Nimrod ( Nemrod, Nemvrod, Nimvrod [3] ; al-Heb. נִמְרוֹד - letters. "We will rise") - in the Pentateuch , agadic traditions and legends of the Middle East, a hero, warrior-hunter and king.
Nimrod | |
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נִמְרוֹד | |
Nimrod. Sculpture of Yitzhak Danziger (1939) | |
Floor | male |
Name interpretation | rebellious (from the Russian. "Rest" ) |
Name in other languages | lat Nimrod |
Occupation | warrior-hunter, king of Nimrud |
Mentions | Pentateuch , Agadic Traditions and Legends of the Middle East |
Father | Hush |
Children | and |
Related Events | construction of the tower of babel |
Character traits | extreme cruelty, idolatry , persecution of Abraham , rivalry with God |
Equated by Abu Dowd to Saturnus [4] .
According to the genealogy given in the book of Genesis , is the son of Hush and the grandson of Ham . Mentioned as “a strong hunter before the Lord ”; his kingdom was placed in Mesopotamia ( Genesis 10: 9,10 ). Various legends emphasize the image of Nimrod the tyrant and the godless fighter; he is credited with the construction of the Tower of Babel , extreme cruelty, idolatry, persecution of Abraham , rivalry with God .
Since the VIII century, the Arabs attributed to Nimrod the ruins of various ancient Mesopotamian cities. One of them, discovered by archaeologists in the 19th century by the ancient city of Kalhu, was given a name by the name of Nimrod - Nimrud .
Nimrod and the Tower of Babel
In the Bible, Nimrod is referred to as a king whose possessions were “ Babylon , Erech , Akkad, and Halne in the Land of Sennaar ” ( Gen. 10:10 ), but it is not directly stated that the Tower of Babel was built during his reign (mention of the early Sumerian city of Erech / Uruk and Akkad, which ceased to play a significant role after the third millennium BC, indicates the antiquity of tradition). For the first time, the tradition linking Nimrod with the construction of the Tower of Babel was recorded in the "Jewish Antiquities" of Josephus , who obviously relied on a long oral tradition. Nimrod is described as an extraordinarily cruel and proud ruler who has achieved complete submission from his people and ordered to erect a tower - a symbol of pride and renunciation of God. This legend was developed in Arab historiography ( At-Tabari and Abul al-Fida ) and eventually became part of the European tradition.
Nimrod and Abraham
Although according to the Bible , Nimrod and Abraham are separated by seven generations, a large circle of Jewish and Muslim legends is associated with the struggle of Nimrod against Abraham ( Ibrahim ). In them, Nimrod appears as an ardent idolater, demanding to render himself and his beloved Semiramis (Semiramis, also referred to as the wife of King Nebuchadnezzar , who built for her one of the wonders of the world - Hanging Gardens ) divine honors and persecuting believers in one God. Apparently, this is precisely why his opponent is called Abraham, the forerunner of monotheism . Nimrod throws Abraham into a fiery furnace and seeks to destroy his descendants, but, according to the Haggadah , dies at the hands of Esau . In Muslim traditions, Ibrahim single-handedly defeats the huge army of Nimrod, causing a cloud of mosquitoes .
In the Quran
Also, information about King Nimrod is contained in the Qur'an, where his conversation with the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) is given:
Do you know who argued with Ibrahim (Abraham) regarding his Lord, because Allah granted him a kingdom? Ibrahim (Abraham) said to him: "My Lord is the One who gives life and kills." He said: "I give life and put to death." Ibrahim (Abraham) said: “Allah makes the sun rise in the east. Make him ascend in the west. ” And then the one who did not believe was confused. Allah does not direct the path of unjust people. |
In Armenian mythology
Nemrut, in Armenian mythology, is a foreign king who invaded Armenia . There is a legend that in order to exalt himself, Nemrud erected on the top of the mountain a magnificent palace of extraordinary height. Deciding to kill God in order to take his place, Nemrud climbed to the roof of the palace and took aim from the bow at the sky. God set up a large fish under the arrow fired by Nemrud. Seeing the blood, Nemrud and his entourage rejoiced, confident that God was killed. God was angry - lightning struck, and Nemrud, together with the palace, fell into the widening abyss from which the lake was formed. The mountain began to be called Nemrut (the modern volcano Nemrut is located on the western shore of Lake Van , there is a lake in its crater). According to another option, Nemrud created a mountain from the earth, so that, having risen on it, to fight with God, but God cast him into the bowels of the earth.
The identification in the ancient Armenian literature of Bel , the rival of Hayk , with the biblical Nimrod led to the creation of a myth where Bel appears instead of Nemrud. Despot Bel with numerous troops invaded Armenia, but was defeated. The corpse of Bela, killed by the Armenian king, was lifted to the top of the mountain and burned. By the will of God, the ashes left from him turned into water, and the soldiers of Bel and the caravans of his camels were petrified by fear.
Nimrod in Literature and Culture
- In The Divine Comedy, Dante depicts Nimrod as a giant guarding the ninth circle of hell. He mutters constantly inarticulate, which, apparently, is a reference to the confusion of languages caused by the construction of the Tower of Babel.
- Nimrod in royal attire is depicted in the picture of Peter Brueghel the Elder, The Tower of Babel (Vienna Version).
- Nimrod is a statue carved from Nubian sandstone by Israeli sculptor Yitzhak Danziger in 1939. The statue is in the collection of sculptures of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem (Israel) .
- Pedro Calderon owns the auto sacramental ( liturgical drama ) "Tower of Babel", in which Nimrod appears in the traditional image of a proud, tyrant and godless fighter.
- Voltaire in the philosophical novel “The Princess of Babylon” mentions the bow of Nimrod, which applicants should pull on the hand and heart of the princess.
- Nimrod - a word used in the collection " Hearts in Atlantis" by Stephen King as a curse word.
- Nimrod. - the fifth studio album of the punk band Green Day
- Nimrod is the most powerful Guardian robot ever created by the Form Wizard to destroy mutants in the X-Men universe.
- Musical work of Eduard Elgar Enigma-variations . Contains 14 variations for an orchestra, a variation of 9 adagios is called Nimrod, and is often performed at a funeral in Britain. (Although each variation is dedicated to one of the composer's friends, variation 9 Nimrod refers to the name of the warrior-hunter, King Nimrud, since the composer's friend had the last name Jaeger (German: Jäger is a hunter).) [5]
- Nimrod is repeatedly mentioned in Michael Suenwick’s novel “Dragons of Babylon”. It should be noted that in the book the events relating to the reign of Nimrod significantly differ from classical legends.
- Nimrod is Ernest Shackleton's ship during his expedition to the South Pole .
- Nimrod is the song of the Rowan Tower band.
- HS.801 Nimrod is a British multi-purpose turbojet aircraft.
- Nimrod is an Israeli tactical missile.
- 40M Nimród - Hungarian self-propelled anti-aircraft mount during the Second World War.
- Al-Namrood is an anti-Islamic black-metal band from Saudi Arabia playing in the oriental style.
- Nimrod is a hunting vessel of cosmobiologist Maarten Troost from Alexander Rudazov’s book “Hunters”.
- Nimrod - the nickname of an animal of a new species, raised by one of the main characters of the television series "Surface"
- Nimrod - The Foreshadowing
- Nimrod is a minor character in Mikhail Uspensky’s novel “Time is It,” part of which takes place in Babylon.
- Nimrod is one of the best onions available to the player in the computer game Gothic 3.
- Nimrod is the name of one of the characters in the manga and anime JoJo's Bizarre Adventure .
- Nimrod - the protagonist of the computer game Agony
Notes
- ↑ 14 // Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis
- ↑ 5 // Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis
- ↑ Abu Dawood, Garden of Scientists , paragraph 2
- ↑ s: Garden of Scientists (Abu Dawood; Languages) / fragments , paragraph 2
- ↑ Allen, Kevin. August Jaeger: portrait of Nimrod: a life in letters and other writings . - Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate, 2000 .-- xvii, 318 p. - ISBN 1859283667 , 9781859283660.
Literature
- Nimrod // Mythological Dictionary / Ch. ed. E. M. Meletinsky . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1990 .-- 672 p.