Genesis 11:1-5

1Now the whole earth spoke one language and used the same words (vocabulary).

2And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they settled there.

3They said one to another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly [in a kiln, to harden and strengthen them].” So they used brick for stone [as building material], and they used tar (bitumen, asphalt) for mortar.

4They said, “Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the Lord instructed].”

5Now the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.