Event
Confusion of Tongues and Dispersion from Babel
God confounds the language of all the earth and scatters them abroad from Babel (Gen 11:5–9). CFAH dates the Dispersion to 2192/2191 BC.
Tier 1: CFAH anchor point: 2192/2191 BC (AP-2)
Description
CFAH-2: twelve precise durations (e.g. Aemilius Sura, 1,995 years from Ninus to the defeat of Philip and Antiochus; Eratosthenes, 1,008 years from Menes to the Fall of Troy) converge on 2191 BC for the founding of Assyria and the Egyptian monarchy; CFAH-6 calls it "Anchor Point #2". CFAH-6 notes it falls 157 years after the 2348 BC Flood.
Scripture
Chronologies
| Chronology | Date as stated | Year (BC / AM) | Citation & note |
|---|---|---|---|
| CFAH anchor point | 2192/2191 BC Precision: year-range |
2192/2191 BC | Griffith & White, "Chronological Framework of Ancient History. 2: Founding of the Nations," ARJ 15 (2022): 405–426, section "The Dispersion: 2192/2191 BC" and Table 2; Griffith & White, "Chronological Framework of Ancient History. 6: The Old and Middle Kingdoms of Egypt," ARJ 18 (2025): 13–60, Argument 3, "The Dispersion—Anchor Point #2" (opens in a new tab) Also CFAH-1 Introduction: "place the Dispersion in 2192/2191 BC". Sets sort year |
| Ussher-Jones | Not yet established | — | — Not stated in the Jones sources read (Chart No. 1; Chronology of the Old Testament 15th ed. 2002, Chronological Compendium p. 1). Leave empty until verified. |
| Ussher | Not yet established | — | — Ussher narrates the confusion and dispersion within §47 (heading 1757 AM, 2247 BC) but argues the 13 sons of Joktan "could not be capable of such an expedition ... until some years after Reu was born" (Reu: 1787 AM, 2217 BC, §50). No year given. |
| Jordan secondary | "For aesthetic reasons I shall arbitrarily put the division of the nations in am 1871" ("1871? - Tower of Babel") Precision: conjectural |
AM 1871 | Jordan, "The Chronology of the Pentateuch (Part 2)," Biblical Chronology 6:4 (April 1994), §7 "The Date of the Tower of Babel" and §8 year list (opens in a new tab) |
| Jordan secondary | Tower of Babel (?): Anno Mundi 1871; 2059 B.C. (SBC) Precision: conjectural |
2059 BC AM 1871 |
Jordan, "Egypt in Biblical History," Biblical Chronology 5:8 (December 1993), second chart in section "The Beginnings of Egypt" (opens in a new tab) Question mark is Jordan's. B.C. year is Jordan's "SBC" (strictest Biblical chronology), which takes Daniel's 70 weeks literally from Cyrus (456 B.C. instead of the conventional 536 B.C.); not comparable one-to-one with Ussher/CFAH B.C. years. Differs from sort year by 133 yrs |
| Jordan (compilation) secondary | Tower of Babel 1780 AM ? Precision: conjectural |
AM 1780 | Anno Mundi Chronology Studies (unnamed compiler; a compilation of James B. Jordan's system), p. 2, chart "Genesis 11:10 – 12 Genealogy" (opens in a new tab) The compiler's own guess: "The Tower of Babel occurred sometime in Peleg’s life. I’m guessing it was before he had Reu, because of Gen.10:25." Jordan himself dates the Tower/Dispersion to AM 1871 (BC 6:4 §7; BC 5:8). Differs from Jordan's own published figure(s): AM 1871, 1871. |
| Biblical statements (direct Scripture data) | After the tower-building; no year stated Precision: unknown |
— | Gen 11:8–9; cf. Gen 10:25, 10:32 (opens in a new tab) |
Disagreements & open questions
- Chronologies disagree BC years differ: 2192 BC (CFAH); 2059 BC (Jordan).
- Chronologies disagree Anno Mundi figures differ: AM 1780 (Jordan (compilation)); AM 1871 (Jordan).
Flags are generated from the figures stored in the data. The master timeline still sorts by the CFAH-weighted sort year.
People
Places
Maps
Related
CFAH charts
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CFAH-2 · Fig. 2
Durations to Babel.
Summary of Durations to Babel
Image credit (per the paper): Image from https://www.alamy.com/the-tower-of-babel-hebrew-migdal-bavel-arabic-burj-babil-according-to-the-book-of-genesis-was-an-enormous-tower-built-in-the-plain-of-shinar-hebrew-according-to-the-bi…
Records: Founding of Babel and the Era of the Tower, Confusion of Tongues and Dispersion from Babel
Answers Research Journal (publicly served image; hotlinked, not copied)
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CFAH-2 · Fig. 3
Durations to dispersion.
The Dispersion: 2192/2191 BC
Image credit (per the paper): Image of broken tower by Cornelius Anthonisz (c. AD 1545), https://www.artbible.info/art/large/619.html.
Records: Confusion of Tongues and Dispersion from Babel
Answers Research Journal (publicly served image; hotlinked, not copied)
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CFAH-2 · Fig. 5
The Era of Babel and Founding of Nations.
Era of the Tower of Babel : 2233–2191 BC
Records: Founding of Babel and the Era of the Tower, Confusion of Tongues and Dispersion from Babel, First Territorial Division of the Earth
Answers Research Journal (publicly served image; hotlinked, not copied)
Free sources
- Chronological Framework of Ancient History. 2: Founding of the Nations, (opens in a new tab) — The Dispersion: 2192/2191 BC free-to-read
- The Chronology of the Pentateuch (Part 2) (Biblical Chronology 6:4, April 1994) (opens in a new tab) — §7 The Date of the Tower of Babel free-to-read
- Chronological Framework of Ancient History. 6: The Old and Middle Kingdoms of Egypt, (opens in a new tab) free-to-read
- Chronological Framework of Ancient History. 1: Problem, Data, and Methodology, (opens in a new tab) free-to-read
- The King James Version of the Bible (opens in a new tab) public-domain
- The Annals of the World, Deduced from the Origin of Time (1658 English edition), Part One: 4004–176 BC (opens in a new tab) public-domain
- Egypt in Biblical History (Biblical Chronology 5:8, December 1993) (opens in a new tab) free-to-read
- Anno Mundi Chronology Studies (A.M. chronology charts and A.M./B.C. table) (opens in a new tab) private-copy
Copyrighted works (CFAH papers, F. N. Jones) are linked, not reproduced.