Calah

Biblical Text

Calah appears in the so-called "Table of Nations" in Genesis 10, the genealogy that traces how the various peoples descended from the sons of Noah. Cush, a son of Ham, fathered Nimrod. According to the text, the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar (Genesis 10:10). The following verses read: "From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city" (Genesis 10:11-12, Korean Revised Version). The place name Calah occurs in the Bible only in these two verses.

In Hebrew the name is written Kelaḥ. It is identified with the city called Kalhu in Akkadian, a language of ancient Mesopotamia.

History and Geography

Kalhu was a city of Assyria on the east bank of the Tigris River, near its confluence with the Great Zab. Its site is identified with the ruins of Nimrud, southeast of Mosul in present-day Iraq. In the ninth century BC the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II extensively rebuilt the city and made it his capital. For a time thereafter it remained one of the principal cities of the empire. It is believed to have been destroyed when Assyria fell at the end of the seventh century BC.

In the mid-nineteenth century the British explorer Austen Henry Layard excavated Nimrud. The excavations uncovered palaces and reliefs, as well as the "Black Obelisk" of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III. This monument bears the name of Jehu, king of Israel, together with a scene depicting Jehu, or an envoy sent by him, paying tribute to the Assyrian king. For this reason it is frequently cited as an example of an Israelite king attested in a record outside the Bible. In 2015 the militant group Islamic State (ISIS) was reported to have severely damaged the site.

Significance in the Bible as a Whole

Genesis 10 presents Calah, together with Nineveh, as a leading city of the land of Assyria. The name Calah does not appear again in the Bible. Nevertheless, Assyria, of which this city was a center, later exerted a great influence on the history of Israel and ultimately destroyed the northern kingdom (Fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel). The prophets even call Assyria "the rod of mine anger," an instrument used by God (Isaiah 10:5). Jehu's payment of tribute to Assyria is not recorded in 2 Kings. The monument found at Calah therefore serves as a source illuminating aspects of the international situation of the time that the Bible does not address. Calah does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

• The subject of verse 11: The Hebrew sentence can be read in two ways. The Korean Revised Version and many modern translations render it as Nimrod going into the land of Assyria and building the cities. This interpretation appeals to Micah 5:6, which calls Assyria "the land of Nimrod." By contrast, the King James Version and others translate it "Out of that land went forth Asshur," taking Asshur the son of Shem (Genesis 10:22) as the founder of these cities.
• "That is the great city": Interpreters differ over whether this phrase refers to Resen alone or to the whole group of cities, including Nineveh and Calah.
• Distinction from similar names: Calneh in Genesis 10:10 and Halah, to which the people of the northern kingdom of Israel were carried captive (2 Kings 17:6), are generally regarded as places distinct from Calah.
• The name Nimrud: The site's name, "Nimrud," is understood to have been given by local inhabitants at a later time, after the name of Nimrod. The name itself therefore does not constitute archaeological evidence confirming the Genesis account.