The Tower of Babel and Archaeology
by Rick Dack, Founder and Director of Defending the Bible Int’l.
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The Sumerian Problem: In Southern Mesopotamia, linguists and archaeologist have been puzzled about why the Sumerians material culture ( pottery etc; ) had not changed but place names, names of animals and plants had. It is typical for an invading people to take over an area and converge with the peoples they invade. The material culture of both should be found within the same level of excavation/occupation by the archaeologist but this is not so in southern Mesopotamia (Sumeria). This is what is called the Sumerian Problem. So what is the answer to this problem? The Bible says that God changed only the language of the people and not their material culture (Genesis 11).
The Sumerian Epic/Enmerker, the Lord of Aratta: This artifact was probably uncovered by Koldeway during his 1899 excavations. The Sumerian Epic reads," Then Enki, the Lord of Abundance whose commands are trustworthy...Changed the speech in their mouths, brought contention into it, into the speech of man that had been one." George Smith Artifact: Another translation by George Smith, of Gilgamesh Epic fame, has been translated as follows: "The building of the temple offended the Gods. In a night they threw down what had been built. They scattered them abroad, and made strange their speech. The progress they impeded.”
Sources: Joseph Free, University at Northwestern, Bible and Spade Magazine.
