tower of babel (mythical)

The mythical Tower of Babel originates from the Book of Genesis in the Bible.  According to legend, after the Great Flood, all the people of the earth continued to speak one language.  At some point the society decided to build an edifice to reach to the heavens:  to venerate the power of man and to be dedicated to his glory, not God’s. God, realizing man’s goal, came down from the heavens to confuse and scatter all peoples across the globe.  In doing so new languages were created.  People grouped and moved on according to their shared linguistics.

While there are several different theories as to the true location of tower, most experts agree it would have been in the form of early Egyptian stepped pyramids or the Ziggurat of Ur, with sloped steps rising to the each level.  The four corners pointed to the signs of the compass and each level was painted with a different story or history.  Based on those illustrations, the Tower of Babel can be seen as both the precursor to the idea of a library as well as the cause for later libraries.  As the first major edifice for the post-Flood society, it can be seen as a symbol of their triumphs and values as well as a method of preservation for the accumulated knowledge of the times, for future generations.  By imbuing the tower with man’s achievements and power, it can be seen as a marker for society, a store or collection of knowledge viewable to all.

The Bible attributes separate societies and languages to the cessation of the Tower of Babel by God’s hand.  Following this myth, as each society grew, they would eventually need a way to record and protect their unique histories as well as any symbols of their power, or items of cultural pride.  While these originally may have taken a common form in engravings or paintings on structures, they eventually required a more compact and protected modal.  At varying points in history, most societies formed storehouses, or chambers for protecting their documents.  Eventually these storage facilities transformed to larger more logically organized collections.  As they continued to expand, and the need for identification and access grew, spaces for  study and inspection were expanded, eventually forming libraries not so dissimilar to what we have today.  By building a tower dedicated to recording man’s achievements, the post-Flood culture can be seen as the founders of the modern library, and the Tower of Babel, the first public repository of knowledge.

Ziggurat ruin at one of the presumed Babylonian locations

Artist depiction of the Tower of Babel construction.

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Catholic Encyclopedia Entry  http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15005b.htm

Genesis Legend   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesis#Tower_of_Babel