Nimrod in the context of "Ashur (Bible)"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Nimrod in the context of "Ashur (Bible)"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Nimrod

Nimrod is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and thus the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Shinar (Lower Mesopotamia). The Bible states that he was "a mighty hunter before the Lord [and] ... began to be mighty in the earth". Nimrod became a symbol of defiance against God.

Biblical and non-biblical traditions identify Nimrod as the ruler associated with the Tower of Babel; Jewish, Christian, and Islamic accounts variously portray him as a tyrant who led its builders, turned people from God, and opposed Abraham, even attempting unsuccessfully to kill him by fire. Over time, legends identified him with other figures like Amraphel, Ninus, or Zoroaster, and credited him with innovations such as wearing the first crown and introducing idolatry.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Nimrod in the context of Ashur (Bible)

Ashur (אַשּׁוּר ʾAššūr) was the second son of Shem, the son of Noah. Ashur's brothers were Elam, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, there was contention in academic circles regarding whether Ashur or Nimrod built the Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Resen, Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, since the name Ashur can refer to both the person and the country (compare Genesis 10:8–12 AV and Genesis 10:8–12 ESV). Sir Walter Raleigh devoted several pages in his History of the World (c. 1616) to reciting past scholarship regarding the question of whether it had been Nimrod or Ashur who built the cities in Assyria. Both the JPS Tanakh 1917 and the 1611 King James Bible clarify the language of the Septuagint and Vulgate translations of Genesis 10:11-12, by explicitly crediting Ashur as the founder of the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Nimrod in the context of Nimrud

Nimrud (/nɪmˈrd/; Syriac: ܢܢܡܪܕ Arabic: النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city (original Assyrian name Kalḫu, biblical name Calah) located in Iraq, 30 kilometres (20 mi) south of the city of Mosul, and 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of the village of Selamiyah (Arabic: السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a major Assyrian city between approximately 1350 BC and 610 BC. The city is located in a strategic position 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of the point that the river Tigris meets its tributary the Great Zab. The city covered an area of 360 hectares (890 acres). The ruins of the city were found within one kilometre (1,100 yd) of the modern-day Assyrian village of Noomanea in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq.

The name Nimrud was recorded as the local name by Carsten Niebuhr in the mid-18th century. In the mid 19th century, biblical archaeologists proposed the Assyrian name Kalḫu (the Biblical Calah), based on a description of the travels of Nimrod in Genesis 10.

↑ Return to Menu

Nimrod in the context of Generations of Noah

The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or Origines Gentium, is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 10:9), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known societies. The term 'nations' to describe the descendants is a standard English translation of the Hebrew word "goyim", following the c. 400 CE Latin Vulgate's "nationes", and does not have the same political connotations that the word entails today.

The list of 70 names introduces for the first time several well-known ethnonyms and toponyms important to biblical geography, such as Noah's three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, from which 18th-century German scholars at the Göttingen school of history derived the race terminology Semites, Hamites, and Japhetites. Certain of Noah's grandsons were also used for names of peoples: from Elam, Ashur, Aram, Cush, and Canaan were derived respectively the Elamites, Assyrians, Arameans, Cushites, and Canaanites. Likewise, from the sons of Canaan: Heth, Jebus, and Amorus were derived Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites. Further descendants of Noah include Eber (from Shem), the hunter-king Nimrod (from Cush).

↑ Return to Menu

Nimrod in the context of Cush (Bible)

Cush or Kush (/kʊʃ, kʌʃ/ Hebrew: כּוּשׁ Kūš; Ge'ez: ኩሽ), according to the Hebrew Bible, was the oldest son of Ham and a grandson of Noah. He was the brother of Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan. Cush was the father of Nimrod and Havilah.

Cush is traditionally considered the ancestor of the "Land of Cush", an ancient territory said to be situated south of Egypt around the river Gihon (Gen. 2:13). Cush is identified in the Bible with the Kingdom of Kush or ancient Aethiopia. The Cushitic languages are named after Cush.

↑ Return to Menu

Nimrod in the context of Borsippa

Borsippa (Sumerian: BAD.SI.(A).AB.BA or Birs Nimrud, having been identified with Nimrod) is an archeological site in Babylon Governorate, Iraq, built on both sides of a lake about 17.7 km (11.0 mi) southwest of Babylon on the east bank of the Euphrates. It lies 15 kilometers from the ancient site of Dilbat.

It is today one of the most vividly identifiable surviving ziggurats, identified in the later Arabic culture with the Tower of Babel due to King Nebuchadnezzar referring to it as the "Tower of Borsippa" or "tongue tower", as stated in the stele recovered on site in the 19th century. However, modern scholarship concludes that the Babylonian builders of the ziggurat erected it as a religious edifice in honour of the local god Nabu, called the "son" of Babylon's Marduk, as would be appropriate for Babylon's lesser sister-city.

↑ Return to Menu