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From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith by Michael R. Ash
The word tower in the Book of Mormon relates to a concept which goes back to Mesopotamia prior to 3000 BC. The “Tower of Babel” of Genesis, and the same “great tower” of Ether, refers to ancient Near Eastern ziggurats which measured from 80 to 230 feet high. Anthropologist John L. Sorenson observes: “It may seem strange to modern readers, used to considering narrow, soaring castle and cathedral spires as towers, that bulky mounds and ziggurats would be termed “towers” by the Book of Mormon scribes. But when the Spanish invaders saw the Mesoamerican temple platforms, they immediately called them torres, ‘towers,’ so height, not shape , must be the main criterion”. Both the early Near Eastern temples and the early American pyramid/temples were of similar construction, design, and purpose.
Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt. He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.
Julianne Dehlin Hatton has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.
Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.
