Babel, Tower of

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Babel, Tower of Tower begun on the plain of Shinar, in Babylonia, by the descendants of Noah as a means of reaching heaven (Genesis 11). God prevented its completion by confusing the speech of the people and scattering them throughout the world. The Genesis story was probably inspired by a ziggurat or staged temple-tower in Babylon, seven storeys high and with a shrine to the god Marduk on its top.

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