Turris Babel

Together with his earlier work Arca Noë (Noah's Ark), it represents Kircher's endeavour to show how modern science supported the Biblical narrative in the Book of Genesis.

The book was dedicated to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and printed in Amsterdam by the cartographer and bookseller Johannes van Waesbergen.

[1]: 18  He addressed the question of how, just 275 years after the Flood, Noah's great-grandson Nimrod could command such a large number of people to build the Tower.

[3]: 237 In addition to this, Kircher offered an illustrated survey of the wonders of the ancient world, including the pyramids of Egypt, the labyrinth of Crete and the colossus of Rhodes.

This had been spoken by Noah and his descendants up to the time of the Confusion of Tongues, when God punished the pride of mankind by dividing them into speakers of many languages.

[6]: 43 The frontispiece, by Gérard de Lairesse, depicts Nimrod, dressed as a Roman soldier, studying the plan for the Tower of Babel while its architect, standing next to him, gestures towards the half-built structure some way off.