NOTES for Gen 11:4
As seen, for the "achievements" of their ancestors living before the deluge, the Sumerians of the biblical parable on the tower of Babel do not stay in peace. They were " the giants ", about whom the author of the biblical book speaks as " strong famous people of the antiquity" (in the English translation they are called "glorious", but the Jewish corresponding word means exactly "famous", which is "known", " people renowned"). And the inhabitants of the Sumerian valley mentioned in the parable (under which obviously means the Mesopotamian plain) want "also to make a name for themselves", "become famous" in order not to scatter abroad upon the face of the whole earth".
And begin "a great construction ", the first one, but certainly not the last in the history of the fallen humanity, which will end so ignominiously, as all the following ones (the irony of the parable, among others, still consists and of the fact that, when it was getting written, and this was according to the available data today, in Babylon in the years of captivity, there in Babylon, those who read it could see another tower like the one described in the parable. As seen, the builders were not guided simply by the desire to be famous; they wanted to build something which could unite them, which could become the symbol of the national unity and the power of the State.
It is not accidentally if the condition of a "great construction" had become particularly the unity of the inhabitants of that land: "one nation and one language" in the Akkadian word usage (and we have here in front of us, obviously, a copy of the akkadian) indicated the absolutism. And here, in order to strengthen the unity and therefore strengthen the power of the State, ambitious project is undertaken, which finally fails successfully.
Why is it so? Only or because a strong power, carrying out similar projects, always becomes repressive, violating all the laws given by God? Probably, and for that also. But, perhaps, and not just because of that.
In the existence of every nation, quite as in the life of every person, there is its meaning associated with the plan of God for this people or this person. But can one see and understand this plan, if the purpose becomes not Him, but greatness, power and celebrity? The answer is obvious. And a repressive power generated by the society, not seeking for meaning, is only a consequence. It is not surprising, that such a society and such a power are condemned. We can only ask God here to minimize the impact of the inevitable collapse.