The Tower of Babel
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(confusion) (Gen. 11:4–9) — was built by the descendants of Noah in the valley of Shinar. The tribe of Ham, out of fear of the dispersion and servitude threatening it (Gen. 9:25, 27), resolved to hinder the fulfillment of the Divine decree and, in alliance with other tribes, began to build a great city in the valley of Shinar, and by it a high tower, which might serve as a center for all the tribes and at the same time a token of their equality. For want of stone in the valley of Shinar, the builders made and fired bricks of clay, and used bitumen instead of lime for mortar.
The Lord confused their language, so that, being unable to understand one another, they were compelled to abandon their mad undertaking and disperse into various lands, from which came the various nations speaking various languages. The city was named Babylon, that is, “confusion.” The height and extent of the tower, according to the earliest drawings that have come down to us, were truly enormous. Chronologists calculate that the descendants of Noah must have spent three years merely gathering the materials, and no less than twenty-two years on the building of the tower itself.
According to one ancient tradition, the bricks, or, more accurately, slabs used for building the tower, each measured 20 English feet in length, 15 in width, and 7 in thickness.