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The Roots of Babylon. |
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"We
know where we're going We
know where we're from We Leaving Babylon- We
goin to our Father's Land....." (Robert Nesta Marley, Exodus) |
The concept of Babylon plays a central
role in Rastafarian Ideology: There is only one other word Rastafarians use
with more frequency and passion, and that is the name of their Majestic Ruler,
Haile Selassie. People who have even a mild interest in reggae understand
what"Babylon"means, yet the roots of the
word"Babylon"remain unknown to the masses. To gain a better
understanding of this term, it is necessary know the full history of Babylon,
which starts 6000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia.
The popular use of the
word"Babylon"can be difinitively traced to Marcus Garvey's teachings,
which liken the Afro-Caribs in the West to the Jews Exile into Babylon. The
institution of slavery created tremendous suffering for those that were enslavedin
both of these cases. Many people in Jamiaca are still suffering, due to the
successor of slavery, which is racism and poverty. The Bible contains many
stories of slavery that describe the hardship that was endured in acncient
times, as well as the eventual emancipation from the hardship. Rastas have
found much applicable meaning from within the Bible, and it is only natural
that they identify with the Jews in Babylon, who faced much of the same
obstacles that they themselves face. By labeling the source of their own
oppression as"Babylon", the Rastas shed more light on the fact that
opression is in fact taking place. This definitive name gives the oppression
that they face a center, or a heart, which can be targeted easier. Instead of
saying"Injustice must fall","Poverty must be alleviated",
or"Jamaican legislation must represent its people", a Rasta need only
say"Babylon must fall". When this centralized, encompassing word is
used, it provides the Rasta with a target to be passionately against, and
increases his sense of unity with his people.
The word Babylon is by no means an
arbritary word that is used to describe oppression. Babylon was one of the
first cities to ever stand on Earth. It is quite clear that there is much to be
learned about this mythical city that will help us to better understand the
modern"Babylon system". I believe that the modern definition of
Babylon describes a type of mentality that is common to all the institutions
that are labeled as being"Babylon". However, the essence of what this
midframe is can be most closely encountered through the study of the real
Babylon as it grew, prospered and fell thousands of years ago.
In a valley in the dry dessert region of
the world that is now Iran, Babylon not only grew to a formiddable size, but also
thrived, even amidst many changing factors. Babylonia was located between two
rivers- the Euphrates, and the Tigris (hence the rivers of Babylon). Through
simple irrigation, the Sumerian people of the desert were able to make use of
the otherwise desolate land for some basic agriculture. Agriculture proved to
be succesful, but the Sumerians desired more than just sustenance. Trade with
other peoples became a very strong influence in the development of the city. To
trade with foregn peoples was a very difficult and dangerous task. As a general
rule, the larger the trading caravan was, the safer it was. This tendecency is
one of the factors that promoted the growth of villages into cities. The
resources and securities of a large and centralizated population were viewed as
desirable. The first people in the area were the Sumerians, who had been living
in bands. These Sumerian people developed the first Monarchy to ever exist,
along with the first written language (Cuneiform). A complicated legal system,
religion, and culture subsequently developed under the monarchy. Their first
City States formed between 4000 and 3000 BC. These City-States went through
various stages of conflict and collaboration. But within the next hundred
years, a people called Akkadians migrated up the Arabian penisula. The Akkadian
people battled the Sumerian peoples, and eventually they controlled all the
City-States. This forceful take-over is particularly interesting, because of
the high degree of Sumerian influence that remained after they were conquered.
The Sumerian Cities were taken by the Akkadians, yet the Akkadians ended up
absorbing much of the Sumerian culture, laws, and religion, and letting go of
their own culture. It has been theorized that this was the case because the Sumerian
peoples system of operating a city was effective, and much of its culture was
complimentary to the oprations of the city.
The original"Babylon system"is
exposed to us as something was somewhat self-perpetuating. These bold new
cities in Babylon couldn't possibly function without Beaurocracy. Beaurocracy
was a new concept. In order to the feed the city people who worked, but didn't
produce their own food, there needed to be middle men. These middle men had the
task of figuring out the ammount of food that needed to be grown, etc. And this
is where written records became of high importance. The writing style began as
heiolyphic-like pictures, and quickly evolved into cunieform- a letter system
consisting of wedge shaped scrapes. This new field that emerged; the field of
record keeping and beaurocracy, can be considered to be the most influential
role in creating what we call the"Babylon Mentality". The Babylonians
saw this element of calcuting and coputing as a most important pursuit, and it quickly
became a predominant mentality in the cities_. The Babylonians avidly pursued
facts, numbers, measurements, workings, etc. They developed a complicated
astrologocal charts, and detailed anatomony charts through observation.
"For these observers, whose knowledge
was deeply rooted in primitive ideas, the heavenly bodies which they studied
over the centuries were living gods, whose ordered movements in space,
correctly interpreted, could be used as a guide in the daily activity of
men."(Babylon-The old Babylonian era)
The Babylonians were solely concerned with
the material aspect of living, and the way that they practiced religion mirrors
this tendency. The first records of any written language are traced back to
about 5000 BC in Mesopotamia. This language was originally used for accounting
purposes and continued to develop throughout the era in which Babylon stood.
The scientific, logical mentality that governed their lives, extended into, as
well as received from, their religion. They were, in fact, a very religious and
superstitous people, but the deities they believed in had concrete ties to the
realm of physicality. Babylonian people believed in Polytheism. To believe in
multiple Gods seems slightly absurd to the modern person. However, the effect
it had on its people is similar to the increasingly popular modern religion
known as Atheism. It becomes apparent how the"Babylon Mentality"of
the modern Rastafarian vocabulary has a truthful synonomity with the Ancient
Babylon's way of thinking.
It is important to look at the context in
which the kingdom of Babylon stood in order to better understand what it stands
for and what its final outcome was. The era surrounding about 1600 BC serves as
a good point by which the different Empires of the past can be understood in
relation to eachother. Many other great Narions grew powerful soon after
Babylon did. In the 1600's BC:
-Babylon was already large and powerful
nation, under King Hamurabi's rule
-The Mycennean (Greek) Empire was growing
to significant power.
-Rome did not yet exist, nor did the
Mesoamerican civilizations (such as the Mayans)
-Ancient Egypt was at that the beginning
of its great empire, already with Pharoahs, pyramids, and hyroglyphics.
-It was at this time that the Jews
wandered from their homeland to Egypt due to famine, and were taken by the
Egyptians as slaves.
Egypt has a particular relevence to the
topic of Babylon. The Biblical book of Exodus is written almost solely about
the Jewish enslavement in Egypt. For this reason, Egypt can be looked upon as
another"Babylon". The most obvious difference between Egyptian
opression and Babylon oppresion is the fact that the Jewish people came to
Egypt on their own accord, but in the Babylonian scenario, the Jews were
captured and brought into slavery. Looking at both cases, it becomes apparent
that ancient Egypt was just as oppresive as the ancient Babylon. However, there
is one quality that makes Babylon different from this other great nation that
like Babylon, rose, prospered, and fell. Babylon valued the pursuit of
knowledge of the world, where the subjective perception of the individual is
secondary. This mentality promotes the creatrion of efficiency and innovation.
Also, this non-acknowledgement of the self can in fact create a superficially
unified (but unified non-the-less) people. City life creates changes in the way
that its residents think, and view themselves. This is the same tendency that
is later seen in Mycennean culture, as well as Roman culture.
The term Babylon is used in Rasta terms
with much negative connotations. It is something that they are radically
opposed to. Corruption, politics, police, laws, and cities are often reffered
to as"Babylon". Although it is possible to see these mechanisms as
having qualities that are detrimental to the well-being of any society, there
are elements of oppresion that take shape through these various creations of
civilization. These mechanisms were created out of neccesity, else civilization
would fall apart. (Note: It is quite possible that there are benefits of living
in more natural, smaller bands of people, but we will assume that in the
Mesopotamian era, people valued the security and various facilities of city
life.) There are oppressive aspects of police, politics and laws that cause
them to be labeled as Babylon, although it is not true to say that these
insitutions where created with the intent of harm. The harm that is brought
about stems from the institution's ignorance or insesitivity to the suffering
that is created. Ignorance and insensivity are not always syncronous with evil
and malice- many times they are the necessary first steps to wisdom and higher
intuition. However, it is not my intention to defend these mechanisms of
civilization, because it can be argued that these institutions are still
oppressive, 4000 years later.
The materialistic nature of Ancient
Babylon provides us with sharp contrasting element to the Rastafarian Ideology.
Rastafarian religion places high value on the natural world as something that
should be lived in harmony with, but not controlled. The Rastafarians believe
that they should live their life as Jah intends is to be lived. The emphasis
here is on the personal, subjective understanding of one's purpose in life. The
ancient Babylon mentality that is prevalent today, has many contrary elements
to Rastafarian ideology. For example, modern society values its members
according to their wealth, and ability to work in
a"professional"setting. The Babylon mentality sees daily life as
serving a utility, but does not place importance on the experiential and
mystical elements of living.