Calneh

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

or Calno ( Genesis 10:10). One of Nimrod' s original seats meaning "the fort of the god Anu" (worshipped afterwards at Babylon) in the land of Shinar, i.e. Babylonia. proper, extending to the Persian gulf, now Niffer. The place where the tower of Babel was built, according to the Septuagint and Arab tradition, taken by Assyria in the eighth century B.C. ( Amos 6:2). "Is not Calno as Carchemish?" i.e., it was no more able to withstand me than Carchemish.  Isaiah 10:9  Isaiah 10:60 miles S.E.E. of Babylon, in the marshes on the left bank of the Euphrates, towards the Tigris. Elsewhere Canneh ( Ezekiel 27:23).

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Calneh ( Kăl'Neh ), Fortified Dwelling, or Fort Of The God Ana, or Anu. One of the original cities of Nimrod's empire,  Genesis 10:10;  Amos 6:2, apparently the same with Calno,  Isaiah 10:9, and Canneh,  Ezekiel 27:23. It is possibly the modern Niffer, about 60 miles south-southeast of Babylon, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

a city in the land of Shinar, built by Nimrod, and one of the cities mentioned  Genesis 10:10 , as belonging to his kingdom. It is believed to be the same with Calno, mentioned in  Isaiah 10:9 . It is said by the Chaldee interpreters, as also by Eusebius and Jerom, to be the same with Ctesiphon, standing upon the Tigris, about three miles distant from Seleucia, and that for some time it was the capital city of the Parthians. Bochart, Wells, and Michaelis, agree in this opinion.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Cal'neh. (Fortress Of Anu). Calneh or Calno appears in  Genesis 10:10, among the cities of Nimrod. Probably, the site is the modern Niffer . In the eighth century B.C., Canneh was taken by one of the Assyrian kings, and never recovered its prosperity.  Isaiah 10:9;  Amos 6:2.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Called Calno,  Isaiah 10:9 and Canneh,   Ezekiel 27:23 , one of Nimrod's cities,  Genesis 10:10 , and afterwards called Ctesiphon; it lay on the east bank of the Tigris opposite Seleucia, twenty miles below Bagdad. Ctesiphon was a winter residence of the Parthian kings. Nothing now remains but the ruins of a palace and mounds of rubbish.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

One of the ancient cities in the land of Shinar built by Nimrod.  Genesis 10:10;  Amos 6:2 . Some identify it with C tesiphon beyond the Tigris; others with Niffer , about 60 miles E.S.E.; but on the maps it is usually placed at 32 10' N, 45 5' E , not coinciding with either of these.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 10:10 Amos 6:2 Isaiah 10:9 Ezekiel 27:23

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 10:10 Amos 6:2

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrews Kalneh', כִּלְגֵה ; Sept. Χαλάννη ) , the fourth of Nimrod's cities ( Genesis 10:10), and probably not different from the CALNO (Hebrews Kalzo', כִּלְנוֹ  ; Sept. Χαλάνη ) of  Isaiah 10:9, or the CANNEH (Hebrews Kanneh', כִּנֵּח  ; Sept. Χανάα ) of  Ezekiel 27:23. The word is thought to mean "the fort of the god Ana or Ann," who was one of the chief objects of Babylonian worship. According to the Chaldee translation, with which Eusebius and Jerome agree, this is the same place that was subsequently called Ctesiphon. It lay on the Tigris, opposite Seleucia, and was for a time the capital of the Parthians, and the winter residence of the Parthian kings (Strabo, xvi, p. 312; Cellarii Notit. 2: 774; see Bochart, Phaleg, 4: 18; Michaelis, Spicil(G. 1: 228). This opinion respecting Calneh derives some support from the circumstance that the district named Ctesiphon was called by the Greeks Chalonitis (Pliny, Hist. Nat. 6:26, 27; Polyb. 5:44); but, on the other hand, this province does not appear to have extended so far west as Calneh must have lain. Ammianus Marcellinus (23:6, 23) states that it was the Persian king Pacorus (who reigned from A.D. 71 to 107) who changed the name of the city to Ctesiphon; but that name must have been more ancient, as it is mentioned by Polybius. In the time of the prophet Amos Calnch appears to have constituted an independent principality ( Amos 6:2; Sept. omits, v. r. Καλάνη or Χαλάννη ); but not long after it became, with the rest of Western Asia, a prey to the Assyrians ( Isaiah 10:9). About 150 years later, Calneh was still a considerable town, as may be inferred from its being mentioned by Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 27:23) among the places which traded with Tyre. We may gather from Scripture that in the eighth century B.C. Calneh was taken by one of the Assyrian kings, and never recovered its prosperity. Hence it is compared with Carchemish, Hamath, and Gath ( Isaiah 10:9; Aimos 6:2), and regarded as a proof of the resistless might of Assyria. The site of Ctesiphon was afterward occupied by Jl-Madain, i.e. The (Two) Cities, of which the only remains are the ruins of a remarkable palace called Tauk-Kesra, or "Arch of Khosroes," some mounds of rubbish, and a considerable extent of massive wall toward the river. (See Smith's Dict. Of Class. Geog. s.v. Ctesiphon.)

More recent explorers have rendered it probable that the site of Calneh is the modern NiAer, which was certainly one of the early capitals, and which, under the name of Nopher, the Talmud identities with Calneh (see the Yoma). Arab traditions made Niffer the original Babylon, and said that it was the place where Nimrod endeavored to mount on eagles' wings to heaven. Similarly the Sept. speak of Calneh or Calno as "the place where the tower was built" ( Isaiah 10:9). Niffer is situated about sixty miles E.S.E. of Babylon, in the marshes on the left bank of the Euphrates. It has been visited and explored by Mr. Layard (Min. and Bab. p. 468 sq.), and is thus described by Mr. Loftus (Chaldcea, p. 101): ‘ The present aspect of Niffer is that of a lofty platform of earth and rubbish, divided into two nearly equal parts by a deep channel — apparently the bed of a river — about 120 feet wide. Nearly in the center of the eastern portion of this platform are the remains of a brick tower of early construction, the debris of which constitutes a conical mound rising seventy feet above the plain. This is a conspicuous object in the distance, and exhibits, when the brick- work is exposed; oblong perforations similar to those seen at BirsNimrud and other edifices of the Babylonian age. The western division of the platform has no remarkable feature, except that it is strewed withfragments of pottery, and other relics of a later period than the tower just alluded to. At the distance of a few hundred yards on the east of the ruins may be distinctly traced a low continuous mound, the remains probably of the external wall of the ancient city. As to the obelisk, the particular object of my visit, the Arabs positively declared that there was one, but none of them had seen it or could indicate its position on the mounds." (See Canneh).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kal´ne ( כּלנה , kalnēh  ; Χαλαννή , Chalannḗ ): The name of the fourth city of Nimrod's kingdom ( Genesis 10:10 ), the three preceding it being Babel, Erech, and Accad, i.e. the capital of the realm of Babylonia and the chief cities of three of the principal states. The meaning of the name is unknown, and many regard the identification as uncertain.

1. Identified with Nippur

G. Rawlinson thought it to be the modern Niffer (or Noufar ), comparing the Talmudic (compare Yoma' ) Nofer , which is said to be the same as Calneh. What place-name Calneh corresponds with in cuneiform is doubtful. Fried. Delitzsch ( Wo lag das Paradies? ) compared it with Kul - unu , but as we are told to pronounce this group as Kullaba , it seems unlikely that there is any connection between the two. The identification proposed by G. Rawlinson, however, may be regarded as being supported by the bilingual Creation-legend, in which Merodach (= Nimrod) is made the founder of Babylon, Erech and Nippur, which would in that case be three of the four cities mentioned in  Genesis 10:10 .

2. Nippur's Importance

The inscriptions reveal to us Nippur as a city with a glorious past. Sargon of Agadé, Sur-Engur, Dungi and all the more prominent kings of Babylonia in its larger sense interested themselves in the rebuilding and restoration of its renowned temples, so as to gain the favor of their great divinities.

3. Its Deities and Their Legends

The city's earlier divine patrons were Enlil and Ninlil, the older Bel and Beltis, whose shrines were at the great temple-tower called Ê-kura, "the house of the land," and a poetical legend in Sumerian (dialectical) recording their visit to the city, and enumerating its sacred places, still exists ( YBA , March, 1911, 85ff). Later, the chief deities of the city seem to have been Ninip, the son of Enlil, and his spouse Nin-Nipri, "the lady of Nippur." These two divine beings likewise evoked the muse of the city-scribes, who dealt with the glories of the god in a composition extending over several tablets, in which his favor to his spouse Nin-Nipri is extolled; and to whom a career very similar to that of Merodach, the head of the Babylonian pantheon, is attributed ( YBA , December, 1906, 270ff).

4. Its Ruins Today

The great temple-tower of Niffer, which was dedicated to the god Enlil, was a very striking object among the buildings and temples of the city, and the lower stages are still in an extremely perfect condition. Most interesting, also, are the remains of streets and houses which enable the general conditions of life in ancient Babylonia to be estimated, and suggest that they are similar to those subsisting even at the present day. Our knowledge of the city is almost entirely due to the American excavations at Niffer, inaugurated by J. P. Peters, which have been most fruitful and have shed quite a new light on the city's history. See Peters' Nippur (2 volumes, 1887); the many volumes written or edited by Professor H. V. Hilprecht under the general title The Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania  ; and Professor A. T. Clay's Light on the Old Testament from Babel (Philadelphia, 1907).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Cal´neh, or rather Chalneh, the fourth of Nimrod's cities (), and probably not different from the Calno of , or the Canneh of . According to the Chaldee translation, with which Eusebius and Jerome agree, this is the same place that was subsequently called Ctesiphon. It lay on the Tigris, opposite Seleucia, and was for a time the capital of the Parthians. In the time of the prophet Amos, Calneh appears to have constituted an independent principality (): but not long after it became, with the rest of Western Asia, a prey to the Assyrians (). About 150 years later, Calneh was still a considerable town, as may be inferred from its being mentioned by Ezekiel () among the places which traded with Tyre. The site of Ctesiphon, or Calneh, was afterwards occupied by El-Madain, i.e. the two cities, of which the only remains are the ruins of a remarkable palace called Teuk-kesra, some mounds of rubbish, and a considerable extent of massive wall towards the river.