Tower of Babel | Story, Summary, Meaning, & Facts

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</div> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tower-of-Babel/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Tower-of-Babel">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tower-of-Babel/images-videos">Images & Videos</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/60/6160-050-4F39391D/Tower-of-Babel-oil-painting-Pieter-Brueghel.jpg" data-href="/media/1/47421/4379" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/60/6160-004-24AC81CF/Tower-of-Babel-oil-painting-Pieter-Brueghel.jpg" alt="Pieter Bruegel the Elder: The Tower of Babel" height="50" /> </a> <a href="/video/Overview-Tower-of-Babel/192008" data-href="/media/1/47421/192008" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <div class="position-relative --aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/10/180010-138-3D9E53F8/Overview-Tower-of-Babel.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="What happened to the Tower of Babel?" class="col-100" /> <div class="btn btn-sm btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%, -50%)"> <em class="material-icons font-14" data-icon="play_arrow" > </em> </div> </div> </a> </div> <button disabled class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Previous"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span> </button> <button disabled 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2025-02-15T00:00:00CST" >Feb 15, 2025</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tower-of-Babel/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn btn-sm border-2 btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 module-spacing js-inline-ai-ask-button p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot </button> </div> <span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies multiple medialist slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100" data-type="other"><div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex"><div class="rw-track d-flex align-items-center"><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="192008" data-asm-type="video"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="video" video-id="180010"><a data-id="180010" class="gtm-assembly-link d-flex justify-content-center" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9" href="/video/Overview-Tower-of-Babel/-192008"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/10/180010-138-3D9E53F8/Overview-Tower-of-Babel.jpg?w=800&h=450&c=crop" alt="What happened to the Tower of Babel?" loading="lazy"><script type="application/json"> { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/U3XyQsFH.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/10/180010-138-3D9E53F8/Overview-Tower-of-Babel.jpg" ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/mlCWvAw0", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/34GFG399.m3u8" } </script><div class="btn btn-xl btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; transform: translateY(-50%)"><em class="material-icons" data-icon="play_arrow"></em></div></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><span class="md-assembly-title font-weight-bold mr-5 d-inline font-sans-serif md-video-caption" video-control="180010">What happened to the Tower of Babel?</span><span>Learn about the monumental Tower of Babel in the ancient city of Babylon.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><a class="font-14 mt-10 d-inline-block" href="/topic/Tower-of-Babel/images-videos">See all videos for this article</a></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><button disabled="true" class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span></button><button disabled="true" class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span></button></div><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref108523"></span>Tower of Babel</strong>, in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">biblical literature</a>, structure built in the land of Shinar (Babylonia) some time after the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="Deluge" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Deluge" data-type="MW">Deluge</a>. The story of its construction, given in <span id="ref108524"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Genesis-Old-Testament" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Genesis</a> 11:1–9, appears to be an attempt to explain the existence of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="diverse" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diverse" data-type="MW">diverse</a> human languages. According to Genesis, the Babylonians wanted to make a name for themselves by building a mighty city and a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/tower" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">tower</a> “with its top in the heavens.” God disrupted the work by so confusing the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/language" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">language</a> of the workers that they could no longer understand one another. The city was never completed, and the people were dispersed over the face of the earth.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="myth" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth" data-type="MW">myth</a> may have been inspired by the Babylonian tower temple north of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Marduk" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Marduk</a> temple, which in Babylonian was called <span id="ref108525"></span>Bab-ilu (“Gate of God”), Hebrew form <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Babylon-ancient-city-Mesopotamia-Asia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Babel</a>, or Bavel. The similarity in pronunciation of Babel and <em>balal</em> (“to confuse”) led to the play on words in Genesis 11:9: “Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth.”</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature font-12"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span> <span class="md-signature font-12">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Adam-Augustyn/6394">Adam Augustyn</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-simplify-root"></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":47421,"pageLength":169,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.48"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.133.48' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"SMALL","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":true,"hasAiTopQuestions":false,"hasSimplifyButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Tower of Babel | Story, Summary, Meaning, & Facts | Britannica