Babylon was considered a holy city in the ancient world, its kings consecrated by power given by Marduk. This is the reason the Persians destroyed the temple of Esagila and deported the statue of Marduk to Persia (or, by some accounts, melted it down) when the Babylonians revolted against Persian rule in 482 B. C. Persian de-sacralization worked: This was Babylon’s last revolt, since no king could be properly consecrated without the temple and image.
The biblical contest of Jerusalem and Babylon is not a contest of sacred and secular order. It’s a competition between two sacred orders.
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