1.5 The Tower of Babel, Baghdad and the Garden of Eden

Interpretation: (Those whose) power was destroyed by a gush (of water, the Flood)

The name Baghdad (Bagdet) likewise seems to be of Jewish origins,

Interpretation: (City) covered by mist.

As unlikely as this may seem, confirmation is to be found in the name of the place where God walked with man, the Garden of Eden.

Interpretation: The Garden of (where there is) Mist.

According to the Bible, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowed from the Garden of Eden, indeed placing this at the location of ancient Babylon. Mist and fog usually form at night when the air becomes too cold to hold all its moisture. This is particularly true in valleys as cold air descends and collects in the valley during the night. Mist and fog also form over areas where there is a significant amount of moisture in the air, such as rivers and valleys. It has already been shown that the northern parts of Africa were not dry as they are today, but experienced high levels of rainfall. The same can be said of the Middle Eastern countries and the Tigris valley must have been lush green, one of the most beautiful valleys on earth. That this was the abode of the Serpents is confirmed by Sumerian myths relating that the river Tigris was created by Enki, who ejaculated and filled the river with water. Enki was Ra, the father of Seth and Osiris.

The Garden of Eden was also called Paradise, a name which again seems to have Jewish origins,

Interpretation: Parad-deah, '(those who) spread / distinguished themselves (through) knowledge'.

The Serpents were widely known and respected for their wisdom and their knowledge of the sciences. With time the original meaning was forgotten and it became parah-deah, 'the tree (that which bears fruit) of knowledge'.  The Serpents taught the natives what was 'good' and what was 'bad', hence the biblical Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Tigris valley would have been most fertile, evidently with many orchards (fruit trees). However nonsensical the meaning, this would have been the only interpretation of the name the native Arabs would have been able to make, specifically in the context of the 'sin' of their women (Section 1.6). The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was also known as the Tree of Life.  As before, the concept seems to have originated from a misinterpretation of an ancient Hebrew expression:

Interpretation:  Parad-dîy-'îysh, the phonetic origin of the word paradise with meaning 'those distinguished men'. 'Paradise' was the abode of those men distinguished men. Genesis 6:4 reads

"The Nephilim (giants, Fallen Ones) were on the earth in those days - and also afterward - when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown," confirming this interpretation. Even Christ inadvertently confirmed this ancient belief when he stated [Mat 10:16] "Be as wise as the Serpents". The men of renown were the people who wanted to build the Tower of Babel to make a name for themselves.

The word 'îysh is also associated with the concept of marriage and mating, the origin of life. It therefore seems that the ancient Arabs interpreted the name parad-dîy-'îysh as parah-dîy-'îysh, or The Tree (that which bears fruit) of Life.


As a matter of interest, the Hebrew word for an apple tree is tappuwach (#8598).  A phonetic equivalent would be ta-puw-ach,

Interpretation: The (this) place designated (for) the fellow tribesman (Serpents).

The designated place was in fact the exclusive area reserved for the wealthy. Over time the true meaning was forgotten and given its association with a fruit tree, it became 'apple'.

One of the wonders of the ancient world was the so-called Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Hebrew word for hang up or suspend is tâlâh (#8518). The phonetically identical word tâlâ' (#8529) means to crimson or dye red. What is believed to be the remains of the Hanging Gardens in Babylon is today 'red brick rubble'. Could it be that the name should actually read 'The Red (Brick) Gardens'? Was the colour red or crimson of any significance in ancient Babylon? It may refer to the fair-skinned Atlanteans getting sun-burnt in the scorching sun of the Mediterranean, earning them the nickname 'the red ones' (see Section 1.6 below), rendering 'The Gardens of the Red Ones'.

The name of the famous Babylonian creation myth called the Enuma Elish is generally translated to mean 'When On High', but again there seems to be a Hebrew translation that has a more appropriate meaning. The name can be written as En-uma El-ish, or 'îyn (#371, 'is it not?') - 'ummâh (#523, 'people, nation') 'êl (#410, 'god') - 'îsh (#786, 'there is or are, there'), rendering 'Was-that-not-where-the-gods-were(lived)?', an appropriate name for the Garden of Eden.

The Tigris valley was most likely spotted or identified by Serpent scouts as an ideal place for settlement and a group of them colonized the valley. It may in fact have been the most exclusive place to live in at the time, earning it a sarcastic nickname similar to 'the chosen spot' or 'valley of the rich'. Giza would have been the military base with thunderous aircraft regularly flying overhead. Not exactly the quiet neighbourhood where you would like to build your new luxury home. The native Arabs probably remembered this nickname phonetically and over time associated it with their interpretation of 'paradise', the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The tree would then obviously be an apple tree, still a common belief in Christianity.

The above reasoning still does not prove conclusively that there was a link between the Babylon of Egypt and the Mesopotamian Babylon.  An excellent review of the construction of the Tower of Babel is given by Russel Gmirkin in his book Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus. Some of his findings and notes are:

• Gilgamesh was a 'prototype' of Nimrod, the 'mighty hunter'. Like the latter, Gilgamesh was a 'mighty hero', and Gilgamesh's hunting exploits included chasing down the wild ass of the open country and the panther of the steppes, slaying the 'bulls of heaven', lions and other monsters. It has already been demonstrated that Gilgamesh was simply another name for Osiris, whose brother Seth constructed the Great Pyramid.

• Berossus claimed  that Bel-Marduk constructed the city of Babylon and the Temple / Tower of Bel at the time of the earth's creation, and a wise apkallu revealed to mankind how to 'build cities and found temples.' Berossus further recorded that the first king of the pre-flood world ruled out of Babylon. After the Flood destroyed Mesopotamia, the deluge survivors were instructed to first of all resettle Babylon and afterwards to restore the cities and temples of Babylon.

• According to the Poem of Erra (also used as source by Sitchin), the Flood occurred when Marduk, lord of the gods, was angered at humankind and rose from his royal throne. A cosmic catastrophe ensued affecting both heaven and earth, and floodwaters destroyed most of humankind as well as the city of Babylon. Marduk himself was drenched and his royal attire darkened and ruined. Marduk rebuilt his house (i.e. his temple at Babylon) and returned to his temple-throne. … Marduk planned to leave his throne again…, despite the second catastrophe that would inevitably ensue.  Babylon would fall, … the ziggurat of the sanctuary of Babylon … would all be destroyed. In his absence the world would be ruled by Erra . … But the wrath of Erra would be placated. Marduk would be allowed to return to his temple (which, however, Erra still provided over). The gods would be reconciled and return to their proper places…"

• This passage confirms that the world was ruled by Marduk (Seth, the Serpents), who resettled in Babylon after the flood. He was however eventually disposed when Babylon 'fell' and the Tower of Babel was 'destroyed'. He was nevertheless allowed to remain in Babylon. His 'house' was now controlled by Erra, the (previous) ruler of Babylon.

• Pseudo-Eupolemus wrote that in some anonymous works it was claimed that Abraham traced his ancestry to the giants, who dwelt in the land of Babylonia. Because of their impiety, they were destroyed by the gods. One of them, Belos, escaped death and settled in Babylon. He built a tower and lived in it. The tower was called Belos after its builder.

• In a second work called "On the Jews", Eupolemus stated that the Assyrian city of Babylon was first founded by those who escaped the flood. When the tower was destroyed by God's power, these giants were scattered over the whole earth.

• Pseudo - Eupolemus attributed the departure of the giants, including Belos, to God's action in casting down the tower and scattering the residents of Babylon across the earth.

• Only in the Poem of Erra is to be found a cuneiform example of the exile of Bel-Marduk and the fall of Babylon resulting from a rivalry of the gods.

• The motherland of the Atlanteans (Serpents / Giants) may indeed have been known as Babylon, or the home of those who distinguished themselves from others through their knowledge and wisdom. In an Egyptian tract known as the Kore Kosmou, the goddess Isis discourses with her son, Horus, who asks her why men who are born outside Egypt lack the intelligence of their people. To this Isis replied:

"The Earth lies in the middle of the Universe, stretched on her back as a human might lie ... her head lies toward the South, her right shoulder toward the East, her left shoulder toward the West and her feet lie beneath the Great Bear constellation (i.e. North) ... Now all these parts of the earth are active in some respects, but sluggish in all else, and the men they produce are somewhat sluggish in intelligence. But the right holy land of our ancestors lies in the middle of the Earth; and the middle of the human body is the sanctuary of the heart, and the heart is the headquarters of the soul, and that, my son, is the reason why the men of this land, while they have in equal measure all other things that all the rest possess, have this advantage over all other men, that they are more intelligent."

Isis' remark that the land of their ancestors lies in the middle of the Earth (which lies in the middle of the universe) may suggest that they survivors of Atlantis knew that their motherland had been smashed into the (centre of) the earth. Alternatively it may simply mean that they saw their motherland as the centre of the civilized world, which became Egypt when they resettled there. Regardless, it is clear that the Atlanteans regarded themselves as intellectually superior to other nations. This would not have endeared them to the others, much like the Hebrew claim that they are The Chosen People has led to much misery throughout their existence.

• That the 'Serpents' may have settled across the entire area from Egypt to modern Iraq, although probably only sparsely in between. The original maps they created showed that the interior of the Sahara desert had also been populated (by them).  There can be little doubt that the area was inhabited by natives of the Arab race before the Flood. A huge percentage of them would have been drowned by the Flood, but many nevertheless survived on higher ground. It seems then that the Serpents colonized northern Africa in much the same manner as Europe colonized Africa a century ago.

• If the resettled area was indeed this large, the number of 'Serpents' that survived the Flood may have been very large. This would have depended on how long before the impact they had realized what was about to happen. If it had been a year in advance, they would have been able to construct many huge ships for survival. They may have numbered from thousands to tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, but mostly men.

• The Enlil people most likely were indigenous to the area, but occupied the area to the north (were they Europeans?). Sumerian and Egyptian king lists recorded the names of kings dating back tens of thousands of years before the Flood.

• If so, the scale of the war between the Gods and the Serpents (Titans / Enkites) would have been huge, not too different from a modern World War. This would explain why myths about this war have endured for 12 000 years. In Plato's account the Greeks claimed to have repelled attacks from the Atlanteans before the Flood. This suggests that there had been long-standing animosity between the peoples of Atlantis and those in Europe and the Middle East. Such animosity would also explain why the Atlanteans would have had to take on board only their defence forces and scientists, along with relatively few women. They expected resistance wherever they would land. They would not have been willingly allowed to settle as a people on foreign soil and their enemies would have pounced on them with vengeance.

• The situation the Atlanteans found themselves in can easily be imagined in a modern context. Supposing that scientists were able to calculate that the earth would be hit by a massive comet, right in the centre of North America, the safest place of refuge for Americans and Canadians would be on ships in the Indian Ocean, between Africa and Australia. Having survived, with their motherland destroyed, where would they settle? Africa, India, China? Would they be welcomed? Probably in Europe only, whatever may be left of it. Would they not also put mainly men on their ships?

• The Atlanteans settled on what practically must have been virgin territory, all the low-lying areas having been stripped of life. Following the catastrophe, the survivors on both sides evidently concentrated on rebuilding their societies and in fact got along well enough for their leaders to inter-marry. The events surrounding the death of Osiris however rekindled the age old hostility between the two sides and full scale war between hot-heads soon followed, led by Inanna (Isis) against Seth and his Serpents. 

•  It would seem that the vanquished Serpents were scattered and settled 'all over the world'. It is possible that they only settled in Mesopotamia after the epic battle between the Gods and the Titans, but given the Garden-of-Eden background, it rather seems that they were driven from Babylonia as well. The native Arabs interpreted the ousting by God (actually, the 'gods' or Enlilites) of the Serpent from the Garden of Eden as punishment for the Serpent's greatest sin (in their minds), the seduction of their women.