The expression Babylonian pandemonium means. Tower of Babel. Babel. Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
Pandemonium of Babel is a huge group of citizens who have gathered in one place and are engaged in some noisy, stormy activity. This expression first mentioned in the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis (11:1-9). It tells that at first all people on Earth had one common language. One day they became so proud that they wanted to build tall building that would reach the sky. God perceived such construction extremely negatively. He decided that people decided to equal him in power and therefore he punished them. Each group of builders of the Tower of Babel was given different languages. At first, people tried to communicate with each other using signs, but then they abandoned construction, because it is impossible to build when no one understands each other.“And throughout the whole earth there was one language and few words.
- And it happened: moving from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar, and settled there.
- And they said to each other: let's make bricks and burn them with fire. And they had bricks instead of stones, and they had mountain tar instead of clay.
“And they said: Let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its head reaching to heaven, and make a name for ourselves, so that we are not scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
- And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.
- And the Lord said: after all, the people are one and they all have one language; and they began to do this; and now will not everything that they plan to do be unattainable for them?
“Let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they do not understand each other’s speech.”
- And the Lord scattered them from there throughout the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
“Therefore its name was called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of all the earth.”
Pandemonium of Babel synonyms of phraseology
Passage yard;Light show;
Mess;
Madhouse;
Mess;
Researchers suggest that the myth about the construction of a huge tower reaching to the sky and the subsequent confrontation with the gods was inspired by large-scale construction in Babylon. More precisely, in this city everything was imbued with a certain gigantism; great structures were erected everywhere. These were a kind of step pyramids. Now they are called ziggurat. The most famous of them was located in the capital itself. Her appearance and many descriptions have come down to our times thanks to the many clay tablets found in that area. It is believed that the height of the main ziggurat of Babylon was about 85-90 meters, which corresponds to approximately a 60-story modern residential tower.
Some historians believe that the myth of the Tower of Babel does not accurately convey the events that took place. Most likely, the task of the designers and builders of such a skyscraper was not to compete with the gods. Most likely, the memory of the previous severe flood (flood) was very fresh in people’s memory and they built this structure to wait out the violence of the water element. And God punished the human race not for ambition, but for the fact that people violated the divine covenants, which were conveyed to the pious Noah just before the flood: “multiply and be fruitful and let your descendants fill the earth.”
Use of sayings in literature
“At the station there is always a real Babylonian pandemonium, where there are long counters with goods, greedy guardians of order, strange old women with various junk, some corpses behind the stalls.” (“To the Blue Dragonflies of Babylon” by E. V. Khaetskaya)
“In the journalistic bureau there was a real Babylonian pandemonium - whole hosts of venerable journalistic brethren fought all against all for best places at the meeting" ("Notes on the Revolution" N. N. Sukhanov)
Babylonian pandemonium educational program
Story from the Torah
The story of the construction of the tower and the subsequent punishment is contained in the book of Genesis (11:1-9).
According to the previous biblical account, all humanity after the flood descended from the common progenitor Noah, and the entire human race at first spoke the same language. People settled in the Shinar Valley, where they decided to build “a city and a tower high to heaven.” God was angry with people for this arrogant intention and frustrated their plans by “mixing” their language so that one did not understand the speech of the other, and scattered them throughout the entire earth.
(1) And in all the earth there was one language and few words.
(2) And it happened: moving from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar, and settled there.
(3) And they said to one another, “Let us make bricks and burn them with fire.” And they had bricks instead of stones, and they had mountain tar instead of clay.
(4) And they said, Let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its head reaching to heaven, and make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.
(5) And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men were building.
(6) And the Lord said: Surely the people are one, and they all have one language; and they began to do this; and now will not everything that they plan to do be unattainable for them?
(7) Let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand each other’s speech.
(8) And the Lord scattered them from there throughout all the earth; and they stopped building the city.
(9) Therefore its name was called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of all the earth.
Historical information
According to modern scientists, the biblical tale of the Babylonian Pandemonium was inspired by the high stepped multi-tiered temple towers (ziggurats) that were erected in ancient Mesopotamia and sometimes reached very impressive sizes.
The ziggurat was always built with a core of mud brick and the outside was covered with baked brick. It did not have any internal cameras. Its base was usually square or rectangular shape, on average 40 × 50 meters. Not a single ziggurat has been completely preserved. The best preserved ziggurat is from Ur.
Reconstruction of the Tower of Babel from the book Hansjörg Schmid, Der Tempelturm Etemenanki in Babylon (1995 Mainz)
Stage- 185 meters is the height of a modern 60-story skyscraper.
Apparently, the person who wrote down section 11 of Bereishit was well acquainted with construction technology. He emphasizes the features of the Mesopotamian method: bricks and bitumen instead of stones and clay used in Canaan.
The Babylonians believed that the ziggurat was built by the gods. Thus, the statement in Genesis 11:5 "...that the sons of men have built" can be understood as a polemic against this belief. This tower, which was the object of such pride among the Babylonians, was the product exclusively human activity, which could be quickly and easily destroyed in accordance with the Divine Will. Indeed, it is likely that the sight of the ruins of the ziggurat (which was destroyed in the mid-16th century BC with the destruction of Babylon by the Hittites) inspired the narrative of the Tower of Babel.
Parallels to the biblical tale in ancient Sumerian texts
Commentaries by modern religious authorities
The story of the Tower of Babel in art
Bible story The Tower of Babel appears repeatedly in medieval and Renaissance literature, seen as a historical incident with strong moral overtones. For example, the “Chronicon” of Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636), the “Weltchronik” of Rudolf von Ems (1200-1254), “Speculum humanae salvationis” (Mirror of Human Salvation) - a Dominican manual (c. 1324), which was often rewritten. Giovanni Boccaccio wrote on this topic in De cacibus virorum illustrum (On Extraordinary Occasions, 1355-60), and an unknown poet from. 15th century artists who used this theme were the Frenchman Jean Fouquet and the Italian Benozzo Gozzoli, who painted a fresco in Campo Santo, Pisa (later destroyed).
The tower was of considerable interest to early Flemish painters. It was customary to depict it either as a multi-story structure, decreasing in size as it grew, or, more often, as a square or round building surrounded by forests. Some artists depicted contemporary construction methods; perfect example this in the Book of Hours of the Duke of Bedford (Paris, p. 1423), where the construction of the tower takes place at night under the stars. In Pieter Bruegel's The Tower of Babel (1563), the building - slightly lopsided - is shown in a vast landscape near the banks of a river, with the king arriving to inspect the progress of the work.
Although the story of the Tower of Babel may seem tempting to composers, confusion of languages can be expressed most effectively in music, in fact, very few works have been written on this topic. These are mostly oratorios, including Cesar Franck's The Tower of Babel (1865) and Anton Rubinstein's decidedly unsuccessful The Tower of Babel (1858, adapted into an opera in 1872). Two 20th-century works are René Barbier's The Tower of Babel (1932) and Igor Stravinsky's Babel, a cantata for narrator, male choir and orchestra (1944, published 1952).
The waters of the flood renewed the face of the earth, but did not change the fallen nature of man. The inclination towards sin remains. Already four generations after the flood (under Peleg, the son of Eber), an event occurred that had great consequences in the history of mankind. We are talking about an attempt to build a tower in the Valley of Shinar sky high(Genesis 11:4), which was called Babylonian. The builders of the tower had two motives, both sinful. First: let's make a name for ourselves(Genesis 11:4), that is, we will become glorified. This desire was caused pride and popularity. These are the very vices that led to the death of antediluvian humanity. The second motive was also ungodly. The builders said: let's build a city and a tower and make a name for ourselves before we are scattered over the face of the whole earth(Genesis 11:4). This showed clear opposition to the will of God, who said: be fruitful and multiply and spread throughout the earth(Genesis 9, 7). In the Holy Scriptures, builders are called sons of men (see: Gen. 11:5). Previously, the descendants of Cain were named this way. In the event described, this expression is applied to the descendants of Ham. Ham was the son of Noah, but he committed a grave sin - he laughed at his father in an extremely disrespectful manner.
Although the initiative came from the Hamites, probably the entire then small human race participated in the attempt to realize this proud and crazy idea, because the punishment (confusion of languages) affected everyone. The Lord said: Let us go down and confuse their language there, so that one does not understand the speech of the other.(Genesis 11:7). Plural form of verbs (soyd I eat and mix I eat) indicates the interview of all the Persons of the Divine Trinity.
What should be understood by the expression mixing languages? Origen, a Christian writer of the early 3rd century, believed that the Guardian Angels gave each people their own language and they ceased to understand each other. The exception concerned only the Jewish people, who, being the lot of God Himself, preserved the language, given by the Lord also to Adam. This opinion was shared St. Augustine: the Hebrew language was the language of Adam, while the rest of the peoples received new ones as a result of mixing.
God scattered the people throughout the earth, and they stopped building the tower. The city was named Babylon, which means - mixing. This event is not only attested in the inspired Scripture, but was also refracted in a unique way and imprinted in the historical memory of the pagan people. Assyrologian George Smith deciphered and published the Chaldean text in 1876, which tells: “Babylon turned criminally to evil and began to build a great tower. Small and great began to work.<...>But at night the god Anu completely stopped their work. In his anger, he also poured out before the gods his secret advice to scatter them everywhere and turn his face against them; gave the command to make their language alien and to prevent their work” (quoted from: Lopukhin A.P. Biblical history of the Old Testament. Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. 1998. T. 1. P. 219).
In Christian literature The Tower of Babel has become a symbol of theomachism. The city of Babylon, which grew up on the site of the construction of the tower, in the Revelation of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, as a symbol of a corrupt and ungodly world, is contrasted with the prototype of the Holy Church - heavenly Jerusalem.
In the confusion of languages one can see the good care of God's Providence for people. If the human race were united under the rule of one king, which would probably have been Cush’s son Nimrod, a “cruel and proud” man (as St. John Chrysostom writes), then everyone would be under heavy oppression.
The main reason for the confusion of languages was to preserve and not disappear in the emerging paganism true knowledge of God. Confirmation of this idea can be found in the fact that the author of the book of Genesis, the prophet Moses, immediately after the story of the dispersion of the nations, talks about the pious Abraham, who retained faith in the True God.
Lfine arts[ | ]
The story of the Tower of Babel is widespread in Christian iconography - in numerous miniatures, handwritten and printed editions of the Bible (for example, in a miniature of an English manuscript of the 11th century); as well as in mosaics and frescoes of cathedrals and churches (for example, the mosaic of the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice, late XII - early XIII century).
In European painting, the most famous painting on this subject is Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s “Babylonian Pandemonium” (1563). A more stylized geometric structure was depicted by M. Escher in a 1928 engraving.
Literature [ | ]
The plot of the Tower of Babel has received wide interpretation in European literature:
- Franz Kafka wrote a parable on this topic, “The Coat of Arms of the City” (City Emblem).
- Thomas Mann, tetralogy novel Joseph and His Brothers.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, novel "The Brothers Karamazov".
- Andrey Platonov, story “The Pit”.
- Clive Lewis, novel "The Vile Power".
- Victor Pelevin, novel “Generation P”.
- Neal Stephenson in his novel Avalanche gives an interesting version of the construction and significance of the Tower of Babel.
- Alexander Rudazov, novel “The Gray Plague”.
- Ted Chiang, story "The Tower of Babel".
- Francis Scott Fitzgerald, story "Babylon Again".
Music [ | ]
- Oratorio "The Tower of Babel" by Anton Rubinstein (English)Russian
- Parable by Igor Stravinsky for orchestra and reader “Bable”
- In 1975, Elton John released the album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" with the song Tower of Babel.
- Based on the plot of the Tower of Babel, a vocal opera was built - an improvisation by Bobby McFerrin “Bobble” (2008).
- In 1993, the punk band Bad Religion released the album "Recipe for Hate" with the song "Skyscraper": "...Well madness reigned and paradise drowned when Babel's walls came crashing down..."
- In 1994, Alexander Malinin wrote the song “Oh, Babylon”: “...But they began - miracle of miracles - we are building a tower to heaven...”
- In 1997, the group “Aquarium” released the disc “Hyperborea”, which contains the song “Tower of Babel”.
- In 2003, the Kipelov group released a single - Babylon.
- In 2006, Spanish singer David Bisbal released the album "Premonición" with the song "Torre De Babel" ("Tower of Babel").
- In 2015, Russian rap artist Oxxxymiron released the album “Gorgorod
- In 2017, the Russian group 25/17 released the album "Eva Goes to Babylon", the cover of which depicts the Tower of Babel.
Theater [ | ]
- American choreographer Adam Darius staged a multilingual theatrical production of the Tower of Babel story in 1993. Institute of Contemporary Arts(London).
- On September 18, 2016, Ukrainian theater director Vladislav Troitsky presented the opera-circus Babylon on the Gogolfest stage.
Catchphrases[ | ]
Video games [ | ]
- Based on the story of the Tower of Babel, it was created computer game“Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones”, where the main character has to climb up the Tower of Babel to end the tyranny of the Vizier.
- The Tower of Babel appears in the game Serious Sam: The Second Encounter.
- In the first part of the game “Painkiller” there is a Babel level, during which you need to climb to the top high tower, while fighting monsters.
- In the game “Babel Rising”, you need, in the role of God, to prevent the construction of the Tower of Babel, causing suffering to people in the form of lightning, earthquakes or floods.
- In the game Lineage 2, the story about the Tower of Babel served as a prototype for the Tower of Insolence location.
- In some Civilization games, the Tower of Babel is presented as one of the wonders of the world.
- In the game “Final Fantasy IV” and “Final Fantasy IV: The After Years” it is one of the locations. Used to communicate with the moon. At the top of the tower there is a room with crystals for summoning the Babylonian Giant.
- In Agony (game, 2018), the Tower of Babel is a portal between the underworld and the real world.
The origin of the phraseological unit is due to Old Testament, more precisely, the book of Genesis (11:1-9), which tells how people who first spoke the same language decided to build a tower to heaven. God did not like this idea, as he saw in it a manifestation of pride. And as punishment for her, he confused the languages of the builders so that they could not agree among themselves.
- “And throughout the whole earth there was one language and few words.
- And it happened: moving from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar, and settled there.
- And they said to each other: Let us make bricks and burn them with fire. And they had bricks instead of stones, and they had mountain tar instead of clay.
- And they said: Let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its head reaching to heaven, and make a name for ourselves, so that we are not scattered over the face of all the earth.
- And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men were building.
- And the Lord said: after all, the people are one and they all have one language; and they began to do this; and now will not everything that they plan to do be unattainable for them?
- Let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand each other’s speech.
- And the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth; and they stopped building the city.
- Therefore its name was called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of all the earth.”
Synonyms of the expression “Babylonian Pandemonium”
- Mess
- Mess
- Light show
- Bedlam
- Passage yard
- Madhouse
Some commentators on the history of the Tower of Babel argue that the builders did not intend to reach the sky and thereby shake the authority of God. They feared a repeat of the Flood and hoped to wait it out on higher ground. And God punished people not for showing arrogance and ambition, but for insulting the divine covenant to people, given to them by Noah before the Flood: “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”
