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Tower of Babel

Ancient name
Babylon
Modern country
Iraq
The Tower of Babel (the story of which is given in the Book of Genesis) is often given its own image in La sfera, either as a complete Tower, a tower under construction, or in ruins. Each tower is labeled as either the Tower of Babel or the Tower of Nimrod in a riotous variety of possible spellings, including Babel, Mabel, Bobello, Mobello, Nembrot, and Nebrotto. Although the Bible does not explicitly state that Nimrod initiated the construction of the tower, his reputation as a ruler in ancient Mesopotamia and his connection to Babel/Babylon/Babylonia led to his association with it in both Jewish and Christian traditions. Separately from this depiction, the Tower of Babel also sometimes appears as the icon for the city of Babylon on the Sfera maps. 
Coordinates
32.54, 44.42
This toponym does not appear in the poem, only on the maps accompanying it.
Map of the location P185

Variant spellings of Tower of Babel in Sfera manuscripts

Variant Manuscripts
babilonia Con4
to[...] Par1
TORE DI BABELLO Pal5
TORE DI NEBROTO Med3
tore dibabello Pal8
Tore dimabel Tre
TORE DINEBROTO Ashb3
TORRE BAb[el] Ricc1
Torre babel Magl2, Parm2
TORRE BABEL Laur3, Per2
Torre de nenbroth NB
Torre di babel NYPL1, Ricc8
TORRE DI BABEL Asf
TORRE DI BABELLO Marc1, NYPL2
torre di babello Bal, Fn12, Ricc15
Torre di nebroth Med1
torre di nebroto Fn3
Torre di nebrotte Ashb2
Torre di Nebrotth Pad1
TORRE DI NEBROTTO Wie1
TORRE DIBABEL Con1, Cors2, Ricc12
torre diBabel Yale4
Torre dibabello Con3
Torre Dibabello MB
torre dibabello Laur5
Torre dimabel Marc2
Torre dinebrocto NYPL3
Torre dinebroth Luc2
torre libani Pnc3
Torre mabel Morg
torre Nebrot Pnc3
Turris babel Clas2
TURRIS BABEL Par3
Suggested citation
Beneš, Carrie. “Tower of Babel.” Gregorio Dati’s La sfera = The Globe: A Digital Edition, May 3, 2026. https://la-sfera-staging-a8db029690a6.herokuapp.com/toponyms/tower-of-babel/.