What fascinates you about the Tower of Babel?
Featured in Another Time Another Place by Jodi Taylor
Transcript:
Ancient History, to me, is so much larger than life – rather like the Tower of Babel itself, of which more later – full of energy and colour and smells and epic events and heroic characters who just burst out of the pages of History. Think of Ramses II, Darius, Xerxes, Hector, Helen, Cleopatra, Alexander and so on. As real and vivid today as they must have been in their own times.
And I love the massive stone buildings they’ve left behind. How were they built? And why? In Egypt, for example, they now think the extensive building programmes were state sponsored; to give the population something to do during the soggy months when the Nile flooded. And that the pyramid workers were professional builders, well housed, well-nourished and valued. Only a few decades ago we were being fed Hollywood inspired images of slave drivers and brutality and it’s turned out to be nothing of the sort.
For me, I think the fascination is that we never get the full picture. We’re given only tantalising clues as to their thoughts, their actions, their times. There’s so much we don’t know.
On the other hand, new finds and new evidence emerge all the time, sometimes radically altering our perceptions and what we thought we knew about these long-gone civilisations. Remember the excitement when they thought there was a hidden chamber in Tutankhamun’s tomb. Imagine if there had been. Imagine if, tomorrow, another unrobbed tomb was found in the Valley of the Kings. Imagine if the whereabouts of Alexander’s tomb is discovered. Imagine if the lost army of Cambyses is suddenly uncovered in the desert. Now see what you’ve done. You’ve set me off down the rabbit hole again and I’ll get no more work done today.
It wasn’t all grandeur, of course. There was dust and flies, disease and violent death, but perhaps that’s also part of the attraction.
I was fascinated to find that parts of the Tower of Babel might still be standing today if not for Alexander the Great. Another reason to regret his dying young. He took one look at the remains and was inspired to rebuild them. He demolished what was left – and there was quite a lot left, even though mud bricks don’t last for ever. He cleared the site and then died before they could start the rebuilding. After that, of course, everyone was too busy quarrelling over his empire to carry on the work. Thanks to his well-meaning efforts, even the ruins were lost to us which is such a shame.
Now, not only do archaeologists think they’ve found the original Tower foundations, but some parts of Babylon are actually being rebuilt, especially the walls. They’ll never be able to restore the whole city – it was vast – but it’s very exciting and so, armed with all these good reasons – and the fact that I’d spent hours practising how to say, ‘Etemenanki,’ I sent St Mary’s to investigate. It was supposed to be just a simple fact-finding assignment but I think we all know that was never going to happen. It doesn’t take long for everything to go pear-shaped.
I shan’t say any more. Why not read the book for yourself and find out what happens when things really go wrong for St Mary’s?
CLICK HERE to listen to Jodi reading an extract from Another Time Another Place.
In a world where history’s not a mystery,
Thanks to a crew who’s quite the brew,
At St. Mary’s, where it’s customary
To time-travel and unravel history’s clue.
“Just One Damned Thing After Another,” they say,
A mantra for their everyday disarray.“
A Symphony of Echoes” in their wake,
As they dance through time for history’s sake.
“A Second Chance” at the Battle of Agincourt,
Then off “A Trail Through Time” for a dinosaur retort.
“No Time Like the Past” to save the Library’s lore,
“What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” (Famous last words, for sure.)
“Lies, Damned Lies, and History” they meet,
As they try to keep their time-travels discreet.
“And the Rest is History,” but wait, there’s more!
“An Argumentation of Historians” at the core.
“Hope for the Best,” as they leap through the fray,
“Plan for the Worst,” they caution, come what may.
“Another Time, Another Place,” they find a new quest,
In “A Catalogue of Catastrophe,” they put skills to the test.
“The Good, The Bad and The History” they face,
With humor, wit, and a daring grace.
Through time’s twists and its many a bend,
Their adventures, it seems, may never end.
So here’s to the crew who breaks all the rules,
Dodging danger and various temporal duels.
For history’s sake, they leap and they dash,
In a series of tales that make quite the splash!