Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 86:344 (Oct 1929)
Article: The Antiquity Of Erech
Author: Raymond P. Dougherty

BSac 86:344 (Oct 1929) p. 382

The Antiquity Of Erech

Raymond P. Dougherty

An examination of the tenth chapter of Genesis reveals the fact that it assigns unusual prominence to Erech as an early city in Babylonia. The record in question describes the rise of cultural centers in Mesopotamia and it is worthy of note that Erech is ranked in the tenth verse with Babel (Babylon) and Accad (Agade). Moreover, Erech is the only city of the extreme southern part of the Tigris-Euphrates valley mentioned in the Biblical account of the origin of civilization in the land of the two rivers. Eridu, Ur, Larsa, and Lagash, ancient nuclei of population north of the Persian gulf, are not named in the record. This by no means invalidates what has been written, inasmuch as the tenth chapter of Genesis does not aim to list all the early cities in the great irrigation basin between Arabia and the mountains to the east. It does claim, however, to enumerate cities which were of extreme prominence from the very beginning of orderly society in the southern and the northern sections of Mesopotamia.

One could not imagine a chronicle of greater brevity dealing with important racial movements than that which is contained in Genesis 10:8–12. The terse sentences are as follows: “And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; wherefore 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. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; the same is a great city.”

BSac 86:344 (Oct 1929) p. 383

It is not the purpose of this article to discuss all the historical implications and possibilities of this passage. The preeminent position given to Erech as an early settled site in southern Babylonia has been singled out as worthy of special attention, and an attempt will be made to test the veracity of the statement from the standpoint of literary and archaeological data now at our disposal. It is known that Erech existed as a city from early times to the Seleucid period, that is, until the era of Greek rulers after the epoch of Alexander the Great. That it represented a strong concentration of commercial, political, and religious life and that it exerted a powerful influence at various stages of its history are equally well established. The question which will now be investigated is, What degree of prominence did it actually have in extreme antiquity?

The testimony of ancient king-lists contained in cuneiform texts written upon clay tablets and kept from destruction for thousands of years ...