FINDING NIMROD AND HIS TOWER. Mark La Porte

Transcription

1 FINDING NIMROD AND HIS TOWER Mark La Porte

2 THE BIG QUESTIONS 1. Who was Nimrod and when did he build his Tower? 2. Where was the Tower? 3. Why the confusion of languages?

3 A WORD OF CAUTION There are numerous theories and ideas about each one of these topics My approach has been to look for evidence that matches the Biblical narrative and is supported by archeology in the form of contemporary (c BC) documents and the physical artifacts. There are many scholars (and possibly you) that will disagree with my conclusions, but I am comfortable with them. Feel free to come to your own understanding.

4 WHO WAS NIMROD?

5 FINDING NIMROD : THE BIBLE AND ARCHEOLOGY Start with Genesis Look at the Biblical place names and what archeology tells us about Nimrod s world Examine how Nimrod has been described over the ages What does the archeological record says about the identity of Nimrod

6 NIMROD - MANY IDENTITIES Via the Greeks, Nimrod becomes Ninus and the husband of Semiramus Queen of Heaven and the founder of the Assyrian Empire. The Greeks were always fascinated with strong women, i.e. Amazons. The Egyptians associated him and his mighty bow with the constellation Orion. Nimrod is most famous to us as the builder of the ill fated Tower of Babel.

7 INTERESTING DIVERSIONS Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea in the 4th Century from his reading of the Ancient Greeks connects Nimrod to Ninus. The Greeks were fascinated with Ninus and his wife Semiramis. Semiramus and her dead and murdered husband Ninus

8 JW WATCHTOWER FODDER The Two Babylons, subtitled The Papal Worship Proved to Be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife published in 1853 by the Presbyterian Free Church of Scotland theologian Alexander Hislop ( ).

9 DON T KNOW WHAT TO SAY Hislop ultimately traces Catholic doctrines back to the worship of Nimrod, claiming that the Roman Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon in the Bible Book of Revelation 17:5, and that "the Pope himself is truly and properly the lineal representative of Belshazzar". He claims that the Christogram IHS really stands for Isis, Horus, Seth. Poor Eusebius of Caesarea

10 BACK TO BASICS Nimrod has thus garnered a bunch of ink over the centuries despite only being in Genesis 10:8-10 and a mention in 1 Chronicles 1:10. Of course, his connection with Babylon stokes many a flame It is probably best to stick with the Bible We can also try to connect pre-biblical texts such as Sumerian texts that pre-date Moses

11 THE TOWER, FACT AND IMAGINATION Pieter Bruega Pieter Bruegel the Elder

12 NIMROD : GREAT GRANDSON OF NOAH Starting with Genesis 10 The Book of Nations we find the first mention of Nimrod 8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord. 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar.

13 NIMROD : RULER OF SHINAR AND BUILDER OF THE TOWER Genesis 11 1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, Come, let s make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.

14 WHO WAS THIS NIMROD? THEORIES ABOUND Some modern scholars maintain that 1. Nimrod is to be identified with the Babylonian hero Izdubar or Gishdubar (Gilgamesh); others, identify Nimrod with Marduk, the Babylonian Mercury. Those who identify Nimrod with Marduk, however, object that the name of Izdubar must be read, as is now generally conceded, Gilgamesh".

15 MUSLIMS AND THE TWO NIMRODS Muslims believe that there were two Nimrods: the first was the son of Cush; the second was the well-known tyrant and contemporary of Abraham; he was the son of Canaan and therefore a great-grandson of the first Nimrod. The latter Nimrod tosses a young Abraham into a furnace. Abram then emerges unscathed and Nimrod proclaims Thou hast a powerful God; I wish to offer him hospitality. Muslims believe that the tower was built for Nimrod s army to have access to God so they could punish him for the flood.

16 LET US RETURN TO ARCHEOLOGY While possibilities for Nimrod abound, it is more useful to look at the actual record in stone. A quick summary Pre-flood period prior to 3000 BC, Sumerian culture and platform temples at Eridu Flood c BC Post-flood Sumerian civilization with Nimrod 2800 BC centered in Ur and Eridu Babylonia emerges around 2000 with the Akkadians who culturally blend with the Sumerians. Abraham grows up in Ur and heads for the Promised Land Hammurabi builds the first great Babylonian Ziggurat temples around 1800 BC Nebuchadnezzar rebuilds the Babylonian temples 600 BC

17 SHINAR Shinar (/ˈʃaɪ.nɑːr/;[1] Hebrew נ ע ר, Šinʻarשׁ Septuagint Σεννααρ Sennaar) is a biblical geographical locale of uncertain boundaries in Mesopotamia. The name Shinar occurs eight times in the Hebrew Bible, in which it refers to Babylonia. This location of Shinar is evident from its description as encompassing both Babel (Babylon) (in northern Babylonia) and Erech (Uruk) (in southern Babylonia).

18 MESOPOTAMIA (IN GERMAN)

19 WHO WERE THESE MESOPOTAMIANS?

20 WHAT ARCHEOLOGY SAYS Timeline of Mesopotamia begins with the earliest evidence of human culture around 5000 BC. By 4400 BC there was both pottery and metallurgy technologies emerging. Sometime around 3900 BC came the Ubaid period, the first historical culture from southern Mesopotamia.

21 PRE-FLOOD SUMERIA, THE UBIAD PERIOD Eridu

22 ERIDU TEMPLE TODAY (2011)COMPLEMENTS OF US ARMY

23 ERIDU Arguably the oldest city in the world Located 12 km south of Ur and built around its temple, the home of Enki, the Sumerian water god and source of life After the great flood the center of Sumerian power will move north to Uruk

24 THE TEMPLE OF ENKI The Temple of Enki was originally built by Enoch or Uanna (Enoch is most remembered as being the father of Methuselah) as a shrine dedicated to Enki or Eya Enki is associated with the gifts of civilized life, intelligence and creation. The common translation although only an educated guess is Lord of the Earth. By the time of Nimrod, Eridu and its temple were in their 17th rebuild due to constant flooding Enki

25 TEMPLE OF ENKI AT ERIDU By 3200 BC only a brick platform remains Then the flood

26 POST-FLOOD SUMERIA Some Archeologists pick a date of 3114 BC as the time of the Biblical Flood. I heavily lean on the agnostic British archeologist David Rohl who provides a strong narrative and the science to back up the Biblical account of the flood. In brief: Sumerians in the south come first BC; Akkadians further north emerge around 2400 BC; the Akkadian Empire of Sargon dominates the area around Babylon by 2000BC; Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar rule from Babylon later

27 MESOPOTAMIA - HOME OF THE SUMERIANS AND THE AKKADIANS Two cultural groups form the principle elements in the population of Mesopotamia before the beginning of history and in the millennium after (the 3rd millennium BC). These are the Sumerians and the Akkadians. They lived peacefully together. The people responsible for the first monumental temples and palaces, for the founding of the first city states and most likely for the invention of writing are the Sumerians. There were four main classes of people in ancient Sumer - the priests, the upper class, the lower class, and the slaves. The priests were powerful. They were in charge of making sure everyone behaved in a way that would make the gods happy.

28 SUMERIAN AND AKKADIAN LANGUAGE Akkadian was the native language of Babylonia in the north Sumerian was the most ancient language of the region and the language of the Enmerkar/Nimrod stories as recorded on the tablets The two languages were frequently mixed. The old Ziggurat built by Enmerkar/Nimrod was placed by Genesis to be in the sacred precinct of ancient Babylon or Bab-Ily in Akkadian.

29 IS CUSH MERKIAGKASHER? The Sumerian Dynasty of Uruk and its list of kings is chronicled in the royal cuneiform archives in Babylon. Cush (or Merkiagkasher in the Sumerian chronicles), the grandson of Noah founds the the first great post-flood empire around 3,000 BC. Cush is succeeded by his son, Enmerkar around 2850 BC. There is a strong argument for this ruler to be Nimrod.

30 ENMERKAR - NIMROD 8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord. (Genesis 10:8-9). Enmerkar (Enmer the hunter) is argued to be the historic figure behind Nimrod, the mighty hunter. He would later be deified as the Mesopotamian hunter god, Ninurta. King Enmer claimed descent from a people who originated in the Zagros Mountains from where Noah s family migrated.

31 THE KINGDOM OF ARATTA The Kingdom of Aratta or the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4) contains a sacred spring dedicated to the goddess Inanna. The Babylonians knew her as Istar and the Canaanites as Astarte. She is the Ashtaroth of the Bible and the Egyptian Iset or Isis in Greek. King Emmer (Nimrod) coveted this cult and its goddess for his kingdom of Uruk and desired to make her his own He conquered Aratta to accomplish this takeover

32 ARATTA AND THE NEW TEMPLE It was Nimrod s plan to have the people of Aratta supply the building materials and labor to construct new temples at both Uruk and at old Eridu. The story of this is recorded in Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta s Epic Enmerkar and his son Lugalbanda will eventually add Aratta to their expansive empire and acquire the resources to build his temple. Enmerkar is definitely a potentate

33 ENMER BECOMES NIMROD The grateful Sumerians of Eridu elevated King Enmer-kar (Enmer the hunter) to godhood as Asar, son of Enki. Later Sumerians named him Ningirsu, the god of war and agriculture His name is Hebraised in Genesis10:8-12 into nmrd meaning we shall rebel as the king who will oppose Yahweh.

34 A GREAT SHRINE OF THE GODS Enmer not just interested in renovating the old shrines of Eridu The mud brick platform was to be a home for all the gods In Genesis 11:1-9 we see that Yahweh will humble Enmer/Nimrod The building of this first Ziggurat will come to sudden halt as described in the Sumerian story Ninurta s Pride and Punishment as well as the matching account in Genesis The builders are dispersed and the site remains in ruins until around 2000 BC during the Sumerian Third Dynasty of Uruk

35 GERMAN TOWER OF BABEL BUILDING TECHNIQU E

36 BABYLON, FROM WHENCE COMETH THEE? The earliest mention of Babylon is from around 2000 BC Ziggurats will be constructed near and in Babylon but not until the Second Millennium BC. The first Babylonian Ziggurat will be built during the time of Hammurabi around the time of Abraham The Tower of Babel refers to Nimrod s challenge to Yahweh around 3000 BC not the Babylon of the Hanging Gardens

37 HAMMURABI, THE LAW GIVER The first written law code is from the Babylonian ruler, Hammurabi This stele (stone) dates from around 1754 BC While TV theorists associate the laws on the stele with Moses, there is no known connection

38 THE FAMOUS STELE Hammurabi s Law Code Today a copy resides modestly in the Berlin Pergamon Museum next to a radiator The original is in the Paris Louvre Hammurabi is depicted in the US Congress building along with Moses

39 ENMERKAR IS NIMROD? The centre of his (Nimrod s) empire were Babel, Erech and Akkad, all of them in the land of Shinar. (Genesis 10:10) The first potentate on Earth (Genesis 10:8) attempted to build a temple or gateway to the gods and failed Many Archeologists conclude that the The Tower of Babel refers to Nimrod s tower in Third Millennium Sumerian Eridu not Second Millennium Babylon of Abraham s time

40 THE CONFUSION OR BABEL OF LANGUAGES? Genesis 10:5 describes a post-noah era where descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth and have different languages Genesis 11:1 says all people spoke the same language God decides to bring the tower project to a halt by confusing their languages Perhaps the order of the story is not in the same order as the events. Perhaps the folks building the tower were only residents of Shinar (Sumer).

41 THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES Gustav Dore, mid-19th Century

42 HOW BEGAT 72? Chapter 10 in Genesis lists Noah s immediate descendants Japheth had 15, 30 for Ham and 27 for Shem. They total 72. Isadore of Seville (c.600) is one of the first scholars to determine which nationalities came from whom. The effort continues The Book of Mormon relates that God allowed a man named Jared to keep his language as they migrated to North America Of course, present day Iraqis still seem to have difficulty communicating with each other

43 HOW LONG TO LEARN A LANGUAGE? In Genesis, the builders of the tower instantly started speaking new languages that were incomprehensible to their compatriots This certainly has a New Testament parallel on the Day of Pentecost although the purpose was far different. The study of the origin of languages is a long one Whether languages take a long time to evolve or they develop quickly is a matter of vehement and vociferous scholarly debate The opinions vary widely but do include options compatible with the Genesis account

44 TURRIS BABEL LORD OF THE RINGS VERSION

45 REALITY: URUK IN 2008

46 URUK ZIGGURAT DURING THE TIME OF NIMROD

47 ENTRANCE TO THE TEMPLE OF INNANA FROM URUK Currently residing in the Berlin Pergamon Museum

48 RECONSTRUCTED ZIGGURAT OF UR (URUK) BY SADDAM HUSSEIN American GIs on top

49 1939 UR RECONSTRUCTION BY LEONARD WOOLLEY OF FLOOD FAME

50 BRICKS WITH TAR MORTAR

51 UR OF THE CHALDEES TODAY - ABRAHAM S HOME TOWN It is assumed that Abraham grew up here 2000 BC before departing for the Promised Land

52 MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION Mesopotamian religious practices varied through time and distance, it was basically characterized by polytheism. Mesopotamian mythology suggests a number of gods and goddesses. There were hundreds of thousands of deities. Each god had priests, temples and followers.

53 SUMERIAN SUPPLICANTS Votive statues Enlarged eyes into the soul Bare feet in the presence of god

54 A WHO S WHO OF DEITIES Enlil was the god of the air and the storms. Enlil produced storms or stopped them in order to help men. Enki was the god of water and the earth. Enki was also the patron of wisdom. The goddess of love and war was Inanna.

55 GIFTS FOR THE GODS Ashur was the patron god of Assyria and Marduk of Babylon. Enki was associated with the city of Eridu. Dingir was the Sumerian name for the gods and they were called as ilu in Akkadian language.

56 ENTER ABRAHAM It it obvious that the people of Shinar did not get the message about the nature of God even after the Flood. Despite growing up in this theological zoo, Abraham clearly hears God s message and departs for the Promised Land

57 ABRAHAM ENROUTE

58 ASSYRIAN OENOPHILE S IN ISTANBUL

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60 CUNEIFORM WIDELY ADOPTED Cuneiform writing originated in southern Mesopotamia, and was created in the Sumerian culture, in order to write in the Sumerian language. Later it was used for Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian writing. Cuneiform developed into the dominant writing style of the Middle East, and even spread to Egypt, where hieroglyphic writing was normally preferred. The use of clay that sometimes was fired created a durable writing medium.

61 HOW DURABLE? The British Museum has over 130,000 tablets The Iraq National Museum in Bagdad has more (or at least it used to). Most are prosaic records such as the number of goats owned by a taxpayer. Some are literature like the Epic of Gilgamesh.

62 BIBLICAL BABYLONIA The Book of Daniel describes the world of Nebuchadnezzar, the destroyer of the first temple Nebuchadnezzar is usually credited with the building of the famous Hanging Gardens

63 ETEMENANKI The 300 foot tall temple dedicated to the god Marduk built in Babylon during the time of the Babylonian Captivity Some scholars consider it to the inspiration behind the Tower of Babel Today it is in ruins

64 BABYLON MODEL WITH TEMPLE

65 BASE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR S ZIGGURAT IN BABYLON TODAY

66 NEBUCHADNEZZAR, IN THE HOUSE? In Berlin?

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