1183. What is signified in particular by “Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar,” cannot so well be seen, because they are not mentioned in other parts of the Word, except Calneh (in Amos 6:2) but they are varieties of such worship. But as regards the land of Shinar in which these worships were, that external worship wherein is what is profane is signified by it in the Word is evident from its signification in the following chapter (Genesis 11:2), and also in Zechariah 5:11 and, especially in Daniel, where these words occur:

The Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, with part of the vessels of the house of God, and he carried them into the land of Shinar, into the house of his god and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god (Daniel 1:2),

by which is signified that holy things were profaned: “the vessels of the house of God,” are holy things; “the house of the god of Babel, in the land of Shinar,” is profane things, into which the holy things were brought. Although these incidents are historical, yet they involve these arcana, as do all the historical facts of the Word. The same is further evident from the profanation of the same vessels (Daniel 5:3-5). If sacred things had not been represented by them, no such events would have taken place.