Babel, Babylon

The capital of Babylonia.

Babel was founded by Nimrod and was one of the oldest cities in the land of Mesopotamia, or Shinar (Gen. 10:8–10). The Lord confounded the language at the time the people were building the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1–9; Ether 1:3–5, 33–35). Babylon later became Nebuchadnezzar’s capital. He built an enormous city of which the ruins still remain. Babylon became a very wicked city and has since come to symbolize the wickedness of the world.