Tower Legends

The Bible tells of a remote time when men journeyed from the East and found a plain in the land of Shinar. . . . "And they said to one another, 'Come, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top may reach heaven.'" Centuries after the building of the Tower of Babel, an Arab poet, El Deraoui, wrote of another tower, the Pharos, the great lighthouse off the northern coast of Egypt, "On its height a dome enshadowed me and thence I saw my friends the stars. I thought the sea below me was a cloud and that I had set up my tent in the midst of the heavens." Since ancient times towers have made a poetic appeal. Towers of many kinds, in all ages and in all countries, have met varying needs. There have been watchtowers, cathedral towers, clock towers, bell towers, towers to commemorate victories, towers to honour the living and towers to celebrate the dead. Around many of the towers, legends have clung - some of these legends are very well known. Towers will always stand midway between fact and poetry, the legends relating to them, more often than not, look in these two directions. This book has brought together 11 such legends with a desire to record some of the characteristic tales that blend with a few of the noble towers of the earth. A percentage of the net sale from this book will be donated to charities which sponsor educational scholarships. Abela Publishing - Republishing Yesterday's Books for Tomorrow's Educations