Babel, Tower of

According to an ancient Hebrew myth, after the Flood people in the land of Shinar (Mesopotamia) attempted to build a city and a tower whose summit would reach the heavens. According to the Bible, god, angered by the impudence of the people, “confounded their tongues” so that they ceased to understand each other and scattered them over the face of the earth. The unfinished city received the name Babylon. (Legend traces this name to the Hebrew verb balal, “to confuse.”) The myth of the Tower of Babel reflected the construction in Babylonia of ziggurats (gigantic buildings that served as ritual temples) and the fact that members of many ethnic groups participated in their construction. In the figurative sense, the term signifies a disorderly, bustling crowd, turmoil, or complete disorder.