Divine Plan

The first point to bear in mind about the Tower of Babel is that both old and new incarnations were evidently calculated on the basis of the iku measure (120 x 120 Babylonian cubits).  The benefit of calculating by iku measures is that, rather than use awkward numbers such as 120, the foundation of the tower can be described by a much simpler figure: one iku, unity itself.  The older foundation (c. 1800 B.C.) is a measure of 1 iku using the smaller regular cubit, while the later version (c. 600 B.C.) is also 1 iku but calculated on the basis of the longer "great" cubit.

Most importantly, the Smith Tablet lists the height for the Tower of Babel as 15 gar (180 x 180 Babylonian cubits). Yet as we just saw, the Smith Tablet reckons Babylonian cubits also as "great cubits" in 1:1.5 ratio. Thus, Babel's height was 120 "great" cubits--the same as the base. This means the entire frame of the Tower of Babel was a theoretical cube of 120 "great" cubits. Restated in iku, it is the cubical embodiment of 1 x 1 x 1 iku, or unity itself.

The fundamental point is the dimensions.  Its measures are equal and repeat the same numerical figure. When numbers agree they unite, they balance, and they create a harmonious picture.  In other words, the general formula for the cube (L x W x H, where L = W = H) embodies a unified form (1 x 1 x 1).  But “unity” is what these temples do on so many symbolic levels. They unite their people, city, and country—the Tower of Babel within its square courts and square city, and Zerubbabel’s and Herod’s Temple inside the Jerusalem Temple’s square courts and city.

The Smith Tablet offers further supporting evidence for this idea. In addition to the Tower of Babel measures, it lists an unusual form known only as kigal (“great earth”).  The kigal has the same base as the Tower of Babel, but it is specifically a cube.  Why would a cube occur in conjunction with the Tower of Babel?  The kigal seems to be the “correct” or “ideal” form of the ziggurat. 

We do not know what the kigal cube signified.  But in the context of Babylonian iconography, it was likely the "celestial pattern" or ideal temple that the ziggurat was modeled after. Moreover, we will see these very same figures in the Christian section on New Jerusalem.