BABEL, TOWER OF

in biblical literature, structure built in the land of Shinar (Babylonia) some time after the Deluge. The story of its construction, given in Genesis 11:19, appears to be an attempt to explain the existence of diverse human languages. According to Genesis, the Babylonians wanted to make a name for themselves by building a mighty city and a tower with its top in the heavens. God disrupted the work by so confusing the language 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. The myth may have been inspired by the Babylonian tower temple north of the Marduk temple, which in Babylonian was called Bab-ilu (Gate of God), Hebrew form Babel, or Bavel. The similarity in pronunciation of Babel and balal (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.