Sargon of Akkad and Nimrod

by Damien F. Mackey “Now, Naram-Sin similarly sought to assert his human authority towards, and even against, the gods”. Historum.com Sargon of Akkad, whom I have tentatively, intra-dynastically, multi-identified, especially as Naram-Sin, but also (read this): Sargon and Shar-Kali-Sharri https://www.academia.edu/39473281/Sargon_and_Shar-Kali-Sharri especially, though, seems to invite comparison with the biblical Nimrod. Caleb Chow, for instance, in The Legacies of Sargon and Joshua: An Archaeological and Historiographical Comparison https://www.academia.edu/5789953/The_Legacies_of_Sargon_and_Joshua_An_Archaeological_and_Historiographical_Comparison begins his “Nimrod” section on p. 78 with this statement: “The person of Nimrod is a curious case in that his characteristics bear a striking resemblance to Sargon of Akkad”. But Caleb Chow will conclude this section (p. 79), with: “In summary, Nimrod was not any particular historical individual, but rather the "figure" of Sargon--that is, the first great king after the flood”. And previously I have followed Dr. Douglas Petrovich’s view that Sargon was Nimrod: “Identifying Nimrod of Genesis 10 with Sargon of Akkad by Exegetical and Archaeological Means” http://www.academia.edu/2184113/_2013_Identify Beginning on p. 93 of this article, Dr. Petrovich will commence his section V: V. THE PREFERABLE OPTION FOR NIMROD’S IDENTITY: SARGON OF AKKAD Having completed a detailed study of Gen 10:7–12 and an evaluation of the views for the identification of Nimrod that are most prevalent in the scholarly literature, the final task at hand is to identify correctly who Nimrod is, and to demonstrate why this identification is secure. Nimrod is none other than Sargon the Great, the King of Sumer and Akkad, who is history’s first empire-builder. The identification of Nimrod with either Sargon or Naram-Sin has been brought up in the past, generally only in passing. …. The present writer believes that a conclusive case now can be made for equating Nimrod with Sargon. The following arguments will serve to support the veracity of this claim. …. It is interesting to note, in light of my Sargon-as-Naram-Sin, that Dr Petrovich will here entertain (but dismiss) the possibility that Naram-Sin may have been Nimrod: Before concluding this task, reasons will be given as to why Sargon is to be preferred over his grandson, Naram-Sin, for the dubious distinction of being identified with Nimrod. Dr. Petrovich’s thesis suffers, though, from a geographical misplacement, by his identifying of the biblical “Shinar” - and hence the region of Nimrod (Genesis 10:10): “The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar” - with Sumer in southern Mesopotamia. Neither Sumer, nor Shinar, was in southern Mesopotamia: “The Sumerian Problem” – Sumer not in Mesopotamia (7) “The Sumerian Problem” – Sumer not in Mesopotamia | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu Nor, even, was Sargon’s capital of Akkad situated in Sumer, in which region it has not been found to this very day. See e.g. my article: My road to Akkad (8) My road to Akkad | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu There is a huge and unfortunate geographical off-set when Nimrod’s cities, and Babel, are sought for in southern Mesopotamia. Dr. David Rohl’s view (in The Lost Testament) that the Uruk dynasty after the Flood was the dynasty of Nimrod, with the latter being the historical Enmerkar (‘Enmer the Hunter’, as he translates the name), may still possibly apply as well, if this Uruk (Erech) is taken as being a location different from the one identified as Uruk in southern Mesopotamia. “The first centers of [Nimrod’s] kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar”. And only after that (vv. 11-12): “From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city”. Whilst Sargon was a real person, I would suggest that the Mesopotamians had borrowed this story of his infancy (dating much later than the similar Moses story) from the Book of Exodus: http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/nemonarchs/g/Sargon.htm “A story about Sargon’s youth sounds like the Moses infancy story. The baby Sargon, nestled in a reed basket sealed with bitumen, was placed in the Euphrates River. The basket floated until it was rescued by a gardener or date grower. In this capacity he worked for the king of Kish, Ur-Zababa until he rose in the ranks to become the king’s cupbearer. …”. Moses seems to have had in mind the arrogance of the Babel-ians (Genesis 11:3-4): “They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly’. They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 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’,” when he recorded of the “new king [Pharaoh] … in Egypt” (Exodus 1:8-11): “‘Look’, he said to his people, ‘the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country’. So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.” Who may have been the equivalent of the Israelite slaves in the construction of Babel? The Akkadian kings and later potentates, such as Hammurabi of Babylon, were wont to speak condescendingly of the, presumably indigenous, “black-headed people” whom they governed. The Catholic mystic, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, has written this of Nimrod and Babel (Life of Jesus Christ): “One of the chief leaders in the Tower building was Nemrod [Nimrod]. He was afterward honored as a deity under the name of Belus. He was the founder of the race that honored Derketo and Semiramis as goddesses. He built Babylon out of the stones of the Tower, and Semiramis greatly embellished it. He also laid the foundation of Ninive [Nineveh], and built substructures of stones for tent dwellings. He was a great hunter and tyrant. At that period savage animals were very numerous, and they committed fearful ravages. The hunting expeditions fitted out against them were as grand as military expeditions. They who slew these wild animals, were honored as gods. Nemrod also drove men together and subdued them. He practiced idolatry, he was full of cruelty and witchcraft, and he had many descendants. He lived to be about two hundred and seventy years old. He was of sallow complexion, and from early youth he had led a wild life. He was an instrument of Satan and very much given to star worship. Of the numerous figures and pictures that he traced in the planets and constel¬lations, and according to which he prophesied con¬cerning the different nations and countries, he sought to reproduce representations, which he set up as gods. The Egyptians owe their Sphinx to him, as also their many-armed and many-headed idols. For seventy years, Nemrod busied himself with the histories of these idols, with ceremonial details relative to their worship and the sacrifices to be offered them, also with the forming of the pagan priesthood. By his dia¬bolical wisdom and power, he had subjected the races that he led to the building of the Tower. When the confusion of tongues arose, many of those tribes broke away from him, and the wildest of them followed Mesraim into Egypt. Nemrod built Babylon, subjected the country around, and laid the foundation of the Babylonian Empire. Among his numerous children were Ninus and Derketo. The last-mentioned was honored as a goddess”. Dr. D. Livingston has, for his part, considered that Nimrod was the basis for the semi-legendary hero, Gilgamesh, historically also the fifth king of Uruk (“Who Was Nimrod?”). It needs to be noted that the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, considered by documentists to have been the inspiration for some of the early Book of Genesis, exhibits late traces. For instance, Dr. Nili Samet has, in her article, “The Gilgamesh Epic and the Book of Qohelet: A New Look” (https://www.academia.edu/19814432/The_Gilgamesh_), drawn some very solid parallels between Gilgamesh and king Solomon’s Ecclesiastes (or Qoheleth). Though she, also, regards the Epic of Gilgamesh as being the influence upon the Hebrew book. Dr. D. Livingston has written more realistically in favour of Hebrew influence upon the pagans – though he also follows a southern Mesopotamian geography (op. cit.): “Besides the stories of the Creation and Flood in the Bible, there ought to be similar stories on clay tablets found in the cultures near and around the true believers. These tablets may have a reaction, or twisted version, in their accounts of the Creation and Flood. In the post-Flood genealogical records of Genesis 10, we note that the sons of Ham were: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. Mizraim became the Egyptians. No one is sure where Put went to live. And it is obvious who the Canaanites were. Cush lived in the "land of Shinar," which most scholars consider to be Sumer. …. The sons of Shem -- the Semites -- were also mixed, to some extent, with the Sumerians. We suggest that Sumerian Kish, the first city established in Mesopotamia after the Flood, took its name from the man known in the Bible as Cush. The first kingdom established after the Flood was Kish, and the name "Kish" appears often on clay tablets. The early post-Flood Sumerian king lists (not found in the Bible) say that "kingship descended from heaven to Kish" after the Flood. (The Hebrew name "Cush" was much later moved to present-day Ethiopia as migrations took place from Mesopotamia to other places.) …. In Genesis 10:8-11 we learn that "Nimrod" established a kingdom. Therefore, one would expect to find also, in the literature of the ancient Near East, a person who was a type, or example, for other people to follow. And there was. It is a well-known tale, common in Sumerian literature, of a man who fits the description. In addition to the Sumerians, the Babylonians wrote about this person; the Assyrians likewise; and the Hittites. Even in Palestine, tablets have been found with this man's name on them. He was obviously the most popular hero in the Ancient Near East. …. Naram-Sin of Akkad and Nimrod If Sargon of Akkad were the biblical Nimrod, as some think to have been the case, and, if Sargon and Naram-Sin were the same person – all of this tentatively suggested previously, then it must irresistibly follow that Naram-Sin and Nimrod were the same person. That connection Naram-Sin = Nimrod has already been picked up on the Internet. For instance, there is this contribution: “All of these lines of logic lead to the strong suggestion, that Naram-Sin was the basis for the biblical Nimrod”, at: https://historum.com/threads/nimrod-naram-sin-king-of-akkad-2100-bc.21280/ Historical Naram-Sin resembles biblical Nimrod Nimrod is mythically remembered for seeking to assert human immunity to Divine demands, and reliance on local human authority: Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to reach. And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers (Josephus). Now, Naram-Sin similarly sought to assert his human authority towards, and even against, the gods. And, the historical Great Flood had happened c.3000 BC, during a regional climatic anomaly ([ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piora_Oscillation"]Wiki[/ame]). That Great Flood was widely attributed to Divine Displeasure, against Sumer. So, if Naram-Sin, as Nimrod, sensed a second, similar, regional climatic anomaly, then he might have tried to stave off social unrest, by asserting his personal power, against 'the gods'. All of these lines of logic lead to the strong suggestion, that Naram-Sin was the basis for the biblical Nimrod. Then there is this one: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/548242954609572205/ “Naram sin is another name given to Nimrod which is mentioned in the book of Genesis (10:8)”. And, again, this one: https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/stele-of-naram-sin-king-depicted-as-a-living-god.2208768/ Naram-Sin was who? The Bible Genesis's own Nimrod? Naram-Sin was considered to be the king of the four corners of the universe. Not even his great grandfather Sargon could behold such a honor only referred to as king of Kish. This was because under Naram-Sin the Akkadian empire was at its peak. Some say the bible itself depicts Naram-Sin as Nimrod son of Cush great grandson of Noah and king of shinar. Nimrod was depicted as a man of power in earth, and a mighty hunter. He was rebellious to god. Genesis said in the beginning of his kingdom were the towns of Babel, Akkad, and Calneh in land of shinar (Mesopotamia). …. E. Kraeling, in “The Origin and Real Name of Nimrod” (The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Vol. 38, no. 3, April, 1922) will go so far as to write that (p. 220): “… Naram-Sin’s son built E-igi-kalama, “the house of the eye of the lands”, as the place where Nimrod was to be worshiped …”. Further to all this, I have tentatively identified Naram-Sin as Narmer: Narmer a Contemporary of Patriarch Abraham (2) Narmer a contemporary of Patriarch Abraham | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu And, as noted below, David Rohl has linked “Narmer and Nimrod” (though it must be said that the linguistic correspondence in this case is far from ideal): https://chriswerms.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/on-dinosaurs-chronologies-and-nimrod/ This is interesting, then, when we establish a link between Narmer and Nimrod. Most Ancient Days, a revisionist chronology site, links the two based on the Narmer plate. David Rohl makes the same comparison. Narmer also has no recorded genealogy, maybe because his parents were pre-Egyptian? ….