Shinar


Shinar (Hebrew Šin`ar, Septuagint Σεννααρ Sennaar) is a broad designation applied to Mesopotamia, occurring eight times in the Hebrew Bible. In the Book of Genesis 10:10, the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom is said to have been "Babel, and Uruk, and Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." The following chapter, 11:2, states that Shinar was a plain settled after the flood, where mankind, still speaking one language, built the Tower of Babel. In Genesis 14:1,9 Shinar is the land ruled by king Amraphel, usually identified with Hammurabi who reigned in Babylon. "Shinar" is further mentioned in Joshua 7:21; Isaiah 11:11; and Zechariah 5:11, as a general synonym for Babylonia.