Shinar

Shinar

Shinar (Hebrew _he. שִׁנְעָר "Šin`ar", Septuagint Σεννααρ "Sennaar" 'land of the rivers') is a broad designation applied to Mesopotamia, occurring eight times in the Hebrew Bible. In the Book of Genesis 10:10, the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom is said to have been "Babel, and Uruk, and Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." The following chapter, 11:2, states that Shinar was a plain settled after the flood, where mankind, still speaking one language, built the Tower of Babel. In "Genesis" 14:1,9 Shinar is the land ruled by king Amraphel, who reigned in Babylon. "Shinar" is further mentioned in "Joshua" 7:21; "Isaiah" 11:11; "Daniel" 1:2; and "Zechariah" 5:11, as a general synonym for Babylonia.

If Shinar included both Babylon ("Babel") and Erech, then "Shinar" broadly denoted southern Babylonia. Any cognate relation with "Šumer", an Akkadian name used for a non-Semitic people who called themselves "Kiengir", is not simple to explain and has been the subject of varied speculation. The Egyptian term for Babylonia / Mesopotamia was "Sngr" ("Sangara"), [mentioned in the context of the Asiatic conquests of Thutmose III; W. Max Müller, "Asien und Europa," 1893, p. 279, cited after Jewish Encyclopedia] identified with the "Sanhar" of the Amarna letters by Sayce. ["Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch." 1896, xviii. 173 et seq.; "Patriarchal Palestine," 1895, pp. 67 et seq., cited after Jewish Encyclopedia]

Some scholarsFact|date=February 2007 have suggested that Shinar must have been confined to the northern part of Mesopotamia, based on Jubilees 9:3 which allots "Shinar" (or in the Ethiopic text, "Sadna Sena`or") to Asshur. However, 10:20 states that the Tower was built with bitumen from the sea of Shinar. Other scholars such as David Rohl, however, have proposed that the Tower was actually located in Eridu, once located on the Persian Gulf, where there are ruins of a massive, ancient ziggurat worked from bitumen.

This is where the sons of Shem, Ham and Japheth went after they tarried in the highlands of Armenia, after the flood (Vuibert, Ancient History, 25).

References

External links

* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=633&letter=S "Jewish Encyclopedia": Shinar]


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  • SHINAR — (Heb. שִׁנְצָר), place name referring to mesopotamia , the area once termed Sumer and Akkad. In Genesis 10:10 the name Shinar as a geographical name appears alongside the names of such ancient Mesopotamian sites as Babel (Akk. Bāb ili), Erech… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Shinar — Shinar, Schinear ou Sinhar (en hébreu שִׁנְעָר Šin ar, en grec Σεννααρ Sennaar) est un lieu mentionné par la Bible en Mésopotamie dont la localisation exacte est inconnue. Ce nom viendrait de la déformation de Shene nahar (« deux… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Shinar — [shī′när] region mentioned in the Bible, prob. corresponding to Sumer, in Babylonia …   English World dictionary

  • Shinar — A plain in Babylonia (modern S. Iraq), where the tower of Babel was supposed to have been built (Gen. 11:2). Some of the Israelite exiles were to be rescued from there (Isa. 11:11). In Zechariah s seventh vision the wickedness and guilt of Judah… …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • Shinar, The Land of —    LXX. and Vulgate Senaar; in the inscriptions, Shumir; probably identical with Babylonia or Southern Mesopotamia, extending almost to the Persian Gulf. Here the tower of Babel was built (Gen. 11:1 6), and the city of Babylon. The name occurs… …   Easton's Bible Dictionary

  • Shinar — geographical name a country known to the early Hebrews as a plain in Babylonia; probably Sumer …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Shinar — /shuy nahr/, n. a land mentioned in the Bible, often identified with Sumer. * * * …   Universalium

  • SHINAR —    the vast alluvial plain extending along the Tagus and Euphrates, forming the country of Chaldea and Babylonia …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Shinar — Shi•nar [[t]ˈʃaɪ nɑr[/t]] n. bib geg a land mentioned in the Bible, often identified with Sumer …   From formal English to slang

  • Shinar — /ˈʃaɪna/ (say shuynah) noun the biblical name of Babylonia, or the southern part known as Sumer …  

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