We explain what the Tower of Babel was according to the Old Testament and the characteristics of the myth. Also, its history and the origin of its name.
What is the Tower of Babel?
The Tower of Babel is a biblical story from the Old Testament found in the book of Genesis According to what is narrated in the Bible, the Tower of Babel was a gigantic building built by the descendants of Noah with the purpose of reaching heaven. God considered this an act of arrogance, and decided to punish them.
For that purpose, God (Yahweh) made each of the people speak a different language, making it impossible for them to agree to continue construction of the tower. The people then left the tower and dispersed throughout the world, which gave rise to the different languages we know.
The story of the Tower of Babel is one of the best known and most popular in the Bible. It offers at the same time a mythical explanation about the origin of the different human languages and a teaching against arrogance and pride. This is a religious narrative that has no direct historical evidence. However, some scholars have proposed that it could have roots in real historical and cultural events.
Characteristics of the myth of the Tower of Babel
The myth of the Tower of Babel has the following characteristics:
- It is a biblical myth narrated in the Old Testament, but it is also present in other religious texts. It is part of the biblical foundational myths, that is, those that explain the origin of things.
- It recounts the origin of human languages, but also the punishment inflicted by God on the descendants of Noah for having tried to build a tower that reached to heaven.
- It became an important symbol in Western culture, as a metaphor for the negative consequences of human pride.
- Although numerous efforts have been made to find archaeological records that link it to a historical event, there is no decisive evidence that allows us to identify the real existence of the tower.
When talking about biblical myths, reference is made to the stories contained in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. They are understood as myths because they offer explanations about the origin of the world, humanity, natural phenomena and other aspects of human existence from a religious and spiritual perspective.
What does the myth of the Tower of Babel tell?
The story of the Tower of Babel is found in chapter 11 of the book of Genesis, in the Bible. The following events are narrated in it:
- In ancient times, all humanity spoke the same language and lived in the same region.
- The people decided to build a city on the plain of Shinar with a tower so high that it reached the sky, as a monument to their greatness and a symbol of their union.
- God, seeing the arrogance of humanity, decided to intervene: he confused their languages so that they could not understand each other. This caused chaos and the dispersal of people throughout the Earth.
- The construction of the tower was abandoned and the city was called Babel (which in Hebrew means “confusion”), due to the confusion of the languages. The dispersion of humanity throughout the Earth led to the emergence of different cultures and civilizations.
Debate on the Tower of Babel
Throughout history, different scholars tried to attribute a real historical reference to the myth of the Tower of Babel.
Some consider the story of the Tower of Babel It could be inspired by the construction of ancient ziggurat towers in Mesopotamia a historical region roughly corresponding to present-day Iraq, Syria, and parts of Türkiye and Iran. Ziggurats were temples built with stepped terraces, which were mostly pyramid-shaped.
In line with this hypothesis, some scholars link the Tower of Babel with a particular ancient Babylonian construction, known as the Etemenanki. These are archaeological remains located near the current city of Hillah, in Iraq.
However, there is no evidence to confirm this relationship. Although the events narrated in the myth may evoke the time when ziggurats existed, There is no historical source that allows us to corroborate that the Tower of Babel really existed.
Description of the Tower of Babel
The description of the Tower of Babel in the Bible is relatively brief and does not provide specific architectural details. However, there are some implicit characteristics that can be inferred from the narrative:
- Height. The Tower of Babel is described as a structure that the builders attempted to raise “to the sky.” This description suggests that the tower was of great height.
- Purpose. The builders of the Tower of Babel intended to build a tower that would be a monument to their own greatness and a symbol of unity and human power.
- Architecture From what the myth tells, it can be inferred that the Tower of Babel was a monumental structure and that it had a distinctive shape that made it stand out in the landscape.
- Materials Since the story takes place in the region of Mesopotamia, it is possible to imagine it with common construction materials of the time, such as baked clay bricks.
Origin of the name of the Tower of Babel
According to biblical studies, the name Babel derives from the Hebrew verb balalwhich means “to confuse” (Genesis 11.9). Another view maintains that the term was linked to the name of a region or geographical place.
Within this last approach, some authors suggest that the term could be related to the city of Babylon; others link it to a temple known as Bab-ilu, the “gate of God.”
References
- Ellwood, RR and Alles, GD (Eds.). (2007). Babel, Tower of. The Encyclopedia of World Religions. Facts on File.
- Mercatante, AS and Dow, JR (2009). Babel, Tower of. World Mythology and Legend. Facts on File.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024). Tower of Babel. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
