The story of the Tower of Babel is recorded in Genesis, as well as the ancient legends and myths of many tribes and nations around the world. In this chapter we will examine the ancient witnesses to the Tower of Babel, the political ideology behind the project, and the very human story of Naamah, the woman who was the spiritual force behind it, and whose sons were the architects of Babel.
Through the writings of Eusebius, this fragment of Eupolemus preserved the Babylonian legend of Babel: (Cory’s Fragments)
"The City of Babylon owes its foundation to those who were saved from the catastrophe of the Flood; these were the giants, and they built the tower which is noticed in history. But the tower being overthrown by the interposition of god, the giants were scattered over the earth.”
The Greek tradition of the Sibylline Oracles agrees:
"But when the Judgements of Almighty God
Were ripe for execution; when the tower
Rose to the skies upon Assyria's plain,
And all mankind one language only knew:
A dread commission from on high was given
To the fell whirlwinds, which with dire alarms
Beat on the tower, and to its lowest base
Shook it convulsed. And now all conversation,
By some occult and overruling power,
Ceased among men. By utterance they strove,
Perplexed and anxious, to disclose their mind,
But their lip failed them; and in lieu of words
Produced a painful babbling sound: the place
Was thence called Babel; by the apostate crew
Named from the event. Then severed, far away
They sped, uncertain, into realms unknown:
Thus kingdoms rose, and the glad world was filled."
