Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

BABEL

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 91 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

BABEL , the native name of the See also:

city called See also:Babylon (q.v.) by the Greeks, the See also:modern See also:Hillah. It means "See also:gate of the See also:god," not"gate of the gods," corresponding to the See also:Assyrian Bab-See also:ili. According to Gen. xi, 1-9 (J), mankind, after the See also:deluge, travelled from the See also:mountain of the See also:East, where the See also:ark had rested, and settled in Shinar. Here they attempted to build a city and a See also:tower whose See also:top might reach unto See also:heaven, but were miraculously prevented by their See also:language being confounded. In this way the diversity of human speech and the See also:dispersion of mankind were accounted for; and in Gen. xi. 9 (J) an See also:etymology was found for the name of Babylon in the See also:Hebrew verb halal, " to confuse or confound," Babel being regarded as a contraction of Balbel. In Gen. x. 10 it is said to have formed See also:part of the See also:kingdom of See also:Nimrod. The origin of the See also:story has not been found in Babylonia. The tower was no doubt suggested by one of the See also:temple towers of Babylon. W. A.

Bennet (See also:

Genesis, p. 169; cf. Hommel in See also:Hastings' See also:Dictionary of the See also:Bible) suggests E-Saggila, the See also:great temple of Merodach (See also:Marduk). The variety of See also:languages and the dispersion of mankind were regarded as a curse, and it is probable that, as Prof. See also:Cheyne (See also:Encyclopaedia Biblica, See also:col. 411) says, there was an See also:ancient See also:North Semitic myth to explain it. The event was afterwards localized in Babylon. The myth, as it appears in Genesis, is quite polytheistic and anthropomorphic. According to See also:Cornelius See also:Alexander (frag. 1o) and Abydenus (frags. 5 and 6) the tower was overthrown by the winds; according to Yaqut (i. 448 f.) and the Lisan el-'Arab (xiii.

72) mankind were swept together by winds into the See also:

plain afterwards called " Babil," and were scattered again in the same way (see further D. B. See also:Macdonald in the Jewish Encyclopaedia). A tradition similar to that of the tower of Babel is found in Central See also:America. Xelhua, one of the seven giants rescued from the deluge, built the great See also:pyramid of See also:Cholula in See also:order to See also:storm heaven. The gods, how-ever, destroyed it with See also:fire and confounded the language of the builders. Traces of a somewhat similar story have also been met with among the Mongolian Tharus in See also:northern See also:India (See also:Report of the See also:Census of See also:Bengal, 1872, p. 16o), and, according to Dr See also:Livingstone, among the Africans of See also:Lake See also:Ngami. The Esthonian myth of " the Cooking of Languages " (See also:Kohl, Reisen in See also:die .Ostseeprovinzen, ii. 251-255) may also be compared, as well as the Australian See also:legend of the origin of the diversity of speech (See also:Gerstacker, Reisen, vol. iv. pp. 381 seq.). BAB-EL-MANDEB (Arab. for" The Gate of Tears "), the strait between See also:Arabia and See also:Africa which connects the Red See also:Sea (q.v.) with the See also:Indian Ocean.

It derives its name from the dangers attending its See also:

navigation, or, according to an Arabic legend, from the See also:numbers who were drowned by the See also:earthquake which separated See also:Asia and Africa. The distance across is about 20 M. from See also:Ras Menheli on the Arabian See also:coast to Ras Siyan on the See also:African. The See also:island of See also:Perim (q.v.), a See also:British See also:possession, divides the strait into two channels, of which the eastern, known as the Bab Iskender (Alexander's Strait), is 2 M. wide and 16 fathoms deep, while the western, or Dact-el-Mayun, has a width of about 16 m. and a See also:depth of 170 fathoms. Near the African coast lies a See also:group of smaller islands known as the " Seven See also:Brothers." There is a See also:surface current inwards in the eastern channel, but a strong under-current outwards in the western channel.

End of Article: BABEL

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
BABBAGE, CHARLES (1792—1871) 		[next]
BABENBERG

Site © 2006 - Net Industries