The Tower of Babel

Mel Rosenberg, 2002© all rights reserved

The Tower of Babel is based on the Biblical account, with some interpretations of my own. I hope that it will be published someday. Here it is, please remember not to reproduce it or use it in any way without Mel's permission.

The Tower of Babel

Part 1

Once upon a time, so we are told, there was a lovely village named Babel. It stood in the middle of a fertile valley called the Valley of Shinar. The villagers of Babel had a good life. The soil was dark and rich. A river of sparkling cool water ran by the town. Fruit trees grew in every corner. Sheep and cattle grazed on thick, green meadows.

In Babel there was a young lad named Gamla. Gamla had ideas. And since it was not often that anyone had an idea, whenever Gamla had an idea, everyone came round to hear about it.

“We have a fine life in this here village”, Gamla began. “We have farm animals to give us meat and cheese, more fruit than we can possibly eat, grape vines to make wine, and fields of grain right down to the river. Our families live in comfortable huts and are protected from the wind and rain. We have a good life.”

“But there are many villages like ours in the valley of Shinar. And I am sure that there are many valleys like ours in other lands. And so I ask you, my fellow villagers, this: what makes the village of Babel special?”

Gamla paused here for a short sip of berry juice. The other villagers had never heard such a question and they needed some time to think it over. Finally, they agreed that there was nothing really special about the village of Babel.

Gamla then went on. “Now, you may ask, why should our village be special at all?”. The villagers nodded their heads in unison. This was just the question they were about to ask. “Well then, I will tell you”, he said. “Many years from now, when we are gone from this earth, who will know that we once lived here? Who shall remember our little village of Babel? Who will write about us in the great history books?”

The villagers agreed that they had never given this much thought. After a few moments of silence, one of the old timers rose to his feet. “Gamla is right” said the town elder. Why should the memory of our village just vanish from the face of the earth? Why on earth should we be forgotten? We must do something that will make us famous forever. We must build something which has never been built before.”

“A wooden bridge across the river”, shouted one villager.

“A new flour mill”, said another.

“A hotel for passers-by” cried out a third.

“A bridge a flour mill and a hotel”, replied Gamla, are all very important things. But many villages in our fertile valley already have long wooden bridges, powerful flour mills and comfortable hotels. There is nothing special about them. No, fellow villagers. We must build something so grand, something so tall, that people all over the valley will be able to see it. We must build a building so amazing that people will come from far-off lands to marvel at it. We must build something so special that scribes will write about it in history books. We must build something so strong that it will last forever.”

Again Gamla paused. There was a great silence. The villagers sat more quietly than they had ever sat, and listened more carefully than they had ever listened.

“Last night, fellow villagers, I had a great dream. I dreamed that we were building a great brick tower, rising right out of the center of our village and stretching higher than the clouds and as high as the stars. I dreamed that I was standing atop this tower, looking downwards towards the earth. And what a sight I saw! Our own village of Babel appeared no larger than an ant. The whole fertile valley of Shinar was a green blanket at my feet. The greatest lakes were no more than puddles, and the rivers wove like blue sewing thread. I could see far beyond the borders of the land of Shinar, to the mountains of the North and the great desert of the South. And when I awoke this morning, fellow villagers I realized that this dream must come true.”

“Fellow villagers, we shall make Babel the most famous village in all the world. We shall build a tower to touch the sky.”

The villagers of Babel had never been so excited. A great holiday was proclaimed in the village, and for seven days and nights the villagers did nothing but feast and dance, sing and drink wine. At the end of the week the plans for the great Tower of Babel were drawn up and the work began.

To continue to Part 2, click here.

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