Nimrod (; ), king of
Shinar, was, according to the
Book of Genesis and
Books of Chronicles, the son of
Cush, the great-grandson of
Noah. The
Bible states that he was "a mighty hunter before the Lord [and] .... began to be mighty in the earth". Extra-biblical traditions associating him with the
Tower of Babel led to his reputation as a king who was rebellious against God. Since Accad (Babylonian
Akkad) was destroyed and lost with the destruction of its Empire in the period 2200–2154 BC (
long chronology), the stories mentioning Nimrod seem to recall the late Early Bronze Age. The association with Erech (Babylonian
Uruk), a city that lost its prime importance around 2,000 BC as a result of struggles between
Isin,
Larsa and
Elam, also attests the early provenance of the stories of Nimrod. Several
Mesopotamian ruins were given Nimrod's name by 8th-century
Arabs, including the ruins of the
Assyrian city of
Kalhu (the biblical
Calah), built by
Shalmaneser I (1274–1244 BC) (see
Nimrud). A number of attempts to connect him with historical figures have been made.