Definition of Babel (Tower)

The Bible is a text religious and, at the same time, a cultural reference of the first order. In the Sacred Scriptures we can find the origin of innumerable ideas that we handle today. One of the most famous biblical passages with the most cultural implications is that of the Tower of Babel.

In the holy scriptures

As recounted in the book From Genesis, in the ancient city of Babylon an immense tower was built with which it was intended to reach heaven. God decided to punish the pride of those men and made the decision to confuse their languages ​​so that they could not be understood. Unable to communicate normally, the men abandoned their project and the tower could not be finally built. With this decision, God showed men that no one had more authority that he. This unfinished building was called "babel", which in Hebrew means confusion.

From this failure, human beings dispersed on Earth in different tribes, each with its own language. For this reason, the episode of the Tower of Babel is considered to be a way of explaining the origin of different languages.

According to tradition Judeo-Christian, the biblical episode of the Tower of Babel has a very concrete meaning: God punishes the pride of men when they try to go beyond their possibilities.

When it is meant that in a place it is not possible to communication the expression "Babel Tower". This expression reminds us that the exchange Ideas can lead to all kinds of confusion and conflict. Likewise, the concept of babelia refers to the cultural diversity.

From a historical perspective

Today all kinds of researchers continue to study the biblical passage in which God punished men for their excessive pride. From a strictly historical point of view, this episode must be understood as a consequence of the exile of the Israelites in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of the city of Jerusalem in the year 587 a. C.

Around this time, the Israelites exiled in Babylon came across a tower over 90 meters high and some consider that this building is the authentic foundation that later appears in the story biblical.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the German archaeologist Robert Koldewey found some archaeological remains at Aqar Quf in present-day Iraq, which are considered to be the true Tower of Babel.

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