Nimrod[a][b] is abiblical figure mentioned in theBook of Genesis and theBooks of Chronicles. The son ofCush and thus the great-grandson ofNoah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land ofShinar (Lower Mesopotamia). TheBible states that he was "a mighty hunter before the Lord [and] ... began to be mighty in the earth".[2] Nimrod became a symbol of defiance against God.
Biblical and non-biblical traditions identify Nimrod as the ruler associated with theTower of Babel; Jewish, Christian, and Islamic accounts variously portray him as atyrant who led its builders, turned people from God, and opposedAbraham, even attempting unsuccessfully to kill him by fire. Over time, legends identified him with other figures likeAmraphel,Ninus, orZoroaster, and credited him with innovations such as wearing the first crown and introducingidolatry.
There is no direct evidence that Nimrod was an actual person in any of the non-biblicalhistoric records, registers, or king lists (including theMesopotamian ones, which are considered older than the biblical record). Historians have failed to match Nimrod with any historically attested figure, or to find any historical, linguistic or genetic link between theSumerian andSemiticMesopotamians and the distant and later emergingKingdom of Kush in modernSudan. Yigal Levin suggested that the biblical Nimrod was inspired by one of the exclusively Mesopotamian historical figures,Naram-Sin of Akkad, grandson ofSargon, and other scholars have attempted to attribute the inspiration behind Nimrod to one or moreAssyrian,Akkadian orBabylonian kings, or to the Assyro-Babylonian godNinurta.[3][4]
During the more recent Islamic era, several sites of ruins in theMiddle East have been named after Nimrod.[5] He appeared inDante’sDivine Comedy as a chained giant. In modern slang, a nimrod is a synonym for a fool.
The first biblical mention of Nimrod is in theGenerations of Noah.[6] He is described as the son ofCush, grandson ofHam, and great-grandson ofNoah; and as "a mighty one in the earth" and "a mighty hunter before the Lord". This is repeated in1 Chronicles 1:10, and the "Land of Nimrod" is mentioned as a synonym forAssyria orMesopotamia inMicah 5:6:
Who will shepherd Assyria’s land with swords,
The land of Nimrod in its gates. Thus he will deliver [us] From Assyria, should it invade our land,
And should it trample our country.
Genesis 10:10 says that the "mainstays of his kingdom" (רֵאשִׁית מַמְלַכְתּוֹrēšit̲ mamlak̲to) wereBabylon,Uruk,Akkad andCalneh inShinar (Mesopotamia). This is understood variously to imply that he either founded these cities, ruled over them, or both. Owing to an ambiguity in the original Hebrew text, it is unclear whether it is he orAshur who additionally builtNineveh,Resen,Rehoboth-Ir andNimrud (Kalaḥ); both interpretations are reflected in variousEnglish versions.Walter Raleigh devoted several pages in hisHistory of the World (1614) to reciting past scholarship regarding the question of whether it was Nimrod or Ashur who had built the cities in Assyria.[7]
InJewish andChristian tradition, Nimrod is considered the leader of those who built the Tower of Babel in the land of Shinar,[8] although the Bible never states this. Nimrod's kingdom included the cities of Babel, Uruk, Akkad, and perhaps Calneh, in Shinar (Gen 10:10).[9]Josephus believed that the building of Babel and its tower probably began under his direction; this is also the view found in theTalmud (Hullin 89a,Pesahim 94b,Erubin 53a,Avodah Zarah 53b), and latermidrash such asGenesis Rabba. Several of these early Judaic sources also assert that the kingAmraphel, who wars with Abraham later in Genesis, is none other than Nimrod himself.
Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if He should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to reach. And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers.Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they acted so madly, He did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but He caused a tumult among them, by producing in them diverse languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion ...
Since Akkad was destroyed and lost with thecollapse of the Akkadian Empire in the period 2200–2154 BC (long chronology), the stories mentioning Nimrod seem to recall the lateEarly Bronze Age. The association with Erech (BabylonianUruk), a city that lost its prime importance around2000 BCE as a result of struggles betweenIsin,Larsa andElam, also attests the early provenance of the stories of Nimrod. According to some modern-day theorists, their placement in the Bible suggests a Babylonian origin—possibly inserted during theBabylonian captivity.[11]
Judaic interpreters as early asPhilo andYohanan ben Zakkai in the1st century interpreted "a mighty hunterbefore the Lord" ("גִבֹּר-צַיִד, לִפְנֵי יְהוָה"gibbor-ṣayiḏ lip̄nē Yahweh, lit. "in the face ofYahweh") as signifying "in opposition to the Lord"; a similar interpretation is found inPseudo-Philo, as well as later inSymmachus. Some rabbinic commentators have also connected the nameNimrod with a Hebrew word meaning 'rebel'.[12] InPseudo-Philo (dated c. 70 CE), Nimrod is made leader of the Hamites, whileJoktan as leader of the Semites, and Fenech as leader of the Japhethites, are also associated with the building of the Tower.[13] Versions of this story are again picked up in later works such asApocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius (7th century).
TheBook of Jubilees mentions the name of "Nebrod" (the Greek form of Nimrod) only as being the father ofAzurad, the wife ofEber and mother ofPeleg (8:7). This account would thus make Nimrod an ancestor of Abraham, and hence of allHebrews.
TheBabylonian Talmud (Gittin 56b) attributesTitus's death to an insect that flew into his nose and picked at his brain for seven years in a repetition of another legend referring to the biblical King Nimrod.[14][15][16]
An earlyArabic work known asKitab al-Magall or theBook of Rolls (part ofClementine literature) states that Nimrod built the towns of Hadāniūn,Ellasar,Seleucia,Ctesiphon, Rūhīn,Atrapatene, Telalān, and others, that he began his reign as king over earth whenReu was 163, and that he reigned for 69 years, buildingNisibis, Raha (Edessa) andHarran whenPeleg was 50. It further adds that Nimrod "saw in the sky a piece of black cloth and a crown". He called upon Sasan the weaver and commanded him to make him a crown like it, which he set jewels on and wore. He was allegedly the first king to wear a crown. "For this reason people who knew nothing about it, said that a crown came down to him fromheaven." Later, the book describes how Nimrod established fire worship and idolatry, then received instruction in divination for three years from Bouniter, thefourth son of Noah.[17]
In theRecognitions (R 4.29), one version of the Clementines, Nimrod is equated with the legendary Assyrian kingNinus, who first appears in theGreek historianCtesias as the founder of Nineveh. However, in another version, theHomilies (H 9:4–6), Nimrod is made to be the same asZoroaster.
TheSyriacCave of Treasures (c. 350) contains an account of Nimrod very similar to that in theKitab al-Magall, except that Nisibis, Edessa and Harran are said to be built by Nimrod when Reu was 50, and that he began his reign as the first king when Reu was 130. In this version, the weaver is calledSisan, and the fourth son of Noah is calledYonton.
Jerome, writing c. 390, explains inHebrew Questions on Genesis that after Nimrod reigned in Babel, "he also reigned in Arach [Erech], that is, in Edissa; and in Achad [Accad], which is now called Nisibis; and in Chalanne [Calneh], which was later called Seleucia after King Seleucus when its name had been changed, and which is now in actual fact called Ctesiphon." However, this traditional identification of the cities built by Nimrod in Genesis is no longer accepted by modern scholars, who consider them to be located inSumer, notSyria.
TheGe'ezConflict of Adam and Eve with Satan (c. 5th century) also contains a version similar to that in theCave of Treasures, but the crown maker is calledSantal, and the name of Noah's fourth son who instructs Nimrod isBarvin.
However,Ephrem the Syrian (306–373) relates a contradictory view, that Nimrod was righteous and opposed the builders of the Tower. Similarly,Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (date uncertain) mentions a Jewish tradition that Nimrod left Shinar in southern Mesopotamia and fled to Assyria in northern Mesopotamia, because he refused to take part in building the Tower—for which God rewarded him with the four cities in Assyria, to substitute for the ones in Babel.
Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer (c. 833) relates the Jewish traditions that Nimrod inherited the garments of Adam and Eve from his father Cush, and that these made him invincible. Nimrod's party then defeated the Japhethites to assume universal rulership. Later,Esau (grandson ofAbraham), ambushed, beheaded, and robbed Nimrod. These stories later reappear in other sources including the 16th centurySefer haYashar, which adds that Nimrod had a son namedMardon who was even more wicked.[18]
In theHistory of the Prophets and Kings by the 9th centuryMuslim historianal-Tabari, Nimrod has the tower built in Babil,God destroys it, and the language of mankind, formerlySyriac, is then confused into 72 languages. Another Muslim historian of the 13th century,Abu al-Fida, relates the same story, adding that the patriarchEber (an ancestor of Abraham) was allowed to keep the original tongue, Hebrew in this case, because he would not partake in the building. The 10th-century Muslim historianMasudi recounts a legend making the Nimrod who built the tower to be the son of Mash, the son ofAram, son of Shem, adding that he reigned 500 years over theNabateans. Later, Masudi lists Nimrod as the first king of Babylon, and states that he dug great canals and reigned 60 years. Still elsewhere, he mentions another king Nimrod, son ofCanaan, as the one who introduced astrology and attempted to kill Abraham.
InArmenian legend, the ancestor of the Armenian people,Hayk, defeated Nimrod (sometimes equated withBel) in a battle near Lake Van.
In theHungarian legend of the Enchanted Stag (more commonly known as theWhite Stag [Fehér Szarvas] or Silver Stag), King Nimród (Ménrót), often described as "Nimród the Giant" or "the giant Nimród", descendant of Noah, is the first person referred to as forefather of the Hungarians. He, along with his entire nation, is also the giant responsible for the building of the Tower of Babel—construction of which was supposedly started by him 201 years after the biblical event of theGreat Flood. After the catastrophic failure of that most ambitious endeavour and in the midst of theconfusion of tongues, Nimród the giant moved to the land ofEvilát, where his wife,Enéh gave birth to twin brothersHunor andMagyar (akaMagor). Father and sons were, all three of them, prodigious hunters, but Nimród especially is the archetypal, consummate, legendary hunter and archer. Hungarian legends held that twin sons of King Nimród,Hunor and Magor were the ancestors of theHuns and theMagyars (Hungarians) respectively, siring their children through the two daughters of King Dul of theAlans, whom they kidnapped after losing track of the silver stag whilst hunting.[19] Both the Huns' and Magyars' historically attested skill with the recurve bow and arrow are attributed to Nimród. (Simon Kézai, personal "court priest" of KingLadislaus the Cuman, in hisGesta Hungarorum, 1282–1285. This tradition can also be found in over twenty other medieval Hungarian chronicles, as well as a German one, according to Dr Antal Endrey in an article published in 1979). The 16th-century Hungarian prelateNicolaus Olahus claimed thatAttila took for himself the title ofDescendant of the Great Nimrod.[20]
The hunter god or spiritNyyrikki, figuring in the FinnishKalevala as a helper ofLemminkäinen, is associated with Nimrod by some researchers and linguists.[21]
In Jewish and Islamic traditions, a confrontation between Nimrod andAbraham is said to have taken place. Some stories bring them both together in a cataclysmic collision, seen as a symbol of the confrontation between Good and Evil, or as a symbol ofmonotheism againstpolytheism. Some Jewish traditions say only that the two men met and had a discussion. According to K. van der Toorn and P. W. van der Horst, this tradition is first attested in the writings ofPseudo-Philo.[24] The story is also found in theTalmud, and in rabbinical writings in theMiddle Ages.[25]
In some versions, such asFlavius Josephus, Nimrod is a man who sets his will against that of God. In others, he proclaims himself a god and is worshipped as such by his subjects, sometimes with his consortSemiramis worshipped as a goddess at his side.[citation needed]
Aportent in the stars tells Nimrod and his astrologers of the impending birth of Abraham, who would put an end toidolatry. Nimrod therefore orders the killing of all newborn babies. However, Abraham's mother escapes into the fields and gives birth secretly. At a young age, Abraham recognizes God and starts worshipping him. He confronts Nimrod and tells him face-to-face tocease his idolatry, whereupon Nimrod orders him burned at the stake. In some versions, Nimrod has his subjects gather wood for four whole years, so as to burn Abraham in the biggest bonfire the world had ever seen. Yet when the fire is lit, Abraham walks out unscathed.[citation needed]
In some versions, Nimrod then challenges Abraham to battle. When Nimrod appears at the head of enormous armies, Abraham produces an army ofgnats which destroys Nimrod's army. Some accounts have a gnat or mosquito enter Nimrod's brain and drive him out of his mind (a divine retribution which Jewish tradition also assigned to the Roman EmperorTitus, destroyer of theTemple in Jerusalem).[citation needed]
In some versions, Nimrod repents and accepts God, offering numerous sacrifices that God rejects (as withCain). Other versions have Nimrod give to Abraham, as a conciliatory gift, the giant slaveEliezer, whom some accounts describe as Nimrod's own son (the Bible also mentions Eliezer as Abraham'smajordomo, though not making any connection between him and Nimrod; Genesis 15:2).
Still other versions have Nimrod persisting in his rebellion against God, or resuming it. Indeed, Abraham's crucial act of leavingMesopotamia and settling inCanaan is sometimes interpreted as an escape from Nimrod's revenge. Accounts considered canonical place the building of the Tower many generations before Abraham's birth (as in the Bible, alsoJubilees); however in others, it is a later rebellion after Nimrod failed in his confrontation with Abraham. In still other versions, Nimrod does not give up after the Tower fails, but goes on to try storming Heaven in person, in a chariot driven by birds.[citation needed]
The story attributes to Abraham elements from the story ofMoses' birth (the cruel king killing innocent babies, with the midwives ordered to kill them) and from the careers ofShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who emerged unscathed from the fire. Nimrod is thus given attributes of two archetypal cruel and persecuting kings –Nebuchadnezzar andPharaoh.[citation needed] Some Jewish traditions also identified him withCyrus, whose birth according toHerodotus was accompanied by portents, which made his grandfather try to kill him.[citation needed]
A confrontation is also found in theQuran, between a king, not mentioned by name, andIbrahim (Arabic for "Abraham"). Some Muslim commentators assign Nimrod as the king. In the quranic narrative Ibrahim has a discussion with the king, the former argues that God is the one who gives life and causes death, whereas the unnamed king replies that he gives life and causes death.[26] Ibrahim refutes him by stating that God brings the Sun up from the East, and so he asks the king to bring it from the West. The king is then perplexed and angered. The commentaries on thissurah offer a wide variety of embellishments of this narrative, one of which byIbn Kathir, a 14th-century scholar, adding that Nimrod showed his rule over life and death by killing a prisoner and freeing another.[27]
Whether or not conceived as having ultimately repented, Nimrod remained in Jewish and Islamic tradition an emblematic evil person, an archetype of an idolater and a tyrannical king. In rabbinical writings up to the present, he is almost invariably referred to as "Nimrod the Evil" (Hebrew:נמרוד הרשע).[citation needed]
Nimrod is mentioned by name in several places in theBaháʼí scriptures, including theKitáb-i-Íqán, the primary theological work of theBaháʼí Faith. There it is said that Nimrod "dreamed a dream" which his soothsayers interpreted as signifying the birth of a new star in heaven. A herald is then said to have appeared in the land announcing "the coming of Abraham".[28] Nimrod is also mentioned in one of the earliest writings of theBáb (the herald of the Baháʼí Faith). Citing examples of God's power, he asks: "Has He not, in past days, caused Abraham, in spite of His seeming helplessness, to triumph over the forces of Nimrod?"[29]
The story of Abraham's confrontation with Nimrod did not remain within the confines of learned writings and religious treatises, but also conspicuously influenced popular culture. A notable example is "Quando el Rey Nimrod" ("When King Nimrod"), one of the most well-known folksongs inLadino (the Judeo-Spanish language), apparently written during the reign of KingAlfonso X ofCastile. Beginning with the words: "When King Nimrod went out to the fields/ Looked at the heavens and at the stars/He saw a holy light in the Jewish quarter/A sign that Abraham, our father, was about to be born", the song gives a poetic account of the persecutions perpetrated by the cruel Nimrod and the miraculous birth and deeds of the savior Abraham.[30][31]
TheQuran states, "Have you not considered him who had an argument with Abraham about his Lord, because God had given him the kingdom (i.e. he was prideful)?"[32] Abraham says, "My Lord is He Who gives life and causes death." The king answers, "I give life and cause death".[32] At this point some commentaries add new narratives like Nimrod bringing forth two men, who were sentenced to death previously. He orders the execution of one while freeing the other one.[33] Then Abraham says, "Indeed, God brings up the sun from the east, so bring it up from the west."[32] This causes the king to exile him, and he leaves for theLevant.[34]
Although Nimrod's name is not specifically stated in the Quran, Islamic scholars hold that the "king" mentioned was him. Other traditional stories also exist around Nimrod, which have resulted in him being referenced as a tyrant in Muslim cultures.[35][36][37]
According toMujahid ibn Jabr, "Four people gained control over the Earth, east and west, two believers and two disbelievers. The two believers wereSolomon (Sulayman in Islamic texts) andDhul Qarnayn, and the two disbelievers wereNebuchadnezzar II and Nimrod. No one but they gained power over it."[38]
The following version of the confrontation between Abraham and Nimrod appears in theMidrash Rabba, a major compilation of Jewish Scripturalexegesis. The part in which this appears, theGenesis Rabbah (Chapter 38, 13), is considered to date from the sixth century.
נטלו ומסרו לנמרוד. אמר לו: עבוד לאש. אמר לו אברהם: ואעבוד למים, שמכבים את האש? אמר לו נמרוד: עבוד למים! אמר לו: אם כך, אעבוד לענן, שנושא את המים? אמר לו: עבוד לענן! אמר לו: אם כך, אעבוד לרוח, שמפזרת עננים? אמר לו: עבוד לרוח! אמר לו: ונעבוד לבן אדם, שסובל הרוחות? אמר לו: מילים אתה מכביר, אני איני משתחוה אלא לאוּר - הרי אני משליכך בתוכו, ויבא אלוה שאתה משתחוה לו ויצילך הימנו! היה שם הרן עומד. אמר: מה נפשך, אם ינצח אברהם - אומַר 'משל אברהם אני', ואם ינצח נמרוד - אומַר 'משל נמרוד אני'. כיון שירד אברהם לכבשן האש וניצול, אמרו לו: משל מי אתה? אמר להם: משל אברהם אני! נטלוהו והשליכוהו לאור, ונחמרו בני מעיו ויצא ומת על פני תרח אביו. וכך נאמר: וימת הרן על פני תרח אביו. (בראשית רבה ל"ח, יג)
(...) He [Abraham] was given over to Nimrod. [Nimrod] told him: Worship the Fire! Abraham said to him: Shall I then worship the water, which puts off the fire! Nimrod told him: Worship the water! [Abraham] said to him: If so, shall I worship the cloud, which carries the water? [Nimrod] told him: Worship the cloud! [Abraham] said to him: If so, shall I worship the wind, which scatters the clouds? [Nimrod] said to him: Worship the wind! [Abraham] said to him: And shall we worship the human, who withstands the wind? Said [Nimrod] to him: You pile words upon words, I bow to none but the fire—in it shall I throw you, and let the God to whom you bow come and save you from it! Haran [Abraham's brother] was standing there. He said [to himself]: what shall I do? If Abraham wins, I shall say: "I am of Abraham's [followers]", if Nimrod wins I shall say "I am of Nimrod's [followers]". When Abraham went into the furnace and survived, Haran was asked: "Whose [follower] are you?" and he answered: "I am Abraham's!". [Then] they took him and threw him into the furnace, and his belly opened and he died and predeceased Terach, his father. [TheBible,Genesis 11:28, mentions Haran predeceasing Terach, but gives no details.]|—
Inscription of Naram Sin found at the city ofMarad
Historians,Orientalists,Assyriologists andmythographers have long tried to find links between the Nimrod of biblical texts and real historically attested figures in Mesopotamia or its surrounds. Significantly, no king named Nimrod or with a similar name appears anywhere on any of the considerably older and more numerous pre-biblical, extra-biblical or historicSumerian,Akkadian,Assyrian orBabylonian king list, nor does the name Nimrod appear in any other writings from Mesopotamia itself or its neighbours in any context whatsoever during theBronze Age,Iron Age or pre-ChristianClassical Age.
Since the city ofAkkad was destroyed and lost with the destruction of its Empire in the period 2200–2154 BC (long chronology), the much later biblical stories mentioning Nimrod seem to be inspired by the late EarlyBronze Age. The association withErech (Sumero-AkkadianUruk), a city that lost its prime importance around 2000 BC as a result of struggles betweenIsin,Ur,Larsa andElam, may have influenced the later stories of Nimrod.[11] SeveralMesopotamian ruins were given Nimrod's name by invading 8th-century AD MuslimArabs, including the ruins of theAssyrian city ofKalhu (the biblicalCalah), which contrary to biblical claims that it was built by Nimrod, was in reality built by a king of theMiddle Assyrian Empire,Shalmaneser I (1274–1244 BC)[6]
A number of attempts to connect him with historical figures have been made without any success.
The Christian BishopEusebius of Caesarea as early as the early 4th century, noting that theBabylonian historianBerossus in the 3rd century BC had stated that the first king after the flood wasEuechoios of Chaldea (in reality Chaldea was a small state in southeast Mesopotamia historically not founded until the late 9th century BC), identified him with Nimrod.George Syncellus (c. 800) also had access to Berossus, and he identifiedEuechoios with the biblical Nimrod. However, like Nimrod, no king named Euechoios appears anywhere in Mesopotamian record.
More recently, Sumerologists have suggested additionally connecting both thisEuechoios, and the king of Babylon and grandfather ofGilgamesh who appears in the oldest copies ofAelian (c. 200 AD) asEuechoros, with the name of the founder of Uruk known from cuneiform sources asEnmerkar.[39]
In 1920,J. D. Prince also suggested a possible link between the Lord (Ni) ofMarad and Nimrod. He mentioned how Dr. Kraeling was now inclined to connect Nimrod historically withLugal-Banda, a mythological Sumerian king mentioned in Poebel,Historical Texts, 1914, whose seat was at the city Marad.[40]
According toRonald Hendel the name Nimrod is probably a much later polemical distortion of the SemiticAssyrian godNinurta, a prominent god inMesopotamian religion who had cult centers in a number ofAssyrian cities such asKalhu, and also inBabylon, and was a patron god of a number ofAssyrian kings, and that 'Cush' is a mistranslation ofKish, a Mesopotamian city, rather than the state that arose in modern-day Sudan some time later.[41] Nimrod's imperial ventures described in Genesis may be based on the conquests of theAssyrian kingTukulti-Ninurta I.[42]
Alexander Hislop, in his tractThe Two Babylons (1853), identified Nimrod withNinus (also a mythical figure unattested anywhere in Mesopotamian king lists), who according toGreek mythology was aMesopotamian king and husband of QueenSemiramis,[44] with a whole host of deities throughout theMediterranean world, and with thePersianZoroaster. The identification withNinus follows that of theClementine Recognitions; the one with Zoroaster, that of theClementine Homilies, both works part ofClementine literature.[45] Hislop attributed to Semiramis and Nimrod the invention ofpolytheism and, with it,goddess worship, and that their incestuous male offering wasTammuz.[46] He also claimed that theCatholic Church was a millennia-old secretconspiracy, founded by Semiramis and Nimrod to propagate thepagan religion of ancientBabylon.[47] Grabbe and others have rejected the book's arguments as based on a flawed understanding of the texts,[47][48] but variations of them are accepted among some groups ofevangelical Protestants.[47][48]
There was a historical Assyrian queenShammuramat in the 9th century BC, in reality the wife ofShamshi-Adad V, a king of theNeo-Assyrian Empire, whom Assyriologists have identified as the inspiration behind the much later Greco-Persian legends of Semiramis.
InDavid Rohl's theory,Enmerkar, theSumerian founder ofUruk, was the original inspiration for Nimrod, because the story ofEnmerkar and the Lord of Aratta[49] bears a few similarities to the legend of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, and because the -KAR in Enmerkar means "hunter".Therefore if one ignores the suffix -KAR, and remembering that ancient written languages omitted all vowels, one is left with the three consonants NMR in both eNMeR-kar and NiMRod. The additional "D" in the Hebrew could be justified through several reasonable explanations, including a Scribe's error or the intention to render the -KAR part into Hebrew.
Additionally, Enmerkar is said to have hadziggurats built in bothUruk andEridu, which Rohl postulates was the site of the original Babel.
Others have attempted to conflate Nimrod withAmraphel, a supposed king in Mesopotamia, but yet again, one who is himself historically unattested in Mesopotamian records.
George Rawlinson believed Nimrod wasBelus, based on the fact Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions bear the namesBel-Nibru.[50] The wordNibru in the East SemiticAkkadian language of Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia comes from a root meaning to 'pursue' or to make 'one flee', and as Rawlinson pointed out not only does this closely resemble Nimrod's name but it also perfectly fits the description of Nimrod in Genesis 10:9 as a great hunter. The Belus-Nimrod equation or link is also found in many old works such asMoses of Chorene and theBook of the Bee.[51]Nibru, in theSumerian language, was the original name of the city ofNippur.
Joseph Poplicha wrote in 1929 about the identification of Nimrod in the first dynasty or Uruk.[52]
More recently,Yigal Levin (2002) suggests that the fictional Nimrod was a recollection ofSargon of Akkad and also of his grandsonNaram-Sin, with the name "Nimrod" derived from the latter. He argues that:
The biblical Nimrod, then, is not a total counterpart of any one historical character. He is rather the later compositeHebrew equivalent of theSargonid dynasty: the first, mighty king to rule after the flood. Later influence modified the legend in the Mesopotamian tradition, adding such details as the hero's name, his territory and some of his deeds, and most important his title, "King ofKish", again attesting to Cush being a mistranslation of Kish The much later editors of the Book of Genesis dropped much of the original story and mistakenly misidentified and mistranslated the MesopotamianKish with the "Hamitic" Cush, there being no ancient geographical, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, genetic or historical connection between Cush (in modern northern Sudan) and Mesopotamia.[53]
In modern North American English slang, the term "nimrod" is often used to mean a dimwitted or a stupid person. This usage is often said to have been popularized by theLooney Tunes cartoon characterBugs Bunny sarcastically referring to the hunterElmer Fudd as "nimrod"[54][55] to highlight the difference between "mighty hunter" and "poor little Nimrod", i.e. Fudd.[56] However, it is in factDaffy Duck who refers to Fudd as "my little Nimrod" in the 1948 short "What Makes Daffy Duck",[57] although Bugs Bunny does refer toYosemite Sam as "the little Nimrod" in the 1951 short "Rabbit Every Monday". Both episodes were voiced byMel Blanc and produced byEdward Selzer.[58]
In theDivine Comedy byDante Alighieri (written 1308–1321), Nimrod is portrayed as agiant, a common occurrence in the Medieval period. With the giantsEphialtes,Antaeus,Briareus,Tityos, andTyphon, he stands in chains on the outer edge of Hell's Circle of Treachery. His only line is "Raphèl mai amècche zabì almi", words whose unintelligibility emphasizes his guilt for the confusion of languages after the tower of Babel.[59]
Variation IX ofEdward Elgar’sEnigma Variations is named Nimrod, after his friend and publisher,August Jaeger (whose surname is German for hunter, befitting the monicker).
^Depending on how the text is read, "Calneh" may be the fourth city name in this enumeration, or it may be part of an expression meaning "all of them in Shinar". (Van der Toorn & Van der Horst 1990, p. 1).
^Kalevala. Das finnische Epos des Elias Lönnroth. Mit einem Kommentar von Hans Fromm, Stuttgart: Reclam 1985. (Commentary of Hans Fromm to Elias Lönnroth'sKalevala)
^Ibn Kathir,Qasas Ul Ambiya (Stories of the Prophets), Muassisa Al-nur Lil nashr wal I'laan, 1978, p. 183,Archive.org
^Henkelman, Wouter F. M. "The Birth of Gilgamesh".Altertum und Mittelmeerraum: die antike Welt diesseits und jenseits der Levante. p. 819.[full citation needed]
^Prince, J.D. (1920). "A Possible Sumerian Original of the Name Nimrod".Journal of the American Oriental Society.[full citation needed]
^Oxford Guide to the Bible. Oxford University Press. 1993. p. 557.ISBN978-0-19-534095-2.
^Poplicha, Joseph (1929). "The Biblical Nimrod and the Kingdom of Eanna".Journal of the American Oriental Society.49:303–317.doi:10.2307/593008.JSTOR593008.
^Levin, Yigal (2002). "Nimrod the Mighty, King of Kish, King of Sumer and Akkad".Vetus Testamentum. Vol. 52, no. 3. pp. 350–356.doi:10.1163/156853302760197494.
^Arthur Davis (director) (14 February 1948).What Makes Daffy Duck (Animated short). Event occurs at 5:34.Precisely what I was wondering, my little Nimrod.
^Fritz Freleng (director) (10 February 1951).Rabbit Every Monday (Animated short). Event occurs at 6:50.Nah, I couldn't do that to the little Nimrod.
Dalley, Stephanie; et al. (1998).The Legacy of Mesopotamia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Haynes, Stephen R. (2002).Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery. New York: Oxford University Press.
Van der Toorn, K. & Van der Horst, P. W. (January 1990)."Nimrod Before and After the Bible"(PDF).The Harvard Theological Review. Vol. 83, no. 1. pp. 1–29. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 25 May 2015.
.jpg)
_-_Google_Art_Project_-_edited.jpg)
