HISTORY

And they said, 'Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
And the LORD said, 'Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them'

The Tower of Babel is a symbol of man's desire to be better than God, his folly in trying to do so, and what the people's of the world could be capable of if only they could work together. To stop the tribes of man cooperating, God introduced different languages to confuse them. The city was named Babel (literally "babble"). While Genesis does not mention the Tower's destruction ("for reasons not discussed in the Good Book"), other records do, suggesting that it is likely the Tower actually existed.

In fact, Infernal Machine's suggestion that the Tower was built to honour the god Marduk is actually quite likely. Also known as Etemenanki ("temple of the foundation of heaven and earth"), the ziggurat of Babylon, was built twice. The second time was by Nebuchadnezzar II, however the first time is not truly known. It appears in the Babylonian creation myth as built just after the world was born, with the name Esagila - the Temple of Marduk. This was supposed to have been destroyed in 689 BC by Sennacherib along with the whole city.

The Tower (at least the second version) was a ziggurat, built in blocks at elast 91 metres high (see diagram below), with the temple to Marduk at the top. Several attempts to rebuild it again over the centuries failed, including famous historical figures like Alexander The Great. One thing is for sure - the base of the Tower has remained the same since the creation of Babylon, and if anything is hidden down there, it certainly remains hidden...

"Marduk, the great lord, excited my mind to repair this building. I did not change the site, nor did I take away the foundation as it had been in former times. So I founded it, I made it; as it had been in ancient days, I so exalted the summit."

Marduk was Lord of the Sky, the Protector from Chaos, Slayer of the Dragon Great Tiamat, and the creator and patron of Babylon. He is sometimes called the Lord of Lords, Wise Lord of Oracles, and even Reviver of the Dead. When Babylon became the capital of Mesopotamia, their patron deity was elevated to the level of supreme god.

It was about this time the Enűma Eliš was written. Discovered in 1849 in the library of Ashurbanipal in Iraq, it is the Babylonian creation epic that elevated Marduk to the highest level of godhood and the existence of man to serve the gods.

The bringer of chaos, the dragoness Great Tiamat, was given the great Tablets of Destiny (which would've made a nice Marduk-related MacGuffin for Indy to search for) which were taken by Marduk when he slew the beast and brought order to the world. Under his reign humans were created to bear the burdens of life so the gods could put their feet up and chill.

'Let a man rejoice in Marduk, the Lord of the gods,
That be may cause his land to be fruitful, and that he himself may have prosperity!
His word standeth fast, his command is unaltered;
The utterance of his mouth hath no god ever annulled.
He gazed in his anger, he turned not his neck;
When he is wroth, no god can withstand his indignation.'

H. Rider Haggard wrote the book King Solomon's Mines in 1885, which told the story of Allan Quatermain and his search for the legendary Mines. Yes, it is the first Indiana Jones story, so it's very fitting that Indy himself would eventually go after them!

The mines were filled with all Solomon's treasures, which considering he was a one-time owner of the Ark of the Covenant is pretty extensive! However, he is probably known more for his wisdom than his wealth, at least through the accounts of the Bible. It is interesting to note the connection to Babylon, as Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple of Solomon (and indeed the Ark of the Covenant) 300 years later, and plundered its treasures.

One possible location of the mines is in the ancient city of Timna, Yemen. I have no idea where that speculation comes from, but it probably had something to do with sticking a pin randomly in a map of Africa.

Another mythical lost world Indy discovers in the game is the sanctuary of Shambala, although whether it is meant to be the mythical temple of tranquility and happiness or just a temple called that is another matter. In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambala (also spelled Shambhala or Shamballa) is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere beyond the snowpeaks of the Himalayas.

Soviet agent Yakov Blumkin led a Tibetan expedition to discover Shambala in 1928, and Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Hess sent German expeditions to Tibet in 1930, 1934-35, and 1938-39. They were influenced a lot by myths built up over the years by occultists. The Kalachakra tantra suggests that it is the source of great power and will be the centre of a campaign to rid the world of Dark Forces (pity, I quite like that game) and usher in a worldwide Golden Age.

LUCASARTS SAYS...

1947. The Nazis have been crushed, the Cold War has begun and Soviet agents are sniffing around the ruins of the fabled Tower of Babel. What are they up to? The CIA wants renowned archaeologist and adventurer Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr. to find out. Grab your whip and fedora and join Indy in globe-spanning race to unearth the mysterious "Infernal Machine."

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