Brick for Stone, Bitumen for Mortar

The Babel builders use bricks and bitumen - materials they've made, not natural materials. They're building with human manufacture, not God's creation.

I notice the specific materials. They're replacing stone with brick, natural mortar with bitumen. It's a commentary on human substitution - we make our own materials and forget that creation's materials might be sufficient.

There's something about human pride expressed through manufacturing, through replacing natural materials with our own creations.