Babel, Tower of

Nationality/Culture

Judeo-Christian

Pronunciation

TOW-ur uv BAY-buhl

Alternate Names

None

Appears In

The Book of Genesis in the Old Testament

Myth Overview

According to the monotheistic religions (religions in which the people believe in only one god) of the Middle East, arrogant people built the Tower of Babel. In turn, they were made humble by losing their common language. The story of the Tower of Babel is told in the first book of the Old Testament of the Bible. In it, some people decided to build a city on the plains of southern Mesopotamia. The city they envisioned would feature a massive tower that reached up into the heavens. Their plan was to gain recognition for themselves as a people and to be able to stay together. When God saw what they were doing, however, he concluded that they were simply trying to gain power. To make planning difficult for them, he made them speak many different languages. Unable to communicate with each other at the building site, the people gave up the project and scattered to different lands. The remains of the city became known as Babel.

The Tower of Babel in Context

The story of the tower may have developed from the way later visitors interpreted the ruins of the old cities of the region. In Hebrew, the word Babel is a misinterpretation of the name Babylon, which meant “the gate of God.” In fact, archaeologists have found evidence of several tall ziggurats, or step-sided temples, in the ancient city of Babylon.

Key Themes and Symbols

The Tower of Babel is often viewed as a lesson of humility, or being modest before God. The Hebrew word balal, similar to “babel,” means “confusion.” Today the image of the Tower of Babel is used to indicate confusion and failure to communicate.

The Tower of Babel in Art, Literature, and Everyday Life

The Tower of Babel is one of the most popular myths of the Old Testament. It has been depicted in artwork by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Gustave Doré, and M. C. Escher, among others. Science fiction author Ted Chiang wrote a thought-provoking short story about this myth, “Tower of Babel,” which won the Nebula Award in 1990. Another science fiction writer, Douglas Adams, gave the name “Babel fish” to a creature that appears in his 1979 novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The fish-like creature can live inside the ear and instantly translate any language into any other language.

It is possible that the term “babble,” meaning to speak nonsense or say things without meaning, is related to the story of the Tower of Babel; however, etymologists, or experts in the history of words, have not been able to establish a clear link between the two.

Read, Write, Think, Discuss

Over half of Europeans speak two languages (or more), but only nine percent of Americans speak two languages. English is so widely spoken throughout the world that, even when traveling abroad, Americans can often get by with little knowledge of the language of the country they are visiting. Do you think the American educational system should put more stress on teaching foreign languages? Why or why not? What are the benefits of knowing more than one language? Is the rapid spread of English as a common language of business around the world desirable or undesirable?

SEE ALSO Semitic Mythology