Long ago, all people lived together and all spoke the same language. At a certain moment they had moved east from their homelands, to Shinar in Bavel, Babylonia — present-day Iraq. Hashem's authority they had rejected. Nimrod, a descendant of Cham, was chosen as king.
Nimrod was known by three names. He was called Kush, because he had black skin. He was also called Amrafel: he had thrown Avraham into the lime-kiln. But he was best known as Nimrod — a name which showed that he made everyone rebel against Hashem.
Nimrod led everyone into idolatry. He was a great hunter, but that was mainly because he wore the coat of Adam, which his father Cham had stolen from Noach's Ark. Adam's garments made the animals submit to man. The people of that time did not know that this was the key to Nimrod's success. They thought he was a natural talent. Later Nimrod became a great general. When, at forty, he returned victorious from war, he was made king. Nimrod built a great city in the valley of Shinar. Terach, Avraham's father, became his chief general.
So cunning was Nimrod that he raised himself up as a god and demanded that everyone kneel before him. He had a tower built of round stones, with supports deep in the earth. On top he placed a throne of cedar wood, mortared into the stone. On the cedar throne, a throne of iron; above that, one of copper; above that, one of silver, and above that, one of gold. On the golden throne he finally had a throne of jewels and pearls made. Nimrod climbed onto his high throne, and all peoples had to kneel at its feet.