[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

"It's the Tower of Babel!"

Saar heard the words "Tiantian Tower" blurted out by Yinan, and corrected him solemnly.

"When the prince came to the throne, he received an oracle from the gods, so he said, 'The Tower of Babel has been in disrepair for a long time, and Marduk ordered me to rebuild it'."

Marduk is the patron saint of Babylon, the god of Jupiter.

"Now the prince has entrusted this project to me, and I will finish it properly." Saar said seriously.

"So that's the case." Yi Nan listened and nodded to express his understanding.She stood side by side with Sal, and the two looked up together, looking at a "relic" in front of them.

This old and dilapidated building looks like a temple-like building, about five stories high.The upper floors of the building were severely damaged, but the lower floors and foundations looked very solid, showing that the foundations were laid well.

Yi Nan patted her head lightly, and now she remembered: in the time of Hammurabi more than 1000 years ago, there were two tallest buildings in the city of Babylon, occupying the most conspicuous positions on the city skyline.One is the royal palace and the other is the temple of Marduk.

Now it seems that this "Tower of Babel" was built on the basis of the former Marduk Temple and has been rebuilt repeatedly to form the current scale.

The word "Tower of Babel" in the language of the Babylonians means "the gate of the gods".Legend has it that the gods travel between heaven and earth and will rest here temporarily.Therefore, this "Gate of the Gods" is actually the "post station" of the road to the sky, so it is also called the "Pagoda of Tongtian".

Yinan and Saar were talking, when they suddenly heard a Judean craftsman beside them sneer and said behind them: "The Tower of Babel... Hehe, the Tower of Babel, what a Tower of Babel!" The voice was full of sarcasm.

It was in Judean, so Sal didn't understand it, or even notice it at all.

Yi Nan understood. The word "Babel" means "rebellion" and "rebellion" in Judean.Therefore, this Judean craftsman is mocking the Babylonians—even if this tower can be built, what it can bring to the Kingdom of Babylon will not be long-term stability and prosperity, but rebellion everywhere.

The same word has such completely different meanings in different languages——Yinan couldn't help feeling secretly: Humans have different languages, which have indeed created obstacles for the mutual communication of different nations.

"How is it? Do you want to follow me and go in for a visit?"

Thrall eagerly extended his hand to Yi Nan, even a little worried that Yi Nan would not be interested in this temple that should belong to Marduk.

His state of mind is a little different from the time he was in front of the Ishtar gate a few days ago.Last time, he just took Yi Nan to see the great building left by the regent Herod; but this time, his heart was eager to try—this is a great building he wanted to build, so he especially hoped that Yi Nan could help him solve a problem that has been going on for a long time. problems that bothered him.

"it is good!"

Yi Nan nodded resolutely, and put his right hand in Thrall's palm.She followed Saar's footsteps and walked quickly to the ruins of the Marduk Temple in front of her.

Even in disrepair, this Marduk temple is still magnificent in scale.According to Yinan's visual inspection, the part above the surface is about the size of a modern football field.If you don't count the walls of Babylon, this temple is already the largest building in the ancient world she has ever seen.

The two entered the temple together.

This "Tongtian Tower" is divided into upper and lower parts.The lower level is a temple known as the "lower temple".Here, Inan saw the shining golden statue of Marduk—it is said that this statue was made entirely of pure gold.

The sanctuary where the statue is enshrined is surrounded by the residence of the clergy.

The "Shangmiao" located on the upper floor is completely anthropomorphic "God's Gate".The Babylonians designed this "post" for the gods to rest according to their imagination of the "Road to Heaven":

There is only one spacious bedroom in the upper temple, and a large bed is placed in the bedroom.

In addition, there is an altar in the upper temple, on which are placed fresh fruits and vegetables that are constantly changing.During major ceremonies and festivals, elaborately cooked offerings will be placed here, filling the entire table.

"It is said that many years ago, the priests would arrange a beautiful girl in this room. The gods also need the company of a beautiful woman on the way to the heaven." Prince Saar raised his eyebrows, "But I don't plan to Bring back the custom."

"After all, this arrangement is mostly just to make the priest cheaper."

Yi Nan was almost amused by what Sal said.She was thinking in her heart: Saar is actually very clear about the "inside story" of these temples.

"How does the Prince intend to restore this 'Tower of Babel'. Will it remain as it is?"

Saar shook his head resolutely: "Father Wang asked me to rebuild it as it was, and restore the old as it was. But I don't want to do this."

"This Tower of Babel will become the greatest tower in the world."

"Its tower base should firmly step on the ground of the world, and its spire should go straight to the sky, shoulder to shoulder with the sky."

After listening to Saar's description of the tower, Yinan thought and asked curiously, "Why?"

Building such a tall tower requires a huge amount of manpower and financial resources.Moreover, the construction period is very long, and it may take several years to complete the entire tower—of course, it is a different matter if the construction method of the "infrastructure madman" is adopted.

Saar was not satisfied with restoring the existing Marduk Temple as it was, so what was driving him to build the tallest building in the Mesopotamia?Could it be that he really wants to build a tower that "reaches the sky" and reach the sky in one step, as the legends of later generations said?

When Sal heard her question, he raised his head and looked at the sky of Babylon.

"Of course not to worship the gods."

The corners of his mouth turned up and he laughed.

"The prince wants to rebuild the Tower of Babel just to show favor to the priests. After all, they hold a lot of wealth in their hands, and most Babylonians believe that they can communicate with the gods. They have great influence force."

Yinan nodded: The old king announced the rebuilding of the Tower of Babel, apparently to please the group and class of priests.

"But I wanted to build a tower that was tall enough to be used as a military watchtower."

Military lookout? ——This is an answer that Yi Nan hadn't thought about at all.

"Yes," Saar expressed his inner thoughts in front of Yinan, looking very happy, "I can see far enough when I stand high enough."

"Now the countries are at war, and the marching speed of the army is getting faster and faster. The tower on the Ishtar Gate is already very high, but when the enemy's traces are seen on such a tall tower, until the cavalry arrives at the city gate, in such a short time, It’s not enough to keep the soldiers guarding the city on guard.”

"Before I led troops outside, I always believed in the principle of 'seizing the commanding heights'. The higher you stand, the clearer your opponent's whereabouts."

"But there is a flat river near the city of Babylon, and the 'commanding height' is impossible to think about, so I just build it myself."

On this point, Yinan agrees: having a tall "observation post" will be of great benefit to the defense of the entire city of Babylon.

"Besides," Sal said, looking dreamily at the sky.

"I also want to use this tower for stargazing."

"Stargazing?"

"Today's Babylon is brightly lit at night. This is especially true near the palace. The starry sky at night is no longer so clear."

"So I thought, if I have a tower, will I be closer to those stars and be able to see them more clearly?"

Yinan bowed his head and thought: It's definitely not that close.

The tower of Babel, which is more than [-] meters high, is really not worth mentioning for the light-year distance between the earth and the stars.

But it's true that reducing "light pollution" has an impact on stargazing.

According to Prince Sal, today's Babylon is the only large city in the entire region.The night life of the citizens is becoming more and more abundant, especially in the royal court.Brilliant night lights will indeed affect the effect of stargazing.

But—Prince Saar also likes stargazing?

She thought it was just a matter for temple priests for many years.

She didn't say the question, but Sal seemed to hear her heart.He nodded: "Yes, I like stargazing."

"I don't picture the stars as god-like - I'm always wondering if I'm going to get close enough to them and they're going to be big enough."

Inan: This...

"Isn't everything in the world like this? Things in the distance seem small, but when we come to them, they are their original size."

"Is it the same with the stars... If we really grow wings like birds, we can fly to them, fly closer, infinitely closer... Will they also become very big?"

"Then I'll keep thinking: how big are they? Is it the size of a brass button, or a sheepskin drum?"

Yi Nan couldn't help shaking his head.

"Or as big as a city, a field... bigger than the biggest object we can imagine?"

Yi Nan wanted to nod, but he held back in the end.

These are questions that humans have pondered over and over throughout history, only to find the answers many years later.

Sal was still in a daze.

"They come and go regularly in the sky, what force is driving them?"

"And... do gods really live in the sky?"

"That's why I long to have a high tower!" Sar sighed, "Although I agree with the prince's thoughts, in my heart, they are all secondary. The real reason for wanting to build a tower."

Yi Nan really didn't expect that Saar wanted to build the towering Tower of Babel for these two reasons: military observation and stargazing.

In addition, Saar stargazing is also for relatively "worldly" reasons. He does not regard "constellations" as the projections of gods in the night sky. Get closer to see what they really look like...

Yi Nan seemed to have suddenly discovered another side of Saar, she suddenly felt: the mission is hopefully completed!The awakening of free will is just around the corner... She finally sees hope.

So she asked Sal cautiously: "So...do you believe in the gods more, or believe in yourself more?"

Saar straightened his back: "Of course I believe in myself more..."

Yinan Daxi: The sign of the birth of free will is that human beings believe in themselves more and believe that the power of "human" exceeds the power of "god".

Unexpectedly, Sal added another sentence: "...except for the matter of marriage."

"I believe in the existence of gods. I believe that gods arranged my marriage. He informed me that my destined fiancée already exists."

Saar stared at Yi Nan with a pair of bright amber eyes, as if saying: My eyes can't get sand in, so don't try to play tricks!I won't change my mind for anyone.

Yi Nan was blocked by him in an instant, his mouth was flattened, and he was unable to speak for a while.

"However, I encountered a very difficult problem in building this Tower of Babel." Seeing that Yi Nan never mentioned the issue of "marriage", Saar felt very satisfied.He remembered his original intention and hurriedly made a request to Yinan.

"Wait a minute, let me guess what your problem is first." Yi Nan stopped Sal's words, rolled his eyes, and said, "I just heard a lot of mixed languages ​​and accents from the north and the south. You called Craftsmen from all over?"

"Yes!" Saar nodded with satisfaction and smiled.

"What you need to solve is... the language problem?" Yi Nan raised her eyebrows, and she already had some premonition in her heart.

Saar's smile became more and more joyful: "As expected of you!"

Although he refuses to regard Yi Nan as his fiancée, in fact, Saar has already regarded Yi Nan as a friend who can communicate, is trustworthy, and is even very appreciative.

"This project is no small matter. I don't want to hastily build a building that needs to be rebuilt in ten years. I want this tower to stand forever in the city of Babylon."

"That's why I have invited famous architects and craftsmen from all over the world to come to Babylon to discuss big plans. Except for the provinces of the Babylonian Kingdom, the Medes will naturally invite them. In addition, there are also Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Basques..."

He did not mention the Judaeans because the Judaeans are all captives and slaves of the Babylonians at this moment, so naturally they cannot be said to be specially recruited.

"But now I find that I have encountered a lot of trouble. After these craftsmen from all over the world get together, they can only speak their own language. They are all well-known construction craftsmen, but they can't communicate. Unable to cooperate - so I thought of you..."

Inan lowered his head in thought.

This is a very interesting topic - language and "Babel".

The "Tower of Babel" in the "Old Testament" and the "Tower of Babel" in history are two different things. It is recorded in the "Old Testament" that after people experienced the catastrophe of the great flood, all human beings spoke the same language.

When the number of human beings in the world multiplied and increased, they decided to build a Tower of Babel: "Come, let us build a city and a tower whose top reaches the sky."

Because people speak the same language, there is no difficulty in cooperating with each other, so the Tower of Babel was built quickly and well.This move alarmed God.

Seeing that human beings are able to work together to complete such a huge project because of the common language, God worried: In this way, what else can human beings fail to accomplish?

So God tried to make a difference in human language.The people who built the Tower of Babel couldn't continue to collaborate because they spoke different languages.So the tower fell by the wayside.And the human beings who once tried to unite and build the Tower of Babel were scattered all over the world for this reason.They were never able to challenge God again.

This is a legendary story with strong religious meaning.

But in front of Yinan, it seems to be a replica of the second half of this story - Saar invited smart and capable craftsmen from all over the world to cooperate in the construction of the Tower of Babel, but there were many difficulties due to the language barrier.

In fact, human beings have never experienced a period of "language communication", and they have already faced difficulties brought about by communication barriers.

Inan doubts whether this story is the Judaeans who experienced the construction of Babylon. They recorded this experience quite realistically, and later generations added and deleted it, and finally it became what it was in the "Old Testament".

As she thought so, Sal kept looking at her eagerly, as if believing that she would definitely help him find a solution to the problem.

"You think of me because I can speak both Babylonian and Judean, not to mention the language of my native country?" Yinan smiled.

Sal nodded.

"In fact, I can speak Greek, I can speak Egyptian, and I can speak the dialects spoken by the Romans and the Basques quite well-but you count on me alone, for the exchange of hundreds of artisans here. Do you want to translate?"

"Ah, this..." Saar stretched out his hand and scratched his head, and the scene of Yi Nan being scrambled by craftsmen from all over came to his mind, and he was out of skills.

However, how did this woman manage to speak the language spoken by so many people?

He had only heard of people living on the border between the two countries who could master two languages ​​at the same time; such people were precious, especially in times of hostility between the two countries.

And now this princess from the Kingdom of Medes claims that she can speak, one, two, three, four, five... countless languages.

But she is alone.

How should he ask her to help him?

It is simply not realistic to ask her to solve all translation problems.There was only one person, and it was impossible for her to translate the entire construction team.

After thinking for a long time, Sal had to say awkwardly: "Then...can you please share how you can learn so many languages? Is there any way...to let everyone learn in the shortest time? Babylonian?"

Yi Nan stared at him for a long while, then suddenly laughed out loud.

Sal was suddenly embarrassed, his face flushed red.I also know that my request is a bit too much-how can hundreds of craftsmen learn Babylonian in a short period of time?

Besides, the construction period for rebuilding the Tower of Babel was already tight, and he even spared time for the craftsmen to learn the language first. If this matter spread, his brothers might die laughing?

Who would have thought that Yi Nan raised the corners of his lips and smiled confidently at Sal: "Don't worry, I have a solution!"

"Go and gather all the craftsmen, and I will naturally have a way for them to communicate with each other smoothly."

Sal was overjoyed all of a sudden, he stretched out his hands, patted Yinan's shoulder briskly, and laughed loudly: "As expected of you, as expected of you, hahaha..."

Before the laughter stopped, Saar realized that he was a bit carried away, and quickly pulled his hands away from Yi Nan's shoulders, and continued: "Then I will go and gather the craftsmen together now."

He pretended to be nonchalant, but in fact his face was already red up to the roots of his ears, which revealed his embarrassment.

Yi Nan pretended not to see it.

She was thinking about how to instruct those craftsmen to "communicate", and she had an idea in a moment.

She had a board painted with chalk, and when it dried, it could be written with a charcoal pencil.She ordered people to place the whole board at the place where the craftsmen were summoned, and put it behind her.

This is different from the habit of writing on clay tablets in Mesopotamia.When Sal saw it, he didn't ask any questions, and let her make troubles.

"Everyone..."

When the huge crowd gathered in front of her, Yinan immediately greeted everyone with flexible eyes.

It is inconvenient for her to talk too much: now that she speaks in front of so many people, according to her special language ability, it is very likely that everyone can hear their mother tongue.

So the more she talks, the easier it is to reveal her secrets.Everything that needs to be said must be said before everyone reacts.

"Everyone, Prince Sal invites you to gather here in the hope that everyone can work together to build this unparalleled tower."

"However, I have noticed that because you come from different places and cooperate with each other, verbal communication is very difficult. Therefore, I have three sentences in Babylonian that I would like to ask you to learn. As long as you have learned these three sentences, keep them for future use. Communication won't be so difficult anymore."

Everyone heard her words, and everyone understood them.

But not everyone believed it.

They asked each other in different languages: "Really?"

"So miraculous?"

"Is three sentences enough?"

Yi Nan smiled: "Yes, three sentences... No, not even three sentences, as long as these three words are enough."

The three words she said were: "Please," "Thank you," and "I'm sorry."

The most important etiquette in human communication is contained in these three words.

These words taught the craftsmen to listen to their ears, and everyone thought of the situation when they hit the wall before, and everyone seemed to realize something.As long as you treat people politely and politely, communication is troublesome at most, but it is not easy to create conflicts and cause disputes.

"Everyone, let's invite Prince Saar of Babylon to teach you these three words!"

Yi Nan didn't dare to speak much by himself, and he only dared to ask Saar to teach all these craftsmen to speak Babylonian.

Although Saar couldn't believe what Yi Nan said, just learning these three words would ensure smooth communication for everyone.But at least he has this kind of loyalty, knowing that he can't make trouble for his own people.So he followed Yi Nan's request and read the three words aloud.

Then Sal continued to stand beside Yi Nan, just waiting to see the results of this "teaching".

Unexpectedly, Yi Nan just asked all the craftsmen to imitate the Babylonian pronunciation of these three words.And then she went on—

She took a charcoal pencil and drew two shapes on the white board with chalk: a semicircle and a triangle inscribed in the semicircle.

It seems that she just drew two ordinary figures on the wooden board, who knows that there are many craftsmen below who have bright eyes.

Someone raised his right hand and answered loudly in Greek: "Whatever is inscribed in a semicircle must be a right angle—my dear lady, I am from the Ionian school."

Yi Nan nodded in that direction, smiling brightly.

Sal, who was next to him, was still a little dazed: Why did Yi Nan draw two ordinary figures on the whiteboard, and someone immediately understood and responded in time.

How did he know that Yi Nan was proud of herself at this moment: she just drew a figure at random, and it actually provoked the children of the Ionian School②.

After all, in Yinan's eyes: the real common language of mankind is nothing but science——