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CALAH

(Heb. kālaḥ; Akk. kalḫu)

The capital of the Assyrian Empire during much of the Iron Age; located at modern Nimrûd near the confluence of the Tigris and Zab rivers, ca. 35 km. (22 mi.) S of Nineveh (Tell Kuyunjik). The city was located on the banks of the Tigris. Excavations revealed that the city was inhabited from the early 3rd millennium b.c.e. onward. It is first mentioned in written documents of the 13th century. From the slight evidence from the late Middle Assyrian period it can be inferred that Kalḫu functioned as a provincial capital in that period. In the early 9th century Assurnasirpal II rebuilt and extended the city to make it the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, with a number of palaces and temples. Kalḫu was located in an agricultural area in the Assyrian heartland. As a political and religious center the city also was a scribal center that housed its own library. The city functioned as the place where the army was assembled before campaigns, even after Sargon II moved the capital to Dur-sharruken. In the final years of Esarhaddon Kalḫu again functioned as a capital for a short time.

No deportation of Israelites to Kalḫu is mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions. Israelite personal names in Neo-Assyrian inscriptions, however, give evidence that after the conquest of Samaria Israelites were brought to Calah to function in the Assyrian army.

Calah is identified as one of the cities built by the heroic hunter Nimrod after he moved from Babel to Assur (Gen. 10:11-12). The Table of Nations does not supply trustworthy historical information on primeval history, but seems to reflect relations from the Neo-Assyrian Empire at its summit.

Bibliography. B. Becking, The Fall of Samaria. Studies in the History of the Ancient Near East 2 (Leiden, 1992), 73-87; M. E. L. Mallowan, Nimrud and Its Remains (London, 1966).

Bob Becking

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CALAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)