Tower of Babel

Tower of Babel
Tower of Babel
מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל
	The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563)
General information
Type	Tower
Location	Babylon
Height	See § Height

The Tower of Babel^[a] is an origin myth and parable in the Book of Genesis^[1] meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and migrating eastward, comes to the land of Shinar (Hebrew: שִׁנְעָר, romanized: Šinʿār; Ancient Greek: Σενναάρ, romanized: Sennaár). There they agree to build a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Yahweh, observing their city and tower, confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other, and scatters them around the world.

Some modern scholars have associated the Tower of Babel with known structures, notably Etemenanki, a ziggurat dedicated to the Mesopotamian god Marduk in Babylon. A Sumerian story with some similar elements is told in Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta.^[6]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

^ 11:1–9
^ Metzger, Bruce Manning; Coogan, Michael D. (2004). The Oxford Guide To People And Places of the Bible. Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-195-17610-0. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
^ Levenson, Jon D. (2004). "Genesis: Introduction and Annotations". In Berlin, Adele; Brettler, Marc Zvi (eds.). The Jewish Study Bible. Oxford University Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-195-29751-5.
^ Graves, Robert; Patai, Raphael (1986). Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis. Random House. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-795-33715-4.
^ Schwartz, Howard; Loebel-Fried, Caren; Ginsburg, Elliot K. (2007). Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism. Oxford University Press. p. 704. ISBN 978-0-195-35870-4.
^ Kramer, Samuel Noah (1968). "The 'Babel of Tongues': A Sumerian Version". Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 88, no. 1. pp. 108–111.

[2] 11:1–9

[Metzger2004-3] Metzger, Bruce Manning; Coogan, Michael D. (2004). The Oxford Guide To People And Places of the Bible. Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-195-17610-0. Retrieved 22 December 2012.

[Levenson-4] Levenson, Jon D. (2004). "Genesis: Introduction and Annotations". In Berlin, Adele; Brettler, Marc Zvi (eds.). The Jewish Study Bible. Oxford University Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-195-29751-5.

[5] Graves, Robert; Patai, Raphael (1986). Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis. Random House. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-795-33715-4.

[6] Schwartz, Howard; Loebel-Fried, Caren; Ginsburg, Elliot K. (2007). Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism. Oxford University Press. p. 704. ISBN 978-0-195-35870-4.

[kramer-7] Kramer, Samuel Noah (1968). "The 'Babel of Tongues': A Sumerian Version". Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 88, no. 1. pp. 108–111.

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Tower of Babel
מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל
The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563)
General information
Type	Tower
Location	Babylon
Height	See § Height