The Pit of Babel
ShortStory 4,008 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"1 Now after the wars the world of men was of one nation and of one government, but much divided all the same (for the bonds that held them were weak); 2 And it came to pass, as the seas dried up and the sun was darkened in smoke, that they journeyed to the east and found there a plain with no name."
Quasar links out; the story lives on Asimov's, where the author gets the click.