Sunday, 5 July 2015

sources mekorot - How wide was the Migdal Bavel?


This question describes how tall the Migdal Bavel was. In the Book of Jubilees (v. 30), provided in the answer there, the Tower is described as:



ויבנו אותה שלוש וארבעים שנה. בנוהו לבניה שלמה מאתים ושלוש לבנים רחבו, וגובה הלבנה שליש האחת חמשת אלפים וארבע מאות ושלושים ושלוש באמה עלה גבהו, ושתי זרתות ושלוש עשרה פרסה.



And they built it: forty and three years [1645-1688 A.M.] were they building it; its breadth was 203 bricks, and the height (of a brick) was the third of one; its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms, and (the extent of one wall was) thirteen stades (and of the other thirty stades).


(translation from here)



What would the tower's width be in amos (or any other unit of distance that's easier to work with than "bricks")?


Given that the passage describes the bricks as "a third of one" without specifying a third of one what, it seems to indicate that the bricks are being compared to something else; while that comparison is being used in terms of height, perhaps it could help us solve for width as well.


It should also be noted that in Mishnaic times, at least, the standard brick was 3 tefachim long (Eruvin 1:5); a source indicating that earlier bricks were of the same (or different, for that matter) length could also help.




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