Ashur (Bible)
Second son of Shem and founder of Assyrian cities.
Ashur (אַשּׁוּר ʾAššūr) was the second son of Shem, who was a son of Noah. His brothers were Elam, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. Ashur is notable as a figure associated with the founding of several ancient cities.
Quick Facts
- Parents
- Shem
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- The Ge'ez version of the Book of Jubilees, affirmed by 15 Jubilees scrolls from the Dead Sea Scrolls, states that the contested lands in Genesis 10:8–12 were apportioned to Ashur.
- Jubilees 9:3 says, 'And for Ashur came forth the second Portion, all the land of Ashur and Nineveh and Shinar and to the border of India, and it ascends and skirts the river.'
- Flavius Josephus wrote that Ashur lived at Nineveh and named his subjects Assyrians.
Status as a city builder
Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, scholars disagreed over whether Ashur or Nimrod built the Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Resen, Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, because the name Ashur can refer to either the person or the country. Sir Walter Raleigh discussed this question in his History of the World. The JPS Tanakh 1917 and the 1611 King James Bible credit Ashur as the founder of those cities.
More in Mythological Founders of Populated Places
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