Tower of Babel: Difference between revisions

{{tropeUseful Notes}}

The '''Tower of Babel''' (Hebrew: מגדל בבל‎ Migdal Bavel Arabic: برج بابل‎ Burj Babil), according to the [[Book of Genesis|Genesis 11:5-8]], was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar, a tower so tall it offended God.

According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where they resolved to build a city with a tower "with its top in the heavens...lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the Earth.". God came down to see what they did and said: "They are one people and have one language, and nothing will be withholden from them which they purpose to do." So God said, "Come, let us go down and confound their speech." And so God scattered them upon the face of the Earth, and [[Curse of Babel|confused their languages]], and they left off building the city, which was called Babel "because God there confounded the language of all the Earth."(Genesis 11:5This account serves as a [[Just-8)So Story]] for why there are many widespread cultures and languages across the world.

The Tower of Babel has often been associated with known structures, notably the [[w:Etemenanki|Etemenanki]], a ziggurat dedicated to Marduk by Nabopolassar (c. 610 BC). The Great Ziggurat of Babylon base was square (not round), 91 metres (300 ft) in height, but demolished by Alexander the Great before his death in an attempt to rebuild it. A Sumerian story with some similar elements is preserved in Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta.

This page is for allusions and references to the legend;. forFor the trope about ominously imposing skyscrapers in general, see [[The Tower]]. See also [[Curse of Babel]] for the language mix-up and [[Space Elevator]] for the [[Sci Fi]] version. As to whether the successful completion of one will lead to God confounding our tongues ''[[Starfish Language|even more]]'',Related staytropes tuned!include:

* A model of the tower is used by future One Nation Earth agents preparing for the coming one-world order and its [[Religion of Evil]] in the [[Apocalypse (Film)|Apocalypse]] film series movie ''Tribulation''.

== [[Literature ]] ==

* In [[Terry Pratchett (Creator)|Terry Pratchett]]'s science fiction novel ''[[The Dark Side of the Sun (Literature)|The Dark Side of the Sun]]'', set in the distant future, the people have a legend which is a sequel to the Tower of Babel. It tells of how, in the late twentieth century, mankind once again attempted to reach heaven, and God caused them to be unable to communicate with one another by striking them with the curse of Jargon.

* [[C. S. Lewis]] was alluding to this in ''That Hideous Strength'', the third book of the [[Space Trilogy]]. While the bad guys weren't making a big tower, they were planning to go against God's will by perverting science. The title of the novel even comes from Sir David Lindsay's ''Ane Dialog'', describing the original Tower of Babel.

* In the short story ''"[[wikipedia:Tower of Babylon chr(28)storychr(29story)|Tower of Babylon]]''" by Ted Chiang, the tower has been built over generations to well past the moon, with people living on it their entire lives, and everyone a little nervous because God has remained silent on the issue. {{spoiler|They finally hit a ceiling, and the protagonist ascends upward, thinking he's entering heaven... until he emerges from a cave near the base of the tower. Turns out this Earth is actually in a self-contained toroidal universe. He then realizes God had probably been laughing behind their backs the whole time.}}

== [[Live -Action Tv TV]] ==

== [[Tabletop Games ]] ==

* According to the ''[[Demon: The Fallen (Tabletop Game)|Demon: The Fallen]]'' lore, there was never a literal "tower", but the "Time of Babel", when [[Satan|Lucifer]] executed the last-ditch scheme to elevate humanity to godhood. Just when it was so close to success, his own lieutenants ruined it all, and the Rebellion was pretty much done for.

== Video Games [[Theatre]] ==

* ''[[Devil Survivor (Video Game)|Devil Survivor]]'' runs on this , {{spoiler|with Babel being the final boss and the focus of much of the story}}.

* In ''[[Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne]]'', [[Final Dungeon|the Tower of Kagutsuchi]] has some ''damn'' strong vibes of this, as it not only leads to the Avatar of God Almighty himself, but is ''[[Beyond the Impossible|666 floors tall]]''.

* The [[Tower of Babel]] in ''[[Illusion of Gaia]]''. It serves as the final dungeon of the game, as well as being a point of interest and recurring element in the plot. The main character actually joined an expedition (headed by his father alongside the father of one of his friends) that was meant to "discover" and explore the Tower... which ultimately [[It Got Worse|went south]], leaving the protagonist with partial amnesia of the expedition and setting up the events of the game.

* The Tower of Souls from ''[[Actraiser]]ActRaiser 2]]'' seems to be an analogue of the Tower of Babel. Your angelic servant in the game says when speaking of it, "Master, they are devising a preposterous plan. They... they are trying to become masters themselves. They are constructing a tower to try and reach the sky castle."

* The Tower of Babel is the last monument to be built in ''[[Doshin the Giant (Video Game)|Doshin the Giant]]''. Bad stuff happens immediately afterwards.

* [[Space Elevator|The orbital elevator which goes all the way to the moon]], where the last act of ''[[Mega Man X Command Mission (Video Game)|Mega Man X Command Mission]]'' takes place, is named Babel.

* ''[[The Quest of Ki (Video Game)|The Quest of Ki]]'' opens with the backstory of the Babylonian Castle Saga, which implies that [[The Tower of Druaga|Druaga's tower]] was really the Tower of BabylimBabylon. The tower and its 60 floors were originally built in the kingdom of Babylim after it was invaded by the Sumer Empire to harness the power of the Blue Crystal Rod. The tower was destroyed by the god Anu, but Druaga resurrected it.

* ''[[Prince of Persia (Video Game)|Prince of Persia]]'''': The Two Thrones'' takes place in Babylon, with the royal palace built as an immense circular tower, slowly tapering as the tower rises. Considering that there are several wooden gantries with counterweights and ropes around the walls of the palace, it is apparently still in a state of construction, even as big as it is. The parallel with the Tower of Babel is probably intention.

[[Category:The Tower{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:The Tower of Babel]]