Babylon
The word has so many connotations, mixed and strange.
the Greek form of BABEL; Semitic form Babilu, meaning "The Gate of God." In the
Assyrian tablets it means "The city of the dispersion of the tribes."
The capital of ancient Babylonia in Mesopotamia on the Euphrates River. Established as capital c. 1750 B.C. and rebuilt in regal splendor by Nebuchadnezzar II after its destruction (c. 689 B.C.) by the Assyrians, Babylon was the site of the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Judeo-christian faith draws many of its conceptions of what is evil from what the Babylonians worshiped. Yet we borroed myths and gods and heros from them just as often as we shamed them and called them heathens. Gilgamesh's teacher became Noah, who survived the flood.
YHWH, the Shem Hameforash, has its roots in the fact that names lend the speaker the power over the named, and it should not be that any mortal has power over God, thus no mortal may speak His name.
"This practice is close to magic and idol worship, so as monotheism developed and broadened, the magical use of God's name was objected to. So while the name Yahweh remains written in Jewish liturgy, Jews felt that an invisible, omnipresent, omniscient part of reality cannot have a name."
And even Romeo and Juliet have their ancient Babylonian counterparts, Pyramus and Thisbe, who wispered their love through a crack in the wall.
Gods became monsters, and demons, and traditions were cast into sins.
Yet Babylon has other meanings, which should not be forgotten.
A city or place of great luxury, sensuality, and often vice and corruption.
A place of captivity or exile.
Thus why I have often named clubs in my stories Babylon - they are both a place of vice, and of captivity and excile. Never can you be more alone and trapped than in the center of a crowd.
And yes... it is our last, best hope for peace.
Babylon.
The word has so many connotations, mixed and strange.
the Greek form of BABEL; Semitic form Babilu, meaning "The Gate of God." In the
Assyrian tablets it means "The city of the dispersion of the tribes."
The capital of ancient Babylonia in Mesopotamia on the Euphrates River. Established as capital c. 1750 B.C. and rebuilt in regal splendor by Nebuchadnezzar II after its destruction (c. 689 B.C.) by the Assyrians, Babylon was the site of the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Judeo-christian faith draws many of its conceptions of what is evil from what the Babylonians worshiped. Yet we borroed myths and gods and heros from them just as often as we shamed them and called them heathens. Gilgamesh's teacher became Noah, who survived the flood.
YHWH, the Shem Hameforash, has its roots in the fact that names lend the speaker the power over the named, and it should not be that any mortal has power over God, thus no mortal may speak His name.
"This practice is close to magic and idol worship, so as monotheism developed and broadened, the magical use of God's name was objected to. So while the name Yahweh remains written in Jewish liturgy, Jews felt that an invisible, omnipresent, omniscient part of reality cannot have a name."
And even Romeo and Juliet have their ancient Babylonian counterparts, Pyramus and Thisbe, who wispered their love through a crack in the wall.
Gods became monsters, and demons, and traditions were cast into sins.
Yet Babylon has other meanings, which should not be forgotten.
A city or place of great luxury, sensuality, and often vice and corruption.
A place of captivity or exile.
Thus why I have often named clubs in my stories Babylon - they are both a place of vice, and of captivity and excile. Never can you be more alone and trapped than in the center of a crowd.
And yes... it is our last, best hope for peace.
Babylon.
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