We won’t discuss language anymore because I feel it’s clear there is a single language source,so now to talk about why there was a language catastrophe in Sumer at the Tower of Babel/Bavel.
The common word for tower in ancient Sumer/Kengir is ziggurat as opposed to migdal(Heb. tower)but the word ziggurat is not in Hebrew and there is some argument as to the exact meaning of the word ziggurat.It could tower or temple but of coarse a temple would have been a tower or at least a raised structure.
These are some names and some discovered ziggurat found in ancient Mesopotamia and I am not claiming one of these was Babel but just look at the names and you see the notion of a tower to the heavans was not unusual in the Sumer/Akkadian area.
1. Temple of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth (Babylon)
2. Temple of the Wielder of the 7 Decrees of Heaven and Earth5 (Borsippa)
3. […] gigir (Nippur)
4. Temple of the Mountain Breeze (Nippur)
5. Temple of Mystery (Nippur)
6. ? (Kurigalzu)
7. Temple of the Stairway to Pure Heaven<6> (Sippar)
8. Temple of the god Dadia (Akkad)
9. ? (Dumuzi – ?)
10. Temple of the Admirable Throne/Sanctuary (Dumuzi – ?)
11. Temple of the Ziggurat, Exalted Dwelling Place (Kish)
12. Temple of the Exalted Mountain (Ehursagkalamma)
13. Temple of Exalted Splendor (Enlil – at Kish?)
14. Temple of the god Nanna (Kutha)
15. Temple of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth<7> (Dilbat)
16. ? (Marad)
17. ? (Ur)
18. Temple which Links Heaven and Earth (Larsa)
19. Temple of the Giparu (Uruk)
20. Temple of the Ziggurat (Eridu)
21. ? (Enegi) most likely Ur or near city of Ur
22. ? (Enegi) likely city of Ur or near Ur
Like I said I’m not saying I have proof these possible ancient temples were the Tower of Babel but it gets you thinking.The word ziggurat is of Aramaic or Akkadian origin so there must have been an earlier word for it but it’s meaning was height pinnacle ,so it was at least originally a tower.Regardless of the known word origin these structures go well back to neolithic times and their proto forms found in the Ubaid period.Also the word Sumer or Kengir meant land of nobles or civilized kings and Sumer has the Sumerian Kings list,the first known record of historical rulers.So it is likely Sumer had the first known king who may have been Etana of Kish(possible real Nimrod).Etana is not first on the list and the full list goes pre flood but look what it says about Etana:
“the shepherd, who ascended to heaven and consolidated all the foreign countries”
It also says this:
The Sumerian king list states that Kish was the first city to have kings following the deluge(that is the flood)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumerian_King_List
We may have our king of the “ziggurat of Bavel” (Tower of Babel)
The city of Enegi is close to the Sumer language of Emegi although that does not mean they are related of coarse.
Was Eridu the city of Babel ,Eridu is likely the first city and some Bible scholars say it was the city of Kayin/Cain but this would be pre flood and Babel is post flood.
What about Ur,civilization in Ur goes back to the Ubaid period so a strong candidate.The following is an excerpt from the actual Sumerian account (obviously translated to English) of the catastrophe of languages incident from ancient Sumer.
“In those days, the lands of Subur (and) Hamazi, Harmony-tongued (?) Sumer, the great land of the decrees of princeship, Uri, the land having all that is appropriate(?), The land Martu, resting in security, The whole universe, the people in unison (?) To Enlil in one tongue [spoke]. … (Then) Enki, the lord of abundance, (whose) commands are trustworthy, The lord of wisdom, who understands the land, The leader of the gods, Endowed with wisdom, the lord of Eridu Changed the speech in their mouths, [brought (?)] contention into it, Into the speech of man that (until then) had been one. (translation from The Babel of Tongues: A Sumerian Version” by Kramer, S.N., Journal of the American Oriental Society 88:108-11,1968)
We have an outside of Bible source which is Sumerian and Sumer again is called the land of nobles/princes ,the ancient Semitic word Sar(ruler) maybe related to Sumer or Shynar ,land of nobility.Uri ,maybe the city of Ur or maybe Uruk(Erekh Heb.).And Martu possibly the god Marduk(father sky god eponymous with Zeus/Jupiter/Dzeush pater) to which the tower/ziggurat was possibly erected for.
So you asked if this really happened did other cultures have a similar story?
Mexico: And as men were thereafter multiplying, they constructed a very high and strong Zacualli, which means “a very high tower” in order to protect themselves when again the second world should be destroyed. At the crucial moment their languages were changed, and as they did not understand one another, they went into different parts of the world. (Reference: Don Fernando de Alvara Ixtlilxochitl, Obras Historicas Mexico, 1891, Vol. I,
Polynesia: But the god in anger chased the builders away, broke down the building, and changed their language, so that they spoke diverse tongues. (Reference: R. W. Williamson, Religious and Cosmic Beliefs of Central Polynesia Cambridge, 1933, vol. I, p. 94
American Indian, Crow: Then Little Coyote did something bad. He suggested to Old Man that he give the people different languages so they would misunderstand each other and use their weapons in wars… Old Man did what Little Coyote said, and the people had different languages and made war on each other. (Reference: Jane Garry and Carl Rubino, Facts About the World’s Languages H.W. Wilson, 2001
There are some other accounts outside the Bible and even Sumer.I think Ur is a likely city but Uruk/Erekh is possible ,here is what Genesis talks about in Gen-10:10
וַתְּהִ֨י רֵאשִׁ֤ית מַמְלַכְתּוֹ֙ בָּבֶ֔ל וְאֶ֖רֶךְ וְאַכַּ֣ד וְכַלְנֵ֑ה
בְּאֶ֖רֶץ שִׁנְעָֽר:
And it was in the begining of his kingdom(that is Nimrod Gen-10:8-9) Bavel(Babel)Erekh(Uruk) and Akkad and Khalneih in the land of Shinar(Sumer/Kengir)
Here is KJV:
And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
1.Bavel/Babel ,this city which we’d assume was the site of the tower is unknown and say it’s Babylon is false for the Babylonian empire was much farther north than Shinar or Sumer and was much later historically also.Also Babylon is Greek for “gate of the gods” and “bavel” is Hebrew for confusion,so Bavel and Babylon are not related.The Babylonians called themselves “Kadigira” which also means gate of gods.This city and eventual empire to far north to have been Babel.
2.Erekh(Uruk) a good candidate ,the mythical home of Gilgamesh.
3.Akkad ,most likely the Akkadians ,the first Semitic people and likely the origin of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires and the Aramaic language.
4.Khalneih(Calneh)also referred to in the book of Amos and sometimes also called Khalanei but little is known or where it even was.
So still Ur and Uruk(Uruk may be the worlds oldest city) are the best bets for a location of the ziggurat of Babel/Bavel but we won’t an answer for sure but I think Etana of Kish is pretty good for Nimrod although it must be pointed out that the city of Kish was farther north than Ur or Uruk but Etana could have come from Kish to Ur or Uruk.People have also suggested that Kush who is Nimrod’s father was the King that built the ziggurat and when Genesis said “Kush begot Nimrod” what was really r meant was “Kush brought forth rebellion” because Nimrod means ‘will rebel.
So what if Kush also was not a name but a location and Kush was Hebrew for Kish and Etana of Kish was Kush.Just an idea ,not proven but just an idea.
Truth in Mikra 
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