Ancient site · Other
Tower of Babel (legend)
In chapter 11 of the Book of Genesis, people who all speak one language build a city and a tower reaching to the sky in the land of Shinar (southern Mesopotamia), and God scatters them by confusing their speech. It is an origin story for the world's many languages, not a historical record.
Because the Hebrew name Babel means Babylon, modern scholars most often link the tale to the city's huge ziggurat, Etemenanki. The marker is placed there only to show that link.
- Dates
- Legend; no date can be given
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 32.54° N, 44.42° E
How we know
Not proven: no archaeological evidence has been found for the tower of the Genesis story; many scholars think Babylon's real Etemenanki ziggurat may have inspired it, but that link is a hypothesis.
Nearby sites
- Etemenanki, the ziggurat of Babylon origins perhaps 18th century BCE; rebuilt 7th–6th century BCE; demolished 323 BCE
- Babylon c. 2300 BCE – c. 1000 CE; first mentioned c. 2200 BCE
- Uruk (Eanna and the White Temple) c. 5000 BCE – c. 700 CE; Eanna and White Temple c. 3500–3100 BCE
- Ur (ziggurat and Royal Cemetery) c. 3800–500 BCE; Royal Cemetery c. 2600 BCE; ziggurat 21st century BCE
- Eridu c. 5400–600 BCE
- Jarmo c. 7090–4950 BCE