Bible Dictionary: Assur

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Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Assur

same as Ashur

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Assur

(Ezra 4:2; Psalms 83:8) [ASSHUR, ASSYRIA, ASSHUR; ASSYRIA]

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

SHERGHAT, ASSHUR, ASSUR

shur'-gat, sher'-gat: The name of the first capital city of Assyria is known by the Arabs as Qala' at Sherghat, or the Fortress of Sherghat. Its ancient name was Asshur or Assur (Genesis 10:11 margin). From it was derived the name of the country, Assyria, and of the people, Assyrians. The date of the founding of the city is not known. Apparently about 2000 B.C. a colony of Babylonians migrated northward along the Tigris River and settled upon the right shore about halfway between the Upper and Lower Zab, or halfway between the modern cities of Mosul and Bagdad. Assur, the local deity of the place, became the national god of Assyria. It is uncertain whether the deity gave the name to the city, or the city to the deity, but probably an early shrine of Assur stood there, and the people, building their city about it, became known as the Assyrians. At first the city was a Bah dependency, governed by priests from Babylonia. In time, as the city acquired a political significance, the power of the priesthood declined; allegiance to Babylonia ceased, and the Assyrian empire came into existence. About 1200 B.C. the political power had so increased that a new capital, Nimrud (Calah) was built to the North near the junction of the Upper Zab with the Tigris. In 722 B.C. the capital was transferred by Sargon to his new city, Dur-Sharrukin, and in 705 B.C. Sennacherib enlarged Nineveh, and it remained the capital city till the fall of the empire in 606 B.C. Assur, however, as the seat of the national deity, never ceased to be the chief religious center.

The mounds of Assur are among the largest in Mesopotamia. They rise abruptly from the Tigris, which they follow for about half a mile, and extend a quarter of a mile inland. In the surrounding plain are other mounds, marking the sites of temples, and indicating that a part of the city was without the walls. At the northern end the mounds are surmounted by a high conical peak, which represents the tower or ziggurat of the temple of Assur.

Of the early excavators Layard and Rassam examined the ruins, but the fanaticism of the surrounding Arabs prevented extensive excavations. In 1904 Dr. W. Andrae, for the Deutsche Orientgesellschaft, began the systematic excavations which have been continued by Dr. P. Maresch for ten years. Discoveries of the greatest importance have been made. The city was found to have been surrounded on the land side by a double wall. The space between the walls, several rods in width, was occupied by houses, possibly the homes of the soldiers. The base of the outer wall was of stone; above it were mud bricks strengthened at intervals with courses of burned bricks. Along the outer upper edge was a parapet, protected by battlements. From the floor of the parapet small holes were bored vertically downward, so that the soldiers, without exposing themselves, might discharge their arrows at the enemy close to the base of the wall. Many of the holes are still visible. The wall was pierced with several gateways; the names "Gate of Assur," "Gate of the Tigris," "Gate of the Sun God" have survived. At the sides of the gateways were small chambers for the guards, and from them passageways led to the parapet above. The gates were reached by bridges which spanned the moat. Along the river side the city was protected by a high steep embankment, which was built partly of limestone, but chiefly of square bricks laid in bitumen.

The temple of Assur at the northern end of the city has been thoroughly excavated. With its outer and inner court and tower it conformed in its general plan to the older Babylonian temples. Several of the palaces of the early kings were discovered, but the best-preserved of the palaces was one which the excavators have called the residence of the mayor. It stood near the western edge of the city on the main street which ran from the western gate to the Tigris. It consisted of two courts surrounded by chambers. Grooves in the paved floor conducted fresh water to the kitchen, the baths and the chambers, and round tiles beneath the floor carried away the waste water to the arched city sewer and to the Tigris. To the rear of the mayor's house was a crowded residential quarter. The streets were very narrow and winding. The houses were exceedingly small; in some of them one could not lie at full length upon the floor. Among their ruins appeared little but stone mortars and broken pottery and other essential household implements.

Near the southern end of the city a most remarkable discovery was made. About a hundred monoliths, from 4 to 8 ft. high, were found still standing erect. On the side of each one, near the top, was an inscription of several lines, dedicating the stone to some individual who had been of great service to the state. They were not tombstones; apparently they had been erected during the lifetime of the people whom they honored. Of the greatest interest was one which bore the name of Sammuramat or Semiramis, the once supposed mythical queen of Nineveh. Its translation reads: "The column of Sa-am-mu-ra-mat, the palace wife of Samsi-Adad, king of the world, king of Assyria, the mother of Adad-Nirari, king of the world, king of Assyria, the.... of Shalmaneser, king of the four regions." The inscription not only makes Semiramis a historical character, but places her among the foremost rulers of Assyria.

The tombs of the kings and nobles were found deep in the ruins in the very center of the city. They were rectangular structures of cut stone, covered above with a rounded arch of burned bricks. In some cases the massive stone doors still turned in their sockets. The roofs of many of them had fallen in; others, which were intact, were filled with dust. From the tombs a vast amount of silver, gold and copper jewelry and stone beads and ornaments were recovered.

One of the chief temples of the city stood at short distance without the eastern wall. Nothing but its foundations remain. However, the temple was surrounded by a park, traces of which still exist. The soil of the surrounding plain is a hard clay, incapable of supporting vegetable life. Into the clay large holes, several feet in diameter, were dug and filled with loam. Long lines of the holes may still be traced, each marking the spot where a tree, probably the date palm, stood in the temple park.

A modern cemetery on the summit of the main mound is still used by the neighboring Arabs, and therefore it will likely prevent the complete excavation of this oldest of the capital cities of Assyria.

See further ASSYRIA.

E. J. Banks

ASSHUR; ASSUR

ash'-oor, as'-oor. See ASSYRIA.

ASSUR

as'-ur. See ASUR.

Strong's Hebrew

804. Ashshuwr -- step, going
... 803, 804. Ashshuwr. 804a . step, going. Transliteration: Ashshuwr Phonetic
Spelling: (ash-shoor') Short Definition: Asshur. Asshur, Assur, Assyria, Assyrians ...
/hebrew/804.htm - 5k

Library

The Power of Assyria at Its Zenith; Esarhaddon and Assur-Bani-Pal
... CHAPTER II"THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH; ESARHADDON AND ASSUR-BANI-PAL. THE
MEDES AND CIMMERIANS: LYDIA"THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT, OP ARABIA, AND OF ELAM. ...
/.../chapter iithe power of assyria.htm

The Power of Assyria at Its Zenith; Esarhaddon and Assur-Bani-Pal
... CHAPTER II"THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH; ESARHADDON AND ASSUR-BANI-PAL. The
Medes and Cimmerians: Lydia"The conquest of Egypt, of Arabia, and of Elam. ...
/.../chapter iithe power of assyria 2.htm

History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 7
... [Illustration: Titlepage]. [Illustration: 002.jpg PAGE IMAGE]. THE ASSYRIAN REVIVAL
AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SYRIA. ASSUR-NAZIR-PAL (885-860 BC) AND SHALMANESER III ...
/.../history of egypt chaldaea syria babylonia and assyria v 7/title page.htm

Of the Generations of the Three Sons of Noah.
... Out of that land went forth Assur, and built Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and
Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah: this was a great city." Now this ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 3 of the generations of.htm

Appendices
... 721 Sargon of Assyria 709 Sennacherib, his son 705 Merodach-zakir-sumi, 1 month
702 Merodach-baladan III., 6 months 702 Bel-ebus of Babylon 702 Assur-nadin-sumi ...
/.../sayce/early israel and the surrounding nations/appendices.htm

Nineveh.
... took place at Babel, and men were dispersed, the sons of Ham's grandson, Cush, remained
in Mesopotamia, which took the name of Assyria, from Assur, the officer ...
//christianbookshelf.org/yonge/the chosen people/lesson ix nineveh.htm

From the Eleventh Chapter.
... But that he shall ascend from the abyss is proved by many testimonies; for he says
in the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel: "Behold, Assur was a cypress in ...
/.../commentary on the apocolypse of the blessed john/from the eleventh chapter.htm

Psalm LXXXIII.
... 6. And as if to point out the cause why they are enemies of God's people, he adds,
"For Assur came with them." Now Assur is often used figuratively for the ...
/.../augustine/exposition on the book of psalms/psalm lxxxiii.htm

Introduction
... Thus Assur-bani-pal forgave the Egyptian prince of Sais when, like Manasseh, he
had been sent in chains to Assyria after an unsuccessful rebellion, and ...
/.../sayce/early israel and the surrounding nations/introduction.htm

Babylonia and Assyria
... The high-priests of Assur, now Kaleh Sherghat, near the confluence of the Tigris
and Lower Zab, made themselves independent and founded the kingdom of Assyria ...
/.../early israel and the surrounding nations/chapter vi babylonia and assyria.htm

Thesaurus

Assur (2 Occurrences)
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia SHERGHAT, ASSHUR, ASSUR. shur ... Sherghat. Its
ancient name was Asshur or Assur (Genesis 10:11 margin). ...
/a/assur.htm - 13k

Sherghat
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia SHERGHAT, ASSHUR, ASSUR. shur ... Sherghat. Its
ancient name was Asshur or Assur (Genesis 10:11 margin). ...
/s/sherghat.htm - 12k

Calah (2 Occurrences)
... 2. Early References to the City: The Assyrian king Assur-nacir-apli (circa 885 BC)
states that Calah was made (probably = founded) by Shalmaneser (I) circa ...
/c/calah.htm - 14k

Asshur (133 Occurrences)
... (see CALAH; NINEVEH.). Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. SHERGHAT, ASSHUR, ASSUR. ...
Its ancient name was Asshur or Assur (Genesis 10:11 margin). ...
/a/asshur.htm - 46k

Tirhakah (2 Occurrences)
... The Assyrian armies under Esarhaddon, and again under Assur-bani-pal, invaded Egypt
and defeated Tirhakah, who afterwards retired into Ethiopia, where he died ...
/t/tirhakah.htm - 11k

Chaldeans (82 Occurrences)
... of Assyria. This took place probably about 650 BC, in the reign of Esarhaddon's
son Assur-bani-apli (see OSNAPPAR). 9. Palia: Hostility ...
/c/chaldeans.htm - 48k

Rehoboth-ir (1 Occurrence)
... 2. Or, Possibly, the Old Capital, Assur: Though the probabilities in favor of Rebit
Ninua are great, it is doubtful whether a suburb could have been regarded ...
/r/rehoboth-ir.htm - 8k

Rehobothir
... 2. Or, Possibly, the Old Capital, Assur: Though the probabilities in favor of Rebit
Ninua are great, it is doubtful whether a suburb could have been regarded ...
/r/rehobothir.htm - 8k

Medes (15 Occurrences)
... most Aryan nations they were at first divided into small village communities each
governed by its own chiefs (called in Assyrian chazanati by Assur-bani-pal ...
/m/medes.htm - 18k

Chaldea (8 Occurrences)
... of Assyria. This took place probably about 650 BC, in the reign of Esarhaddon's
son Assur-bani-apli (see OSNAPPAR). 9. Palia: Hostility ...
/c/chaldea.htm - 25k

Bible Concordance

Assur (2 Occurrences)

Ezra 4:2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
(KJV WBS)

Psalms 83:8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.
(KJV BBE WBS)

Subtopics

Assur

Related Terms

Sherghat

Calah (2 Occurrences)

Asshur (133 Occurrences)

Tirhakah (2 Occurrences)

Chaldeans (82 Occurrences)

Rehoboth-ir (1 Occurrence)

Rehobothir

Medes (15 Occurrences)