12. The Tower of Babel, although serving as an origin myth to explain diverse language groups, is likely based on a gigantic ziggurat in the ancient Kingdom of Babylon
Featuring in the Book of Genesis, the Tower of Babel serves as an origin myth within the biblical narrative to explain the different languages of the world. Following the unification of humanity after the Great Flood, speaking one language mankind begins to create a giant tower to reach heaven; confounding this effort, God scattered humanity throughout the world and scrambled their speech so they may not replicate this effort ever again. Appearing in several other cultures, including the Sumerians and Toltecs, historical opinion is divided regarding the precise providence of the story and whether or not it bears any relation to real-world constructions.
The most prevalent theory connects the Tower of Babel with the Etemenanki: a ziggurat constructed by Nabopolassar, King of Babylon, in approximately 610 BCE and dedicated to the Mesopotamian deity Marduk. A reconstruction of a previous edifice, measuring at least three hundred feet in height, King Nebuchadnezzar later wrote that the tower had been originally built centuries prior, suggesting it would have coexisted with the Babylonian domination of the Hebrews. Destroyed by Alexander the Great in an ill-fated attempt to rebuild the colossal monument, the ancient wonder is today lost to history.