to get back to the ambitious construction and investment plans they were hoping to pursue soon after the country was liberated from Saddam Hussein in the spring of 2003, and rebuilding Babylon is one of their most intriguing priorities. Brick reliefs of bulls and dragons, referencing Marduk the supreme god of Babylon and facing incoming visitors to protect the city from evils, look on as repairs to a dangerous staircase make the area a safer experience for tourists. Prophecies about Babylon in Jeremiah (and the entire Old Testament) specify "Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans" (Jer 50:1; Isa 13:19, etc.). 2. Babylon of Chaldea has not been "REPLACED" by another "Babylon". Nevertheless, many theories persisted regarding the structure and location of the gardens. Hammurabi ordered the construction of intricate canals to provide Babylon's citizens with fresh water, and fortified the city's walls against invaders. And Iraq will become vastly more attractive for investors and even for tourists. Consider today's edition of Stars & Stripes, a U.S. military publication. Performance & security by Cloudflare. It has a rich past. All that caused significant damage, a British Museum report found. ALLEN: Everything that's happened is - it leaves a mark on the site. 1. Babylon's ruins, reconstructed in part by Saddam Hussein, lie about an hour and a half's drive south of today's Baghdad. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Should we believe him when he describes Babylon as one of the worlds great commercial hubs, where the merchants of the world come to trade great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls, along with all kinds of other expensive goods and services that entice the kings of the world and draw ships from everywhere on the planet (Revelation 18:9-12)? Slowly but surely, we are seeing the Bible prophecies regarding Babyloncome to pass. According to the SBAH archaeologist Ammar Altaee, although Hussein-era interventions did use some mud and straw-baked bricks, which allowed for proper drainage, the concrete bricks they used that absorb but cant expel moisture have caused significant damage. Along the way, Middle East trade routes shifted, and Babylon and its glorious history was abandoned and forgotten. By July 2019, so much progress had been made that Babylon was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. LEFT: Workers, Inhabitants, Arabs, begin work on excavating the Ishtar Gate in 1902. Back in the 1970s, Saddam Hussein tried to recover the city's lost glory, but his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. The biblical exegesis you did was clear, systematic, comprehensive and captivating doctrinally sound", Mike Gendron, Proclaiming The Gospel Ministries, June 4, 2019, Will the literal city of Babylon, in modern Iraq, be Rebuilt? The bricks in this area are repeatedly being exposed to water, dryness, and rising salts, and then they collapse, said Jeff Allen, a historical preservationist who has led the World Monument Fund project here since 2009. ( Isaiah 47:5) Like the Egyptian and . The 2,500-year-old dragon relief behind him is related to Marduk, the patron deity of Babylon. And should thrill Jews and Christians. . And these are just a few of the nations myriad of troubles. No. Hours of Operation: Mon - Fri 8:00am - 8:00pm, "Jane and I both agreed that your presentation on Babylon was the best we had ever heard on the subject. Projects at Ishtar Gate and Ninmakh Temple, launched in 2016 and 2019 respectively, are still ongoing. I should acknowledge up front that those who reject the teachings of the Bible understandably have a difficult time imagining a season of peace and prosperity emerging in Iraq. Just days after Hammurabi's death, Babylon's old enemies declared their independence and readied their armies for invasion. to the Persian Empire and two centuries later to Alexander the Great, who died there. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. It will be a place for creatures of the night. 1. ALLEN: Basically, we tried to initially subtract a lot of the modern additions that were on the site. The local tourist board says the best recent year for Iraqi tourists was 2017, when more than 35,000 visited. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Herodotus, the 5th-century BCE Greek historian, describes the impressive irrigation system of Babylon and the walls but does not mention any gardens . Now, Babylon, like many of Iraq's archaeological sites, has fallen into disrepair. Is Babylon still being rebuilt? Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article: "If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out. Once the wealthiest and most powerful cities in the world indeed, a wonder of the ancient world Babylons empire was defeated by the Persian monarch, Cyrus the Great, in 539 B.C. Cultural tourism could become Iraqs second biggest industry, after oil, said Philippe Delanghe, a United Nations official helping with the project. In anticipation of the conservation capacity gap that often follows conflict, WMF prioritized training and development, working closely with the SBAH and community members to integrate their needs into its design. The ancient city of Babylon is a World Heritage Site, but it faces threats old and new. With support from the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Embassy Baghdad,, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, and the J. M. Kaplan Fund. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Foreign language spoken). They certainly have long had a difficult time imagining the rebuilding of the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon, at least on the scale described in the Left Behindnovels about the End Times (written by Evangelicals Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, and which sold more than 60 million books in the 1990s), or any of my novels or non-fiction books. Within that time, WMF and the SBAH completed a site management plan that addressed issues such as defining site boundaries and areas where future excavations might take place; identifying economic opportunities for local communities; and designing ways to accommodate tourists effectively at the site. PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF that not only one--but six (6)-- prophecies about Babylon of Chaldea (Iraq) remain UnfulfilledBabylon must be Rebuilt so thesesix (6) prophecies can be literally fulfilled. 74159-1575. of the RE-use of Babylon's Stones since the First Fall of Babylon of the flourishing of Trees & Greenery (Gardens, Groves) at Babylon YmlibGVwcm9waGVjeWFzd3JpdHRlbkBnbWFpbC5jb20=, The Psalm 83 Prophecy VS the Psalm 83 Theory. Isaiah prophesied that when Babylon is destroyed by the Medes it will become as Sodom and Gomorrah, never to be rebuilt again. As a result of WMF and SBAHs partnership, Babylon was officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on July 5, 2019. Isaiah doesn't say that. Kevin Phillips, the best-selling author and former Republican strategist, was one such skeptic, among many. Since Babylon reopened in 2009, tourist numbers have fluctuated, said Alice Fordham. Its extensive ruins, on the Euphrates River about 55 miles (88 km) south of Baghdad, lie near the modern town of Al-illah, Iraq. As part of its work at Ishtar Gate and Ninmakh Temple, WMF continues to train locally employed technicians and conservators and to conduct outreach to craftspeople in nearby communities to facilitate their involvement in the preservation process. Like many Iraqis, he feels Babylons past is not just ancient history but his history. Construction, too, has taken a toll over the years. As foretold by Old Testament prophets, the grand ancient city fell to the Persians in 539 B.C.E. He also ordered parts of Babylon reconstructed, leading to most of the current conservation problems. Are there any signs of Babylon being rebuilt? (Jeremiah 51:43. It is a clue to God's timetable because when the Temple is rebuilt the Antichrist will be set to confirm the covenant with Israel and begin the last 7 years of history for this age. A century ago, German archaeologists carted off the most significant parts of the city. Babylon's remains, mounds of mud-brick buildings spread over about 30 square kilometers, are in present-day Iraq, south of Baghdad. The new initiative is part of the WMFs 15-year commitment to conservation efforts as part of its Future of Babylon project, initiated in 2008. 3. The city, built along both banks of the Euphrates river, had steep embankments to contain the . To put it briefly, the Mesopotamian capital moved from Babylon to Seleucia-Ctesiphon to Baghdad. Now, she said, we see that after decades the cement is damaging things.. All Arab News Today, conservation efforts must assess the effects of these twentieth-century additions at the site and their place in its future. How will Babylon, Iraq, be converted to the "Great City" of Revelation 17-18?2. One may take PHOTOGRAPHS of Inhabitants , etc. Jeremiah told Seraiah to read God's judgment on Babylon when he visited with King Zedekiah: But things are changing and its time for an update. Babylon has seen it all. A replica of the Ishtar Gate built in the 1950s, when Iraq first started developing the remains of Babylon as a tourist site. If you believe in the Literal interpretation of Bible prophecy,1. then there is nothing more Literal when you affirm that. Saddam Hussein has attempted to rebuild it in an effort to. Then, in a country under Saddam Husseins iron grip, the most joyous part of visiting was seeing families free of their worries for a few hours. The Palace, which is adjacent to the remains of the ancient city of Babylon, was purged of anything of value by looters as Saddam's regime fell in April 2003 Credit: Getty Images - Getty. In the Bible, it was named "Mistress of Kingdoms" and was the capital of the third world power of Bible history. We know the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt and sacrifices re-instituted right after the 70th Week of Daniel begins - the Tribulation - because the Antichrist will put a stop to the sacrifices half-way into the 7-year peace period. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. . Is Babylon, Iraq, the "Mother" of all religious "Harlots"?7. 2. The antiquities are beautiful, said Mr. Juwad, 23, an art student. According to an About.com article, "Saddam Hussein said that Babylon's great palaces and the legendary hanging gardens of Babylon (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) would rise from the dust.". He told me he absolutely loved the idea of rebuilding Babylon. ISIS-led genocide. Jun 29, 2009 #1. After years of conflict, although not violence-free, Iraq is safe enough for younger Iraqis who have never seen most of their own country to come to Babylon. In the early 20th century, German archeologists recovered remnants of the Processional Way and reconstructed its blue-glazed tile murals at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Mohaned Ahmed is sponging the bricks around the relief of a dragon with a serpent's head. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. It is also training Iraqi conservation technicians and advising on site management. 18:18; 16:17-21). It is only some large and well-known buildings that are excavated, said Olof Pedersen, professor emeritus in Assyriology at Swedens Uppsala University and a consultant to the World Monuments Fund. The Processional Way led to the Ishtar Gate, the city's grand northern entrance. It will include 2.8 million square feet of new office space distributed across three 22-story buildings. BABYLON, Iraq Ammar al-Taee, an Iraqi archaeologist, picked up a clay panel fallen from one of the ancient walls of Babylon. As part of a new generation of archaeologists, Mr. al-Taee works for the Iraqi government on a World Monuments Fund project aimed at stemming the damage to one of the worlds best known yet least understood archaeological sites. Once the capital of a succession of vast ancient empires and the site of extraordinary technological and artistic innovation, Babylon is one of most important archaeological sites in the world. Just a few short decades after Nebuchadnezzar's death, Babylon was taken by the Persian conqueror Cyrus II, who reduced the city to just another outpost in his vast, Iran-based empire. Dave Roos If you look at a picture of Babylon today, it is abandoned and in ruin, no one lives there, but why? Two centuries later, Alexander the Great planned to make Babylon the jewel of his Asian empire, but ended up dying in the city in 323 B.C.E. Is America Babylon?6. When the book of Revelation (chapters 16-18) highlights Babylon, it is not only referring to a rebuilt city, but also to a system . Its still-eerie, grandiose Hussein-era palaces and guesthouses are filled with international artists invited for the Babylon festival, and thousands of Iraqis flock here every month for parties, weddings and musical boat rides along the Euphrates river. Cement floors trapped water while a cement roof on one of the ancient temples pushed down the entire structure. Babylon must be Rebuilt so these six (6) prophecies can be literally fulfilled. Starting in 1983, Saddam Hussein, imagining himself as heir to Nebuchadnezzar, ordered the rebuilding of Babylon. After a yearlong delay because of the pandemic, the World Monuments Fund team is back in Babylon, deciding how best to address the damage in places where trying to chisel out the concrete could do still more harm. But conservation isn't taught in universities here. Visitors Ancient sources attributed the Garden to King Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BC as a gift to his wife, Amytis. In the second century C.E., the Parthians ransacked the city, ending any hope of its revival. Its a sense of pride to have Babylon a World Heritage Site, and during that process the state board for heritage was able to get people to behave better, Mr. Allen said. Art historians referred to his attempt as Disney for a despot. Some of Saddams recreations were destroyed during wars in the region, though others remain accessible to the public today. 600 Fifth Avenue Because of Nebuchadnezzar's imperialist cruelty and penchant for golden shrines to pagan gods, Babylon appears as shorthand for everything ungodly in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Jeremiah 51:49. The rebuilding of Babylon by Don Koenig Scripture says Babylon will be completely destroyed and no one will ever live there again. Babylon became the capital of an empire 2,500 years ago. . 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