Genesis 10 - Noah’s Family Tree - Akkad
Noah > Ham > Cush > Nimrod >> Akkad
While no son of Nimrod is listed in scripture, several cities are listed as coming from him.
Genesis 10:8-12 - 8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.
The first one I want to focus on is Akkad. To read Moses’ account one would think that Nimrod was the emperor of the Akkadian empire, which was centered in Akkad, and spanned roughly the same area as Nimrod’s cities. Though not likely, I think there is a historical story to tell here.
Recall that last year, I put together a timeline of Biblical history which compares quite favorably with secular Jewish History and Secular Egyptian History. The question then is how favorably it compares with Akkadian history. First, here is my biblical timeline…
- 2807 BC - Flood Begins
- 2806 BC - Flood Ends
- 2380 BC - God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen. 11:10-32, 12:1-4)
Israel lives in Canaan for the next 215 years - 2165 BC - Israel moves to Egypt to live with Joseph
Israel lives under Joseph in Egypt for 73 years - 2092 BC - Joseph dies
Israel lives in peace in Egypt for 215 years - 1877 BC - Pharaoh who does not know Joseph enslaves Israel
Israel lives enslaved for 400 years - 1477 BC - Moses leads Israel out of slavery
- 997 BC - Solomon started building temple 480 years after leaving Israel
- 960 BC - Completion of the Temple (secular dating)
It is looking like the Tower of Babel and scattering of languages was between 2806 BC and 2380 BC, probably around 2700 BC. According to Wikipedia, here are the key historical datings I see…
- “During the third millennium BC, an intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism” (2000-3000 BC) — advent of multiple languages and bilinguilism is consistent with Tower of Babel being around 2700 BC
- “reached the height of its power between the 24th and 22nd centuries BCE” (2100-2200 BC) — Around the time Israel moved to Egypt with Joseph
- “Semitic speakers seem to have already been present in Mesopotamia at the dawn of the historical record, and soon achieved preeminence with the first Dynasty of Kish and numerous localities to the north of Sumer, where rulers with Semitic names had already established themselves by the 3rd millennium BC” — Consistent with Shem’s descendants (and even Ham’s) beginning several cities between the end of the flood and the Tower of Babel.
- “The fame of the early establishers of Semitic supremacy was far eclipsed by that of Sargon of Akkad (Sharru-kin = “legitimate king”, probably a title he took on gaining power) (23rd century BCE)…” — During this time the Hebrews lived in Canaan, where they would have no interaction with these events. It would explain why Jacob’s descendants were still speaking Hebrew despite the dominance of the Akkadian language, while other Semitic descendants of Noah in Sumer and Assyria were overcome.
So, it would seem that History can accommodate the idea of Nimrod conquering much of Sumer and Assyria, in the form of naming them and perhaps extracting payments for safety and/or protection. Sumer came before the Tower, Assyria after. However, Nimrod had no status as a recorded emperor. It would seem he merely began Semitic cities and gave them names… names that were maintained when the Akkadian Empire was later formed, and later fell.