Genesis 11:9

Babel. By a play on words the Hebrew linked the name of the city, Babel, with the Hebrew verb balal, “to confuse.” It would have been a strange procedure, however, for the Babylonians to derive a name for their city from a Hebrew word. Ancient Babylonian texts interpret Bab-ilu or Bab-ilanu as meaning “port of god” or “gateway of the gods.”

It is, however, possible that this meaning was secondary, and that the name was originally from the Babylonian verb babalu, meaning “to scatter,” or “to disappear.” Perhaps the Babylonians were not particularly proud of a name that reminded them of the inglorious climax of earlier plans for the city, and so invented an explanation that made it appear to be a compound of the names bab, “port,” and ilu, “god” (see on ch. 10:10).

Most modern commentators explain the story of the building of the tower and the subsequent confusion of tongues either as an outright legend or as a gross exaggeration of some tragedy that occurred during the construction of Babylon’s historical temple tower, called a ziggurat. Contrary to what many popular works on Biblical archeology have stated, archeologists have found no evidence that the Tower of Babel ever existed. The very fragmentary tablet K3657 of the British Museum, which has frequently been quoted as referring to the story of the building of the Tower of Babel and the confusion of tongues, actually makes no references at all to this event, as subsequent studies and a better understanding of this text have shown. One who believes only those Bible stories that are corroborated by outside evidence will refuse to believe the story of Gen. 11. However, he who believes the Bible to be the inspired word of God will accept this narrative, along with all other Bible narratives, as authentic.

The passion of Mesopotamian peoples for building lofty towers did not cease with the first unsuccessful attempt to erect one that would “reach unto heaven.” Throughout antiquity they continued building temple towers, or ziggurats. Several such ruins are still standing. The best preserved one is at Ur, Abraham’s early home.

The exact location of the original tower is unknown. Probably the later temple tower of Babylon replaced it. An old Jewish tradition, probably based mistakenly on a 7th-century ruin, located the Tower of Babel at Borsippa, a city 9 mi. southwest of Babylon. An imposing ruin 156 feet high is all that remains of an ancient tower in Borsippa which once consisted of seven steps surmounted by a temple. Inscriptions by Nebuchadnezzar found under the foundations of the building state that he completed the building of this tower, the erection of which a former king had begun. The Jewish historian Josephus attributes the tower to Nimrod, a tradition that has been perpetuated by the local population in their name for it, Birs-Nimrud. Like all Babylonian edifices, this tower was built of brick and bitumen, and the ruins show the marks of numerous bolts of lightning which struck it in ages past. This application of heat has welded the uppermost bricks and asphalt together in a solid mass. Travelers have for centuries described the effects of heavenly fire upon the tower, usually with reference to the events described in Gen. 11.

It should not be forgotten, however, that the tower of Borsippa was not built earlier than the 7th century B.C., by Ashurbanipal and Nebuchadnezzar. Whatever the location of the first Tower of Babel may have been, all traces of the original structure have vanished.

It is more probable that the ancient Tower of Babel was on the site of the temple tower of the city of Babylon, which once stood in the Marduk temple area on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. Babylonian traditions claimed that its foundation had been laid in very early times. Several kings restored the tower during the course of its history, Nebuchadnezzar being the last to do so. This tower is described in detail by the Greek historian Herodotus, and also by a Babylonian cuneiform text, as having had 7 steps and a total height of 250 ft. The Persian king Xerxes destroyed it completely, along with the city of Babylon, in 478 B.C. Planning to rebuild the tower, Alexander the Great had the debris cleared away, but he died before his plan could be carried out. Nothing whatever remains of the highest and most famous temple tower of ancient Mesopotamia, save the foundation stones and the lowest steps of its old stairway. The fact that since Xerxes’ time nothing could be seen of this tower, whereas the one in neighboring Borsippa remained standing, may be the reason that Jews and Christians alike connected the story of Gen. 11 with the ruins of Borsippa.