Get Affordable VMs - excellent virtual server hosting


browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
chaldea


chaldea

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Chaldea 
  The  southern  portion  of  Babylonia,  Lower  Mesopotamia,  lying 
  chiefly  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Euphrates,  but  commonly  used  of 
  the  whole  of  the  Mesopotamian  plain.  The  Hebrew  name  is  Kasdim 
  which  is  usually  rendered  Chaldeans"  (Jer.  50:10;  51:24,35). 
 
  The  country  so  named  is  a  vast  plain  formed  by  the  deposits  of 
  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,  extending  to  about  400  miles  along 
  the  course  of  these  rivers,  and  about  100  miles  in  average 
  breadth.  "In  former  days  the  vast  plains  of  Babylon  were 
  nourished  by  a  complicated  system  of  canals  and  water-courses, 
  which  spread  over  the  surface  of  the  country  like  a  network.  The 
  wants  of  a  teeming  population  were  supplied  by  a  rich  soil,  not 
  less  bountiful  than  that  on  the  banks  of  the  Egyptian  Nile.  Like 
  islands  rising  from  a  golden  sea  of  waving  corn  stood  frequent 
  groves  of  palm-trees  and  pleasant  gardens,  affording  to  the 
  idler  or  traveller  their  grateful  and  highly-valued  shade. 
  Crowds  of  passengers  hurried  along  the  dusty  roads  to  and  from 
  the  busy  city.  The  land  was  rich  in  corn  and  wine." 
 
  Recent  discoveries,  more  especially  in  Babylonia,  have  thrown 
  much  light  on  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  patriarchs,  and  have 
  illustrated  or  confirmed  the  Biblical  narrative  in  many  points. 
  The  ancestor  of  the  Hebrew  people,  Abram,  was  we  are  told,  born 
  at  "Ur  of  the  Chaldees."  Chaldees"  is  a  mistranslation  of  the 
  Hebrew  _Kasdim_,  Kasdim  being  the  Old  Testament  name  of  the 
  Babylonians,  while  the  Chaldees  were  a  tribe  who  lived  on  the 
  shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  did  not  become  a  part  of  the 
  Babylonian  population  till  the  time  of  Hezekiah.  Ur  was  one  of 
  the  oldest  and  most  famous  of  the  Babylonian  cities.  Its  site  is 
  now  called  Mugheir  or  Mugayyar  on  the  western  bank  of  the 
  Euphrates,  in  Southern  Babylonia.  About  a  century  before  the 
  birth  of  Abram  it  was  ruled  by  a  powerful  dynasty  of  kings. 
  Their  conquests  extended  to  Elam  on  the  one  side  and  to  the 
  Lebanon  on  the  other  They  were  followed  by  a  dynasty  of  princes 
  whose  capital  was  Babylon,  and  who  seem  to  have  been  of  South 
  Arabian  origin.  The  founder  of  the  dynasty  was  Sumu-abi  ("Shem 
  is  my  father").  But  soon  afterwards  Babylonia  fell  under  Elamite 
  dominion.  The  kings  of  Babylon  were  compelled  to  acknowledge  the 
  supremacy  of  Elam,  and  a  rival  kingdom  to  that  of  Babylon,  and 
  governed  by  Elamites,  sprang  up  at  Larsa,  not  far  from  Ur  but 
  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river.  In  the  time  of  Abram  the  king 
  of  Larsa  was  Eri-Aku,  the  son  of  an  Elamite  prince,  and  Eri-Aku, 
  as  has  long  been  recognized,  is  the  Biblical  "Arioch  king  of 
  Ellasar"  (Gen.  14:1).  The  contemporaneous  king  of  Babylon  in  the 
  north,  in  the  country  termed  Shinar  in  Scripture,  was 
  Khammu-rabi.  (See  {BABYLON};  {ABRAHAM};  {AMRAPHEL}.) 
 
 
  From  Hitchcock's  Bible  Names  Dictionary  (late  1800's)  [hitchcock]: 
 
  Chaldea,  as  demons,  or  as  robbers