Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.beitberl.ac.il>]

The Tower of Babel narrative does not presume any first-hand knowledge
of Babylon or of the temple-towers in Mesopotamia. It sounds more like
second-hand knowledge filtered down to the popular writer of Gen. 10.
As for singling out Enuma Elish for polemic, this may have been the
literary polytheistic creation narrative best known to the Priestly
writer. Don't forget that Babylonian epic literature was known and read
in Canaan before the Israelite conquest.
Jonathan D. Safren
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
Beit Berl Post Office 44905
Israel