"Shinar" (שנער) is a broad designation applied to Mesopotamia that occurs eight times in the Hebrew Bible. In the Book of Genesis x.10 the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom is said to have been "Babel, and Uruk, and Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." In the following chapter, xi. 2, Shinar is the site of the Tower of Babel (Genesis xi.2). In Genesis xiv.1 and 9, Shinar is the home of Amraphel, generally identified with Hammurabi, who reigned in Babylon.
"Shinar" is also mentioned in Joshua vii. 21; Isaiah xi. 11; and Zechariah v. 11.
If Shinar included both Babylon ("Babel") and Erech, then "Shinar" broadly denoted both northern and southern Babylonia. There is no simple cognate relation with "Sumer."
It is most likely, according to the obvious association with Ur of the Chaldees, that Shinar is the land of the Moon God Sin (Shin, hence to shine like the moon), whose earliest Mesopotamian temple was at Ur. Sin also had temples that spanned across the fertile crescent, including a prominent temple in Babylon and one of its famous Gates, and also a major temple in Harran, and probably also in Jericho, that most ancient city, the name of which means "Place of the Moon God." -H. Welsh
Many believe Shinar to be a reference to the land that is now China. The very ancient Arabic name for china is 'Ṣīn' or 'Sina'. Likewise, in Latin China is referred to as 'Sinae', which is where the English prefix Sino- (ex. Sino-Tibetan) originates.
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Last updated: 10-16-2005 13:08:35
