One of the most interesting documents referring to the holy places of Babylonia is a tiny tablet found at Nineveh， and preserved in the British Museum.This text begins with the word Tiawthu "the sea，" and goes on to enumerate， in turn， Tilmun (identified with the island of Bahrein in the Persian Gulf)； Engurra (the Abyss， the abode of Enki or êa)， with numerous temples and shrines， including "the holy house，""the temple of the seer of heaven and earth，" "the abode of Zer-pan？tum，" consort of Merodach， "the throne of the holy place，" "the temple of the region of Hades，" "the supreme temple of life，" "the temple of the ear of the corn-deity，" with many others， the whole list containing what may be regarded as the chief sanctuaries of the land， to the number of thirty-one.Numerous other similar and more extensive lists， enumerating every shrine and temple in the country， also exist， though in a very imperfect state， and in addition to these， many holy places are referred to in the bilingual， historical， and other inscriptions.All the great cities of Babylonia， moreover， were sacred places， the chief in renown and importance in later days being the great city of Babylon， where ê-sagila， "the temple of the high head，"in which was apparently the shrine called "the temple of the foundation of heaven and earth，" held the first place.This building is called by Nebuchadnezzar "the temple-tower of Babylon，" and may better be regarded as the site of the Biblical "Tower of Babel" than the traditional foundation， ê-zida， "the everlasting temple，" in Borsippa (the Birs Nimroud)--notwithstanding that Borsippa was called the "second Babylon，" and its temple-tower "the supreme house of life."The Tower of Babel.
Though quite close to Babylon， there is no doubt that Borsippa was a most important religious centre， and this leads to the possibility， that its great temple may have disputed with "the house of the high head，" ê-sagila in Babylon， the honour of being the site of the confusion of tongues and the dispersion of mankind.There is no doubt， however， that ê-sagila has the prior claim， it being the temple of the supreme god of the later Babylonian pantheon， the counterpart of the God of the Hebrews who commanded the changing of the speech of the people assembled there.Supposing the confusion of tongues to have been a Babylonian legend as well as a Hebrew one (as is possible) it would be by command of Merodach rather than that of Nebo that such a thing would have taken place.ê-sagila， which is now the ruin known as the mount of Amran ibn Ali， is the celebrated temple of Belus which Alexander and Philip attempted to restore.
In addition to the legend of the confusion of tongues， it is probable that there were many similar traditions attached to the great temples of Babylonia， and as time goes on， and the excavations bring more material， a large number of them will probably be recovered.Already we have an interesting and poetical record of the entry of Bel and Beltis into the great temple at Niffer， probably copied from some ancient source， and Gudea， a king of Laga？ (Telloh)， who reigned about 2700 B.C.， gives an account of the dream which he saw， in which he was instructed by the gods to build or rebuild the temple of Nin-Girsu in his capital city.
ê-sagila according to Herodotus.
