King Nimrod is paying a visit to the building site, stonemasons going down on their knees before him. Performing the kowtow was not common practice in Europe; Bruegel made use of it to point to the story's oriental origins.
He remained true to his surroundings for most of the other details, however: a treadwheel crane of the type to be seen in the detail on the right is believed to have stood in the Antwerp marketplace.