With the war and insurgencies finally finished, and the ISIS caliphate destroyed, Iraq is finally turning itself around. 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)? Theproject, originally started by the late Saddam Hussein, is aimed eventually at attracting scores of cultural tourists from all over the world to see the glories of Mesopotamias most famous city. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF BABYLON? This, then, is PHOTOGRAPHIC-PROOF that Babylon has NOT YET met its Final Destruction. PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF of the RE-use of Babylon's Stones since the First Fall of Babylon 4. Most of Babylon was rebuilt by Saddam Hussein on its old foundations, but pictured here is the original Ishtar gate Credit: Getty - Contributor. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Accuracy and availability may vary. But things are changing and its time for an update. Colonial powers looted it, Saddam Hussein rebuilt it, U.S. and Polish troops made it a military camp, and now Babylon, Iraqis hope, will draw tourists. The Bible says that the FINAL FALL of Babylon will occur in the "Day Of The Lord". In order to keep the peace among people without ties of blood or religion, Hammurabi created his famous Legal Code, essentially a detailed list of crimes and their associated punishments: This early system of retributive justice inscribed on an 8-foot (2.4-meter) diorite obelisk that is housed in the Louvre in Paris is believed to have been the basis of the ancient Hebrews' code of laws laid out in Exodus, known as "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.". All of this coincides exactly with the prophecies of the Old Testament and shows that Babylon must be rebuilt in the Tribulation in order to be destroyed as prophesied in "the Day of the Lord." Gazing out at an ancient well that local legend says is the abode of the mischievous angels Harut and Maruthung there for eternity by God for teaching magic to mortalsthe WMF project manager Osama Hisham notes: This is only one of many temples that need urgent repair.. On weekends the site is filled with Iraqi tourists from all over the country. Along the way, Middle East trade routes shifted, and Babylon and its glorious history was abandoned and forgotten. The Babylonian kingdom fell to pieces and the city wouldn't return to glory for more than 1,000 years. Ancient sources attributed the Garden to King Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BC as a gift to his wife, Amytis. Tel: +1 646 424-9594. Fall of Babylon In 539 B.C., less than a century after its founding, the legendary Persian king Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon. By July 2019, so much progress had been made that Babylon was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Now, Babylon, like many of Iraq's archaeological sites, has fallen into disrepair. That is "not what my eyes see" in light of the actual data. Babylon must be Rebuilt so these six (6) prophecies can be literally fulfilled. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 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. The antiquities are beautiful, said Mr. Juwad, 23, an art student. Does the "King of the North" Prophecy CHANGE with the TIMES ? By Joel C. Rosenberg. WMF also assisted SBAH with the completion of a World Heritage nomination for Babylon, holding workshops in 2017 to advance the research and writing necessary to achieve this goal. 516 BCE - Cyrus Permits Jews in Babylonian Exile to Return to Jerusalem; Second Temple Built. Are there any signs of Babylon being rebuilt? Unemployment will plummet. They clearly contradict the scene in Isaiah 13:19-20, where we read, And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Husseins interventions, neglect resulting from 12 years of draconian UN sanctions that bankrupted the country, and subsequent damage by military vehicles in the wake of the 2003 invasion all contributed to Babylons demise. They are working assiduously to restore Babylon, home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and turn it into a cultural center and possibly even an Iraqi theme park., The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is pumping millions of dollars into protecting and restoringBabylon and a handful of other ancient ruins in Iraq, noted correspondentJeffrey Gettleman. According to Christian Post: "The Bible not only shows that a literal Babylon will exist at the end of our age, but it will be resurrected in the same location as its ancient predecessor in the. "And he will make a firm covenant [peace treaty] with the many for one week [week of years = 7 years], but in . Today, what's visible is the top of some of the city walls. Tourism has been growing there gradually, as security has improved and hotels have opened., Just this month, an Arab newspaperreportedthat the Iraqi government is going to converta palace overlooking the UNESCO World Heritage site [in Babylon] into a museum.. War. Whats more, the Obama Administrationis contributing $700,000 towards The Future of Babylon Project, through the State Departments budget., In January 2011, I shared with my readers an intriguing articlepublished by the New York Times about Iraqs latest efforts topreserve, protect, restore and then rebuild the ancient city of Babylon and make it a draw for tourists, with U.S. taxpayer assistance., The Babylon project is Iraqs biggest and most ambitious by far, a reflection of the ancient citys fame and its resonance in Iraqs modern political and cultural heritage, the Times reported, noting that the State Department had announced a new $2 million grant to begin work to preserve the sites most impressive surviving ruins. In 1927, the British ran a railway line through the site, and in the 1980s Hussein built a highway through part of it, along with a palace for himself, complete with a helipad. 7 QUESTIONS That Deserve An ANSWER BELOW. In 2009 CE, the local government of Babylon opened the city to the public. https://allisrael.com/five-killed-and-15-wounded-in-alleged-israeli-airstrike-in-syria. At the height of its glory in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.E., the ancient city of Babylon was the largest and wealthiest in the world. World Monuments Fund and World Monuments Watch are registered service marks. Some of the walls, with their 2,500-year-old clay reliefs of dragons and bulls associated with the gods still stand. JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Mohaned Ahmed is sponging the bricks around the relief of a dragon with a serpent's head. The Babylonian empire fell in 539 B.C.E. By the beginning of the 21st century, the site of the Hanging Gardens had not yet been conclusively established. Indeed, as I was doing research for Epicenter, I interviewed then-Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi. 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. Abdullah Dhiaa Al-deen for The New York Times. Hammurabi ordered the construction of intricate canals to provide Babylon's citizens with fresh water, and fortified the city's walls against invaders. However, after years of destruction, there is not much left of the historical ruins today. ARRAF: You look around and you're surrounded by these 2,500-year-old walls with mythical creatures on them. Babylon will be destroyed with fire from heaven as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Rev. 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. We can only guess how deep it could be, said Dr. Pedersen, one of the worlds leading experts on the archaeology of Babylon. During the 8-year-long war between Iraq and Iran, however, all such work ground to a halt. Workshops for SBAH members both on- and off-site through WMFs Iraq Cultural Heritage Conservation Initiative helped develop local capacity toward the future preservation of Babylon and sites across Iraq, working with local stakeholders to support their continued stewardship of these treasured places. Therefore, I cannot teach 1. that Babylon was overthrown and erased from existence like Sodom and Gomorrah, HERE and HERE 2. that Babylon is without inhabitants today, remaining in that situation "from generation to generation" for centuries, HERE and HERE 3. that Babylon has no Arab dwellers today, and has been devoid of them "from generation to generation", HERE and HERE 4. that Babylon is without shepherds today, and has had none grazing their flocks "from generation to generation". "And they will not take from you even a stone for a corner, Nor a stone for foundations, But you will be desolate forever," declares the LORD. "Visitors can stroll through the remnants of the brick and clay structures which stretch across 10 square kilometers [3.8 square miles], and see the famed Lion of Babylon statue, as well as large portions of the original Ishtar Gate," reported Reuters in 2019. From its very beginnings, the Future of Babylon project considered not only immediate conservation needs but also the future of heritage preservation in Iraq. Nevertheless, many theories persisted regarding the structure and location of the gardens. Iranian uranium enrichment reportedly dangerously close to nuclear bomb capability 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. It was Saddam Hussein who took up Nebuchadnezzar's mantle and tried to reconstruct some of Babylon's former glory, but ended up with what art historians decried as "Disney for a despot." According to legend, it may also have been home to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (see sidebar), and a hubristic sky-scraping temple that some historians believe inspired the biblical Tower of Babel. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Damage caused by military occupation is among the many ongoing challenges to the preservation of Babylon, along with illegal encroachments and large crowds of visitors. A U.S.-funded program to restore the ruins of Iraq's ancient city of Babylon is threatened by a dispute among Iraqi officials over whether the priority should be preserving the site or making . The Bible doesn't. ARRAF: That will have to wait for future excavations. Prophecy scholars are divided in their opinion as to whether or not the city of Babylon will literally be rebuilt again. 10. 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. The current WMF work at the Ishtar Gatethe eighth and most elaborate gate to the inner city of Babylon, whose north facade was reconstructed and displayed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin in1930is addressing issues around changing groundwater levels and its impact on masonry humidity. Starting in 1983, Saddam Hussein, imagining himself as heir to Nebuchadnezzar, ordered the rebuilding of Babylon. This is the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar II: Continue Reading 156 3 Bob deWitt Hanging Gardens of Babylon, ancient gardens considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World and thought to have been located near the royal palace in Babylon. Jesus ChristTo Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, (Revelation 1:5, " And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost." The sites remains were first excavated by Robert Koldewey, a German architect, at the end of the nineteenth century. Babylon has seen it all. It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there Isaiah 13:20DID THAT HAPPEN? 18:18; 16:17-21). An Iraqi conservation worker removing a layer of modern clay from a wall of the Ninmakh Temple in Babylon, revealing some of the original 2,500-year-old brick. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was built and rebuilt over the course of many years . A story that will confound atheists and agnostics. For that reason, many Bible students believe that the ancient city of Babylon will be resurrected to power during the Antichrist's end-time, world reign. Baghdad can therefore be considered the successor to Babylon, though indirectly. World Monuments Fund safeguards cultural heritage around the globe, ensuring our treasured places are preserved for present and future generations. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. 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. Babylon's remains, mounds of mud-brick buildings spread over about 30 square kilometers, are in present-day Iraq, south of Baghdad. ARRAF: Iraq is awash in archaeological sites. Essential for the website opinion as to whether or not the city 's walls against invaders fell pieces. Babylon will literally be rebuilt again still stand Iraq is finally turning itself around 21st century, the local of. 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