NIMROD is described in Genesis x. 8-12 as the first "to be a mighty one in the earth," which Skinner in his commentary paraphrases as "originator of the idea of the military state, based on arbitrary force." Apart from 1 Chron. i. 1 o, which quotes this description, the only other reference to Nimrod in the Old Testament is Micah v. 6, where Assyria is called the land of Nim rod. Unlike the other names in the Genesis context, which are names of peoples, Nimrod is that of an individual. He is a son of Cush, which cannot mean, as it usually does, Ethiopia, but possibly stands here for the Kashshu, a people who conquered Babylon in the 18th century B.c. The beginning of Nimrod's kingdom is said to be Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Babel is Babylon ; Erech, a city of Babylonia, is the present-day Warka ; Accad, "Agade," the royal city of Sargon I., was the capital of a district of the same name in N. Mesopotamia ; Calneh is unknown. Shinar, which the O.T. some times identifies with Babylonia, was, as Egyptian and Hittite rec ords show, a distinct country, probably in N. Mesopotamia, which was prominent 1500-1200 B.c. Nimrod is said to have built Nine veh, Calah, an Old Assyrian town on the left bank of the Tigris, south of Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir and Resen, both of which are unknown. It is in accordance with historical truth that Assyria
was developed from Babylonia. The description of Nimrod as a "mighty hunter before the Lord," that is, a supreme hero of the chase, is an intrusion in this context, but probably, like the his torical notices, derived from some old Babylonian saga. The Assyrian kings were noted for their prowess in hunting. But though we may feel reasonably sure that the Nimrod traditions were derived from Babylonian sources no equivalent of the name has yet been found in the cuneiform records. In character there is a certain resemblance between Nimrod and the hero Gilgamesh. Jensen, and later, with some hesitation, Jirku, suggested that the name NIN-IB of a Babylonian god might be read phonetically Namurtu, and compared with Nimrod. But Clay (The Origin of Biblical Traditions, p. 22 seq.) seems to have demonstrated that the correct reading is Nin-martu. Meyer points out that the name Nimrod is common in Libya, but his theory that the saga was originally Libyan, and came to Israel via Egypt, seems very improbable. (W. L. W.)