According to John Sorenson, a "tower," both in Mesoamerica and in the Book of Mormon story (see Mosiah 11:12-13), was much more than a vertical structure from which one could see a long distance. The concept of a tower goes back to Mesopotamia, dating to perhaps before 3200 B.C. The "great tower" mentioned in the first chapter of the book of Ether was the same type of structure whose destruction is told in Genesis 11 and is popularly called "the tower of Babel," although nobody knows which ruined structure would have been the one referred to by the Jaredites. It was a giant platform with stepped, sloping sides, called in the Babylonian (Akkadian) language "ziqquratu" (ziggurat in English). They were thought of as artificial mountains on whose tops deity could dwell, or come down to visit men, in sacred privacy. A ziggurat also modeled the relationships between heavens, earth and underworld, for the topmost layer stood for the highest level of creation above the earth, with other layers representing supposed multiple heavens. By around 2,000 B.C. the sacred tower in the south Mesopotamian city of Ur measured 80 feet high. Fourteen centuries later, when Lehi left Jerusalem, the famous ziggurat of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon rose to over 270 feet. It may seem strange to modern readers, used to considering narrow, soaring castle and cathedral spires as "towers," that bulky mounds or ziggurats would also be termed "towers" by the Book of Mormon scribes. But according to the historical accounts, when the Spanish invaders saw the Mesoamerican temple platforms, they immediately called them "torres" (towers) so height, not shape, must be the main criterion. [John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, p. 171]
Mosiah 11:12 A tower near the temple ([Illustration]): The Palenque palace tower that is near the temple. Photograph [Joseph L. Allen, Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon, p. 365]