Mohammed Osama's Image of Gates of Babylon & Kill the King INTRODUCTION The following Article answers the mystery and questions many Rainbow fans have been looking for..... - what does the words Gates Of Babylon mean or express ? - what is the Historical back ground of the Babylon city ? -Who is Baal? and why he is mentioned on the Long Live Rock N Roll credits with the words saying "NO THANKS TO BAAL" -What is the epic story behind Gates Of Babylon & Kill the King, and is it true that both classics are related and share the same story and concept? - What is the Tower of Babel? *The historical events mentioned considering the history of the city, the gates and the characters mentioned on the song interpetation are all taken from historical facts, books and sites related to Babylon and its historical background. Most of the information gathered have been taken from the site which i personally consider the best around .... The Virtual Babel Encyclopedia Genesis - (Babylon) Although the story of the Tower of Babel is often thought to be purely a myth, there are archaeological indications that a tower really existed, in the glorious city of Babylon (the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in what is now modern Iraq). Babylon was one of a number of cities built by a succession of peoples that lived on the plain starting around 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists examining the remains of the city of Babylon have found what appears to be the foundation of the Tower of Babel: a square of earthen embankments three-hundred feet long on each side. Believed to have been originally constructed by Nimrod, the tower's most impressive incarnation was probably under King Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC), who rebuilt the tower to stand 295 feet high. According to an inscription made by the king, the tower was constructed of "baked brick enameled in brilliant blue." The terraces of the tower may have also been planted with flowers and trees. Nimrod Construction would not have been easy. The area lacks the stone deposits the Egyptians used, and the local wood is mostly palm, so the Babylonians used what they had in abundance: mud and straw bricks, baked in the sun to create enduring clay bricks. There was also a new construction material: bitumen tar, or asphalt, was in abundance as a result of the distillation of massive peat fields, forests, and other organic materials covered by sediment during the great Flood. The tower was a pyramidal form, consisting of square towers gradually decreasing in breadth. A winding ascent along the outside was so very broad as to allow horses and carriages to pass each other, and even to turn. At the apex was an altar where sacrifices were offered to the sun god. Yet the tower was only one of the marvels of the city, in addition to the Hanging Gardens and superb palaces. According to ancient history, there were several attempts in the following centuries to repair the ruins of the tower. The last major effort was by Nebuchadnezzar II, who said that he received a command from his god Marduk to build it so that "its top might rival heaven." He called his temple tower "Etemenanki" meaning "the foundation of heaven and earth." The final beginning of the end of the Tower of Babel began around 478 BC. The city had been taken over by the Persian King Xerxes who crushed a rebellion there that year. The tower was neglected and crumbled. After Alexander the Great conquered the Persians, he also planned to rebuild the tower, and most of the debris had been removed in preparation for its reconstruction when he died. The Gates In 440 BC Herodotus wrote that the ancient city of Babylon, "In addition to its size... surpasses in splendor any city in the known world." He claimed that the outer walls were 56 miles in length, 80 feet thick and 320 feet high. Wide enough, he said, to allow a four-horse chariot to turn. Inside the walls were fortresses and temples containing immense statues of solid gold. The outer wall is the main defence of the city. There is, however, a second inner wall, of less thickness than the first, but very little inferior to it in strength. BAAL Baal for those who are not able to read the song interpetation or historical back ground of Babylon was the son of Nimord (The king who ordered to build the Tower of Babel). Baal was said to be the sun god (named by his mother Queen Semiramis which called her self the mothers of the gods). Ronnie James Dio about Baal source: The Northern Light, Stockholm, Sweden, April 2001 We had some seances as we'd some problems in the studio over in France, the studio is called Le Chataux. We had one song, "Gates of Babylon", we just couldn't finish, the tape would break or the machine would stop. We just couldn't finish it. One day we had a seance in the studio and contacted a spirit who said he was Baal. He said "I'm Baal, I live here and I create chaos and you'll never leave here". We weren't afraid and if something happened we said "hi Baal", until he started to do weird things like sending away glasses to the end of the table returning them from under the table back or smashing the glasses against the wall. Or piano playing when nobody was close to it. We went to a local priest and told him to have an exorcism. He threw us out, he said I'm not going to that place, that place is haunted. We had a big cross made and put that up to the wall in the studio. And the next time we had a seance Baal said again "I'm Baal, I create chaos, you never leave here and what is that stupid thing doing on the wall?". And I said "do you believe in Christ?" he actually said "Ha!!! Christ, there's only men, I'm not afraid of anything". We knew we had some troubles here. Finally we were able to finish the song. And when we were leaving we had to go through this big turning stairway from the sleeping areas to the cars to leave Le Chataux. And my wife was in front of me, she had a box of antique china we just bought in her hand. I was perhaps 5 feet away from her, she was 5 feet in front of me, Cozy Powell was behind me. And suddenly she was pitched from the stairs and fell to the bottom of the stairs on top of the china. She turned to me and said "You bastard, why did you pushed me?". And I said "Cozy, did I pushed her?", and he said "You weren't even close to her". Guess who did that? So that was Baal's final party for us. EPIC/CONCEPT/SONG INTREPETATION Gates of Babylon, not only the title of a Rainbow classical tune, yet it comes to be one of the greatest, classical epic/historical songs ever written or created in the music genre ever! apart being one of the most complicated songs Ritchie had ever written, arranged or composed, the story told and expressed through the music comes to be the greatest, the story goes back thousands of years ago after the great flood of prophet Noah, where one of his sons and survivals decided to take the devils road giving his back to his dad and God, Leaded by the devil to Babylon were he (with the help of the devil) was able to become the king of the historical city and started drifting his people towards the dark side, years & years after his death his grand son taking his evil path decided to build THE TOWER OF BABEL through which he thought they could reach into Gods heaven and avoid any possible punishment by God! After his death, his son named Baal and wife took over the city, till the relebalions decided it was enough and were furious to KILL THE KING! actually this is were the classical KILL THE KING is captured into GATE OF BABYLON as both lyies within the same story/epic yet both are seprated into 2 different classical songs! The Story starts back, way back, its when the sky never stopped raining for 40 days, its was the great punishment for mankind, the great flood, the punishment for all the unbelivers and for all those sinners on earth, and as known the only survivors was prophet Noah and the people with him on the great ARK. Years and years after the great disaster mankind started to develop and to build its new world and civilaztion all around the world, at the time Ham one of Noah's sons and survivors was captured by the devil, his faith in God had reached its end and he decided to rebel against his father (Noah) and his own creator (God). Cursed by his father and blinded by the darkness his mind and soul have fallen into he decided to ship and leave to a new land and place where he can seek his greedy mind and soul & fulfill the desires he always kept away ! With the company of the devil, through the days and night and through the mighty sea, his eyes captures a land, something within the dark side of his mind, tells him thats it! thats the land u were looking for, thats the land were u could fulfill ur desires and dreams, the devil smiles as he knew he had taken over such a poor, pathetic human heart, mind and soul! The Rainbow classical tune (Gates of Babylon) starts from here, the song starts with wicked, dark & gloomy keyboard intro by David Stone, the tone and sound of the keyboards succesfully delivers the mood and mystery of such a historical eastern song with the devlish feeling at the end of the intro the rest of the band strikes in with huge and clear eastern sounding riff ..... "Look away from the sea I can take you anywhere Spend a vision with me A chase with the wind Move closer to me I can make you anyone I think you're ready to see The gates of Babylon" The devil claims he could take him anywhere, he had just gided him to explore his vision and find the land where he could start to fulfill his evil ways, his ready to show him the land of his fate, the land through which he could make him anyone within, the land surrounded by the huge gates....... Babylon! With the gide and the help of the Devil, Ham started to get within in the city, and through the days and years finally he reached what he always wanted to reach, power, authority and control! finally he had become the mighty King of Babylon.... Years moved on & on yet the Devlish control over Ham never stopped, it grew more even after his death, the Devil over controlled his son and years went over till it was time for Nimrod (grandson of Ham) to take over the control and city. At the time Nimord had the perfect mind and soul in order to be the idol devils advocate. With heart full of darkness and wicked ideas, He persuaded the people of Babylon not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers ! "The power of what has been before Rises to trap you within A magic carpet ride a genie maybe more A city of heavenly sin" Trabbed within his mighty power and devlish control over ,he turns the city upside down following his own rules and belives, he turns the belivers into people that worship magic, elfs.. etc slowly, the city turns into the city of sinners! The Ronnie James Dio roars into the chorus, with a huge sound band lead and composed by Blackmore, yet more eastern and rhythm sound is to be given through the powerful output by the backing little orchestra, giving the band another classical dimension and showing off the musical genuises of the man in black! "Sleep with the devil and then you must pay Sleep with the devil and the devil will take you away Oh gates of Babylon" Sleep with the Devil and u will have to pay ,Follow the darkness and one day u will find out that what uve been living through was a path of lyies and sins,uve been taken by the power and mighty uve got ,ur deceived by the control uve got ,ur trapped within the gates of sins,the gates of Babylon! Nimrod decided to build, whats to be called the TOWER OF BABEL ,gathering over 50,000 men to build such a tower which he belived would help him to rebel against God by building a tower so high reaching it up to heaven and to hide within if God ever decided to punish them again by drowning them with water! "You can see but you're blind Someone turned the sun around But you can see in your mind The gates of Babylon" U can see the truth behind ur disbeliving and sins, but u can't realize whats right and whats wrong, ur guided by the Devil who turned out the truth (sun) behind ur back, ur can see, but ur blind to seek the truth, ur moving through the road of sins and hell! the power & control of the city had taken over ur sick mind, the devlish faq power illusioned ur mind that u dont need a God to pray and neel for! "You're riding the endless caravan Bonded and sold as a slave A sabre dance removing all the veils Getting as good as you gave Sleep with the devil and then you must pay Sleep with the devil and the devil will take you away" Through his power and control, he was able to turn Babylon into the city of Slaves, genies, magic and sins! the whole city is lyied within the command of the Devils advocate, a mind & soul enslaved by the lord of the darkness! The secound verse ends and Ritchie Blackmore strikes in slowly with a eastern based sound solo. Through out such solo Blackmore delivered one of his most melodic, expressive and most structured solos not only in his own career, but in the whole history of music, the powerful rythm background energizied within Cozy Powell's drumming, Bob Daisley solid bass line and the classical sound of the orchestra included makes Ritchie's solo even more perfect! the last part of song witnesses one of the most genius & complicated keyboard chords ever to be played within a song, delivered by David Stone adding a new dimension to the legendary solo! The solo, genuisly delivers the eastern feel and emotions of the tragic story, it takes the listner into a travel against time back to those historical days, u can feel, smell and hear Babylon through the solo! each note seems to be well thought off and delivers a certian message to the song listners! Ritchie Blackmore proves once and for all, the reason why his to be called the best guitarist of all time, teaching generations of musicians and guitar players how to build, express and deliver a solo that no one could ever create or imitate like ever! The band slams into the 3rd and last verse of the song with one of Dio's most powerful and melodic vocaling ever... "Look away from the sea I can take you anywhere Spend a vision with me A chase with the wind Move closer to me I can make you anyone I think you're ready to see The gates of Babylon The power of what has been before Rises to trap you within A magic carpet ride a genie maybe more A city of heavenly sin Sleep with the devil and then you must pay Sleep with the devil and the devil will take you away Black gates of Babylon" "The devil is me And I'm holding the key To the gates of sweet hell Babylon" With Ronnie's final roar, the song comes to an end, by leading and enslaving Nimord's sick mind he was able to take full control over Babylon and its people, turning the whole city to the dark of sins, to a city of slaves & dark magic rebeling against Gods willing and road! The Devil Claims he has the keys, he holds the keys of the city, he hold the keys of the legendary Gates of Babylon, he holds the keys of the city which he simply turned into a sweet hell of his own creation, into a city ruled by a demon, he has created his hell on earth .... The song ends, but the battle between good and evil doesn't, the story continues while the song fades away with the smooth orchestral sound leading into the next classical song (Kill The King) which actually continues the legendary and historical story we ve started ..... The story and history continues following the death of Nimrod, his heathen form of worship was continued by his wife, Queen Semiramis. She claimed that her husband had become the Sun god, and was to be worshipped. Some time after this, Queen Semiramis conceived through adultery and gave birth to an illegitimate son whom she named Tammuz, who she declared was actually Nimrod reborn, and that he had been supernaturally conceived. However, even though Semiramis claimed to have given birth to a saviour, it was she that was worshipped, not the son. She was worshipped as the mother of the gods. In his deified form, Nimrod the Sun god was known as Baal. Though Nimrod was actually died his curse and devil havent yet! The devil continues what he started since the first beginning, he knows that since he has the control over the queen & the new king he will always keep on his control of Babylon, the city which he tuned it to "A city of heavenly sin". During the time where the Queen and her son decided to overtake the city just like Nimrod and his grandfathers did, the heart of the city was on time to be set on fire! Anger & pain have grown through the years of fear, slavery and darkness! Citizens had enough of all the lyies they ve been forced into, they believe in god and they had enough crap of all the disbeliving and shame their kings and queens have dargged them into through out all those years! Now it was time to express what they really wanted, it was time to say no, it was time for revolution, time to change the rules, and they knew quite well there was only way to get things straight, they have to take the king down, or in other words....... KILL THE KING! The classical song starts from this point where it starts with another keyboard intro slamming into a fast, aggresive and one of the most powerful riffs Blackmore have ever written, the up-tempoed riff seemed to express well the furious and anger the song is all about! "Danger, danger the Queen's about to kill There's a stranger, stranger and life about to spill Oh no move me out of harm I need a spell and a charm Fly like the wind I'm no pawn, so be gone, speed on and on Kill the king Tear him down" The Rebelions strikes the castle of the King & Queen, they're anger and furious they have only one goal to achieve and thats to take down the king, Ronnie James Dio phenmomial vocaling on the song expresses perfectly the power & passion of the rebelions trying to fulfill what they're been planning and fighthing for all those years! "Kill the king, yeah Strike him down Power, power it happens every day Power, devour all along the way Oh no, move me out of harm I need a spell and a charm And fly like the wind I'm no pawn, so be gone, speed on and on Kill the king" The days of darkness & slavery are over, with power and devour the rebelions strikes the castle for the battle of their lives! the King asks the devil for help, he doesnt want to get harmed or killed he asks for a spell or charm anything that could get him out of such disaster and situation, but no way! its over the rebelions roar and strike deeper into the kings hall! Rainbow seems to show off their strong musicianship and tightness through such a song which out shows why Rainbow is one of the best bands in the history of rock, yet such a song was a direct and powerful influence for generations & generations of following heavy metal bands! After the 2nd verse, Ritchie and Cozy are dropped into another classical Blackmorish solo spot, the man in black and Cozy get locked into a mind-boggling groove where Ritchie delivers one of his most beautiful, furious & classical solos grooved with Cozys double bass and angry drumming giving out a perfect example of what a legendary drummer would sound like! the beautiful ending of the solo with Ritchies/Rainbow amazing melody outshows again the complete sound Blackmore was always looking for! the band strikes again into the 3rd and final verse where Dio seems to deliver one of his finest moments ever! "Treason, treason, the spectre looms again Treason, reason, the realm is safe and then Oh no, move away from harm I need a spell and a charm Fly like the rainbow I'm no pawn, so be gone, speed on and on" The King screams "treason", he feel that he have been deceived, he feels he have been cheated the crowds of rebelions within his castle seems nondefeatable, they had given out their lives in order to take him down, the king seems to releaize his end starts to cry out for his lord (the devil) he feels he have been left all over on his own, he have been cheated even by the one he have been following his rules..... "Kill the king Tear him down Kill the king, yeah Got to take his crown Crown Kill the king He'll rule no more Strike him dead The people roar Kill the king, yeah Take his head Down, down, down, down Oh, kill Oh, kill Oh, oh" The band ends up the classical song with Cozys powerful drumming and Dio's rebelious roars where the story ends with the good taking over the evil at the very end and with the rebelions taking over the castle, taking down the ruler and succesfully "KILL THE KING"! THE PAINTING - (Tower Of Babel) The plate of the Tower of Babel itself was based on a drawing by Lievin Cruyl (c.1640 - 1720), a Flemish artist who worked largely in Rome. The spiral design of the Tower is reminiscent of the archaeological remains of Mesopotamian temple towers, and is taller and thinner than the designs of Matthaeus Merian (1627) or of Pieter Bruegel (1563) and his imitators.The paint shown on the 1976 3cd reheareals bootleg ( Tower of Babel) is taken from Pieter's Bruegel famous in 1563. If you would like to discuss or ask any thing considering the image, then you can send an email to Mohammed Osama