Nadene Goldfoot
Iraq Today-Ur is still on the map, land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
US Forces in Iraq, now planning a change. During a visit to Iraq, Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said the reduction in Iraq — from about 5,200 troops to about 3,000 — reflects the Trump administration’s confidence in the ability of U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces to handle the militant threat from the Islamic State group.
U.S. troops invaded Iraq in 2003 and left in 2011 but returned in 2014 after the Islamic State group overran large parts of Iraq. McKenzie said the remaining U.S. troops would continue advising and assisting Iraqi security forces as they attempt to root out remnants of the Islamic State group, sometimes called ISIS.
“The U.S. decision is a clear demonstration of our continued commitment to the ultimate goal, which is an Iraqi security force that is capable of preventing an ISIS resurgence and of securing Iraq’s sovereignty without external assistance,” McKenzie said. “The journey has been difficult, the sacrifice has been great, but the progress has been significant.”
The monthly average temperatures in Iraq range from higher than 48 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) in July and August to below zero in January. Roughly 90 percent of the annual rainfall occurs between November and April, most of it in the winter months from December through March.
IRAQ is Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia literally means "between the rivers" in ancient Greek. The oldest known occurrence of the name Mesopotamia dates to the 4th century BCE, when it was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria. ... Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf.
Before Islam came to this area, it was referred to as Babylonia. The Arabs from Arabia conquered it in 637.
Shinar (Hebrew שִׁנְעָר Šinʿar,) is the southern region of Mesopotamia in the Hebrew Bible (Torah).Shinar comes to us right away in Genesis 10:10, telling us about Nimrod, son of Cush, the first of the mighty men on earth, having the reputation of being a mighty hunter first. The beginning of his kingdom were the cities of Babel, Enech;, Accad, and Calneh in the LAND OF SHINAR. Nimrod was of Cushite origin. His kingdom grew to include Babylon, Erech, Accad and the others. Assyria was poetically known as the land of Nimrod. His historical identity with one of the Babylonian kings is still up in the air.
Cush-before the days of DNA as found in the Bible was the son of Ham; brother of Mizraim (Egypt), Put (Libya and Morocco) and Canaan (Gen. 10:6. The Cushites seem to be tribes now found in Africa and southern Arabia. The city of Cush/ Cosseans, which in Babylonian tradition, was one of the first cities built after THE FLOOD. It is also the region south of Egypt-Nubia, Ethiopia, in Hebrew and other ancient languages. It extended south from Elephantine and Syene (the modern Assouan-Awan as in Aswan Dam in Egypt). The Book of Numbers 12:1 describes Moses as having married "a Cushite woman".
Wine had been invented by now as Noah, our ancestor, got drunk. He had had vineyards before the flood. The earliest evidence of a rice and grape mixed based fermented drink was found in ancient China (c. 7000 BC), earliest evidence of wine in Georgia (Russia) from 6000 BC, Iran from 5000 BC, and Sicily from 4000 BC. The earliest known wineries from 4100 BC is the Areni-1 winery in Armenia. Possibly our cavemen drank liquids from fermented grapes and enjoyed the experience! The vintage find, probably a branch of Beer, was dated to the second half of the sixth millennium B.C.E. -- a couple of thousand years before the first beer. That can be traced to the fourth millennium B.C.E., when common folk in Egypt and Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) produced the inexpensive brew from wheat or barley.
A recent discovery by a team of researchers highlights the importance that wine once had in the region. Earlier this summer, the remains of 40 large wine jugs were found in the Canaanite palace of Tel Kabri, in the northwestern part of modern-day Israel.
Israel.Sep 24, 2014. Clay Tablet of Gilgamesh This epic story of Gilgamesh was discovered in the ruins of the library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh by Hormuzd Rassam in 1853. Written in cuneiform on 12 clay tablets, this Akkadian version dates from around 1300 to 1000 B.C. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” was one of the most beloved stories of Mesopotamia.Other identifications have been made with the Epic of Gilgamesh and with the Assyrian war-god, Nimurata. The Epic of Gilgamesh is based on an ancient story from Sumer; the standard version is written in Babylonian. This is an ancient Babylonian creation myth. It also includes our Flood story. This original Noah is named Gilgamesh. It could mean that Jews returning from Babylon in 538 BCE after they had been taken in away in 597 BCE and again in 586 BCE brought back with them this tale; or it might mean that Assyrians already had the story much earlier. Jonah was swallowed by a whale From Shinar, Ashur left and built Nineveh, Rehovoth-ir, Calah and Resen between Nineveh and Calah that is the great city. Genesis 11:2 mentions Shinar in that Noah's ancestors living in Mesha going toward Sephar, the mountain to the east. They migrated from the East and found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. Nineveh was the capital of the new Assyrian Empire from about 1100 BCE. We read about Nineveh in the story of Jonah and the whale, when he was sent to Nineveh to persuade its citizens to repent. They must have failed, because in 721 BCE they attacked Israel and took away the best of the 10 northern Tribes out of the 12 to Assyria, no doubt.
Ashur (also known as Assur and Asshur) was an Assyrian city located on a plateau above the Tigris River in Mesopotamia (today known as Qalat Sherqat, northern Iraq). The city was an important center of trade, as it lay squarely on a caravan trade route that ran through Mesopotamia to Anatolia and down through the Levant. (Jacob's son by wife, Zilpah, was Asher). Jacob was the grandson of Abraham.
The Great Assyrian Empire by 650 BCE
Assyria, an ancient state of western Asia, was made up of Semites in the 20th century BCE. which would be the 2nd millennium, the time when Abraham was born which we believe to be in 1948 BCE. Abraham was also a Semite.
Akkadia was the world’s first empire. It was established in Mesopotamia around 4,300 years ago after its ruler, Sargon of Akkad, first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BCE. He united a series of independent city states. Akkadian influence spanned along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from what is now southern Iraq, through to Syria and Turkey.
The north-south extent of the empire meant that it covered regions with different climates, ranging from fertile lands in the north which were highly dependent on rainfall (one of Asia’s “bread baskets”), to the irrigation-fed alluvial plains to the south.
It appears that the empire became increasingly dependent on the productivity of the northern lands and used the grains sourced from this region to feed the army and redistribute the food supplies to key supporters. Then, about a century after its formation, the Akkadian Empire suddenly collapsed, followed by mass migration and conflicts. The anguish of the era is perfectly captured in the ancient Curse of Akkad text, which describes a period of turmoil with water and food shortages: … the large arable tracts yielded no grain, the inundated fields yielded no fish, the irrigated orchards yielded no syrup or wine, the thick clouds did not rain.
The Collapse of the Akkadian Empire was followed by mass migration from north to south which was met with resistance by the local populations. A 180km wall – the “Repeller of the Amorites” – was even built between the Tigris and Euphrates in an effort to control immigration, not unlike some strategies proposed today. The stories of abrupt climate change in the Middle East therefore echo over millennia to the present day.
A Later Sargon, king of Assyria ruled (721 BCE-712 BCE)and had attacked Israel, taking the 10 Northern tribes back to Assyria.
Resource:
https://www.historyonthenet.com/the-epic-of-gilgamesh#:~:text=This%20epic%20story%20was%20discovered,most%20beloved%20stories%20of%20Mesopotamia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_of_Akkad
