The whole earth once shared one language and the same words. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They learned to bake bricks in place of stone and used bitumen for mortar.
They decided to build a city and a tower reaching toward the heavens. They wanted to make a name for themselves and prevent their people from being scattered over the earth. Their common language allowed them to organize the work together.
God came down to see the city and tower. He observed that they were one people with one language and that this was only the beginning of what they intended to do. God confused their speech so that they could no longer understand one another.
Unable to cooperate, the people stopped building the city. The place was called Babel, a name associated with the confusion of their language. From there God scattered them across the earth. The city they had planned together remained unfinished.