Why Are There Thousands of Languages in the World? The Story Behind the Tower of Babel
Imagine a world where everyone spoke the same language – sounds like a dream, right? With over 7,000 languages spoken across the globe today, that reality seems almost impossible. But centuries ago, it was believed that all humans once shared one common tongue. What happened? How did this perfect unity crumble overnight?
Dive into the fascinating and mysterious story of the Tower of Babel and discover why the world became so linguistically divided!
How many languages do you speak? 1, 2, 3, or 4?
No matter how many languages you learn, it is impossible to know all the languages in the world. In fact, it is estimated that there are over 7,000 languages in the world. If all of humanity spoke the same language, everything would be much easier, and people would share common emotions and culture. In fact, there is a legend that says it was like this many, many years ago—until a tragic event occurred.
The Babylonians lived quite a happy life.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, provided incredible beauty for the people living there. Flowers, insects, fruits, warm weather... what more could a person want?
The people of Babylon wanted more than this and began to build a tower to get closer to their gods and reach them.
This tower, built in the name of the god Marduk, began to rise as the people collaborated. Thought to have been built about 5,000 years ago, this tower continued to rise in harmony. The people believed that by connecting more closely with their gods, they could beautify both worlds. With a staircase reaching up to the sky, humans and gods could be closer.
But as the legend goes, the idea of humans reaching their god displeased the god.
The tower was rising day by day. According to the myth, when the god saw the tower, he became angry with the humans' egos. Their attempt was, in his eyes, a sign of disrespect. The god found a way to both punish the humans and stop the construction of the tower.
To prevent communication among the people, the god changed their languages.
As a result, humans could no longer understand each other. This myth is particularly viewed through a religious perspective in Judaism and Christianity. In this legend, which emphasizes 'God's perfect mind,' it points out how meaningless human arrogance truly is.
Since then, people have been trying to rediscover the first language.
Arabic, Latin, Hebrew, Greek, even English... Today, while artificial intelligence has broken down language barriers, humanity still hasn't found its first language!
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