The Bible, after the story of creation, tells of a tower built in Babylonia that reached to heaven to defy God. Incurring divine fury, the tower was destroyed, and humankind, which until then only spoke one language, was now made to speak many different languages to prevent future rebellion against God.

Ancient Asiatic land lying between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, today southern Iraq, Babylonia was the cradle of ancient civilization and the seat of empires, occupying an important place in Jewish history. Ur, the capital of the Sumerian Empire