(1894-1939/40) Russian writer. Born in Odessa, he was an ardent supporter of the Revolution and fought with Budyenny’s cavalry in the Polish campaign of 1921–22, an experience which inspired Red Cavalry 1926. His other works include Stories from Odessa 1924, which portrays the life of the Odessa Jews.

1. The city and tower in the land of Shinar, where the confusion of languages took place.
2. Hence: A place or scene of noise and confusion; a confused mixture of sounds, as of voices or languages.
> Hebrew name for the city of Babylon, chiefly associated with the Tower of Babel which, in the Genesis story in the Old Testament, was erected in the plain of Shinar by the descendants of Noah. It was a ziggurat, or staged temple, seven stories high (100 m/300 ft) with a shrine of Marduk on the summit. It was built by Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, and was destroyed when Sennacherib sacked the city 689 BC.

ETYM Hebrew Bâbel, the name of the capital of Babylonia; in Genesis associated with the idea of.
A confusion of voices and other sounds.
Total confusion.