The Bible tells us about the first empire on earth
after Noah’s flood. I propose the area
dominated by this original Babylonian Empire (known to scholars as the Uruk
Expansion) is vital to our understanding of “mystery Babylon” in Revelation. Erech=Uruk
And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in
the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: why it is said, Even as
Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was
Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and
Calneh, in the land of Shinar. (Genesis 10:8-10)
Shinar
into Sumer
Mesopotamia litterally means “middle river” in Greek, but is
extrapolated to mean the land (khora) between two rivers. This land was
called Shinar in the Bible from Genesis to the time of the prophets (Isaiah 11:11, Daniel 1:2, Zechariah 5:11). Shinar is a composite word of the Hebrew words for
“two” (shenayim) and “river” (nahar); and also implies the “land”
(erets). Thus Mesopotamia and Shinar are geographically equivalent. Shinar
was derived from the Akkadian (Ancient Hebrew) word Shumeru, but
scholars have shortened it to Sumer; exchanging /sh/ for /s/ as in Shemite to
Semite. Over time the upper portion became distinct and was called the land of
Akkad, while just the southern part retained the title of Sumer. But neither Uruk’s empire nor “mystery Babylon” are
limited to southern Mesopotamia
Cush
of Ur as Gishur/Gasher in Sumerian King Lis
Cush built the city of Ur and was known as Cush of Ur, or Gishur in the Sumerian King List. Cush also built his capital city of Kish (a
derivative of his name) and the biblical city of Erech which is called ancient
Uruk by scholars. I propose Cush gave
his son Nimrod a small city to govern (later called Babel) before Nimrod
overthrew his father’s kingdom.
Then Kish was defeated and the kingship was taken to Eanna. In E-ana, Mesh-ki-ang-gasher,
the son of Utu, became lord and king; he ruled for 5 ges, 2 u, 5 dis years.
Mec-ki-aj-gacer entered the sea and disappeared. Enmerkar, the son of
Mec-ki-aj-gacer, the king of Unug, who built Unug, became king; he ruled for 7
ges years. . . . (Sumerian King List)
Mesh-ki-ang-gasher
is the “prince of measured earth, Cush of Ur,” who built Ur and Unug (Uruk
= Erech in the Bible). E-Ana was the ziggurat in Uruk which was
most likely built by Cush to worship Inanna. Cush of Ur was the first ruler of
Kish and reigned there for 100 years. Utu
was the sun god (Ra/Re) whom Ham worshipped in Egypt. Cush of Ur then entered
the sea and disappeared, and I propose that he sailed back to his kin in Africa
in the land of Cush, later called Ethiopia.
In Sumerian en-me-er-kar2 mean the
following: en is a lord (ensi is a city ruler), me is an
office of responsibility or the phenomenal area of a diety's power; er
is a lament, tears (woeful waters) or a complaint (whereas ur means
warrior); and kar means embankment, harbor, or port authority. Most of
these words seem appropriate titles for Nimrod. Together Enmerkar, “lord
who storms fortresses,” was the epithet of Nimrod, who conquered all of Shinar
and beyond.
Nimrod’s
Religious Idolatry
Noah and
his family worshipped Creator Elohim (Hebrew for God which is often shortened
to El). Nimrod’s first city was even
called Bab-El, meaning ‘gate of God’. But Ham later chose to worship the sun (Utu),
and eventually Nimrod called himself Marutuk, derived from amar-Utu ("bull calf of the sun god Utu"),[i]
later pronounced Marduk. Marduk is often
pictured with his snake-dragon. Nimrod’s
father, Cush, worshipped Inanna (in Sumerian, but Ishtar in Akkadian). Marduk’s wife, Sarpanitu (‘shining one’)
represented the moon; and together they usurped biblical Elohim as creator of
the Earth. Their new religion required
extravagant offerings and sacred prostitution.
So, yes, the first religion of Babylon was a great whore and the mother
of prostitution which spread to many nations and languages.
The waters which you saw, where the whore sits,
are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. (Rev. 17:15)
Uruk
Expansion
During the Uruk Period, millions of bevel-rimmed bowls (BRB's)
were mass produced likely to feed slave and corvee workers their daily rations
of barley, and possibly to pay soldiers their ration of salt. At Uruk strata IV-VI, BRB's are accompanied by
an influx of cylinder seals; some of which depict scenes of the En (lord)
presiding over torture, such as tying arms at the elbows behind the back,
possibly inflicted on tax delinquents.[ii] These BRB's are found in
abundance throughout Iraq (the Sunni “beast of the sea”) and Iran (the Shia “beast
of the earth”).
Uruk is #42, Judeida is #1, Hama(th) is #2
Islamic
State (ISIS/ISIL)
. . . I saw the souls of them that were beheaded
for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not
worshipped the beast, neither his image . . . (Rev. 20:5)
These Muslims are following the Koran’s instructions.
“When your lord revealed to the angels: I am with you,
therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of
those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every
fingertip of them.” (Koran 8:12)
“Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight),
strike off their heads; at length; then when you have made wide Slaughter among
them, carefully tie up the remaining captives: thereafter (is the time for)
either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens.” (Koran 47:4)
Islamic State also controls portions of Yemen and Libya.
The empire of “Mystery Babylon” is the Islamic State.
And on her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I
saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the
martyrs of Jesus . . . (Revelation 17:5-6)
[i] Helmer
Ringgren, (1974) Religions of The Ancient Near East, Translated by John Sturdy,
The Westminster Press, p. 66.
[ii] Mark
A. Brandes, Siegelabrollungen aus den Archaischen Bauschichten in Uruk-Warka,
Freiburger Altorientalische Studien 3; Wiesbaden, Frank Steiner, 1979, pp.
17-166.
