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The Tower of Babel

Proud people build a large tower.
Contributed by Lars-Goran Ronnberg
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, Portuguese, German
1
After Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives left the ark on Mount Ararat, they wandered east. – Slide 1
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They came to a large plain called Shinar, which lies between the great rivers Euphrates and Tigris. God had said that they should spread out over the whole earth, but the people decided it was better to stay together in the same place instead. – Slide 2
3
Noah’s sons were called Shem, Ham and Japheth and they now had many children together with their wives. Everyone was very happy for each new human that was born. – Slide 3
4
The people quickly numbered several thousand and a great-grandson of Noah named Nimrod decided to build a large city on the plain of Shinar. – Slide 4
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The people of this new city wanted to make it so attractive that no-one would want to leave. – Slide 5
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Full of pride, they decided to build a very tall tower in their city to show how powerful, talented and famous they were. – Slide 6
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Everyone thought it was an excellent idea and the tower would be the tallest in the world reaching all the way to heaven. – Slide 7
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In the plain of Shinar there were not many stones, so clay was baked into bricks to build the tower. – Slide 8
9
They put earth inside the tower walls so that the tower would not collapse. The foundation was about 90x90 meters (according to the remains archaeologists have found in the area.) – Slide 9
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The tower grew taller every day. It was hard work but everyone talked together and made great plans. – Slide 10
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A long and high sets of steps were built to help the workers make the tower higher and higher. – Slide 11
12
Earth pitch was used to fix the bricks. It is a kind of asphalt that was heated and then easily smeared. When the pitch cooled, it solidified and the bricks stuck tightly together. – Slide 12
13
God watched what these proud people were doing and how they no longer wanted to obey Him. Until now everyone spoke the same language. So God made them speak in new languages. – Slide 13
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One man started speaking in a new language and his workmate thought it was very funny and strange. – Slide 14
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Then, he started speaking in a new language which made his friend puzzled and confused. – Slide 15
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Both men looked baffled and could not understand what each other was saying. – Slide 16
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They were even more confused when another man arrived who spoke a third new language. Everyone was shocked at all the strange new babbling sounds everyone was making. – Slide 17
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Work on the tower stopped as they could not understand each other or work together. – Slide 18
19
Inside the city, all families spoke their own new language but could not understand what others were saying. How could they live with these other families they could not understand? – Slide 19
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There were perhaps 70 different languages that were being spoken. Those who spoke the same language got together and started moving out of the city to find new places to live. For example, many of Ham's relatives migrated to Africa. So the people eventually spread out over the whole earth. – Slide 20
21
The city was given the name ‘Babel’ which sounds like the Hebrew word for ‘confused’. After many years, the tower collapsed. A later king named Nebuchadnezzar tried to rebuild the tower but it was then completely demolished. – Slide 21
22
Noah and his family received a promise from God when they left the ark that He will never again flood the earth with water. As proof, God created the rainbow. God always keeps what He promises. God has given us many promises that we can read about in the Bible. – Slide 22
23
Here is an aerial view in Iraq that could be the remains of the foundation of the Tower of Babel. <br/>According to many linguists, there are about 100 basic languages that have no similarities with each other, which shows how confusing things must been in the city of Babel. – Slide 23
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