Several descriptions of the state of this famous tower in later times, may be found in the Anc. Un. Hist. vol. i. p. 334. A traveller, who saw it not many years ago, describes it in these words: " Four • gentlemen of our party and myself went to view the tower of Nimrod. After travelling through exceeding ly high reeds and rushes, and a very dangerous road, in about two hours we came to the tower, which is built on an eminence, and a base of about 100 cubits diameter. It appears almost like a mass of earth, being erected of bricks dried by the sun, amazingly thick, and betwixt every three or four feet there is a layer of reeds ; its height is at least 160 feet, but we found no remains either of a door or stairs. The only curiosity, which struck us, was the astonishing freshness of the reeds, which seemed as if put in but a very few years ago, though, by the best accounts we could find, it has been built upwards of 4000 years." Journey from Bassorn to Bagdad bya Gentleman•in 1779, Various haveheen the conjectures respecting the rea son which induced the whole human race to unite, as one man, in this great enterprise. Some have supposed, that their design was to raise a tower so high as to enable them to climb up into heaven ; a strange opi nion, founded upon a literal interpretation of these words in Scripture, " Let us build a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven ;" an ex pression evidently intended to signify no more than that its height was to be uncommonly great. Simi lar expressions are to be found in Deut. i. 23. and ix. 1. where the cities of the heathen' nations, who • inhabited the land of Canaan, are described as "great, and walled or fenced up to heaven." Nor was it un common for the Greek poets to use the expressions, " high as heaven," or " reaching to the sun," when they wished to describe things of an extraordinary height. Josephus, and some others, have thought that it must have been designed to preserve them from a second deluge, which they greatly dreaded : but, had that been the case, they would have be taken themselves to the mountains, and not made choice of the low country, for building a place of security. A third opinion is, that, as the tower was in the form of a pyramid, to the figure of which the flame of fire bears a resemblance, it was a monument designed in honour of the sun, to whose influence they ascribed the drying up of the flood. But there
is no foundation in Scripture for that conjecture, and the date of that species of idolatry was probably not so early as it supposes. The reason assigned in Scripture is, " Let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." The most probable conjecture, therefore, seems to be, that, as they were now in a vast plain, undefined by buildings, or roads, or any distinct boundaries ; and as they must soon separate to attend to their flocks, or go in quest of provisions • or, perhaps, dreading a dispersion, in consequence of Noah's projected divi sion of the earth among his posterity ;—they built this tower, as a pharos, or landmark, to enable them to find their way back to the surrounding city; which, with its immense tower, they believed would be a lasting monument of their fame, and transmit their name with honour to posterity. In that view, their design had been-to make the whole world one kingdom, and Babel its metropolis..
This interpretation also to account for the reason of the divine frustration of their great design, and of their consequent dispersion. It is given in these words, " Behold the people is one, and they have all one language, and this they begin to do, and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do," that is, not as some have ex plained the words, if this scheme shall succeed, the • divine plan for the government of the world• will be frustrated ; but, as the words more naturally signify, this their first attempt, and if they succeed in it, they will think themselves able•for.any undertaking, —no enterprise will appear too great for them. Ac cordingly, the very_ dispersion which they dreaded, they brought upon themselves, by their vain attempt to avoid it. " The name of it was called Babel, be cause the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth, and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." See Anc. Un. History, vol. 1. Stackhouse's • Hist. of Bible, vol. 1. Shuckford's Connection, vol. 1. (A. F.)