Amraphael or Amraphel

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Amraphael of Shinar

Amraphael or Amraphel was a king of Sennaar or Shinar, situated at the southern part of the kingdom of Babylonia. Oftentimes, he is associated with the legendary King Hammurabi who reigned in ancient Babylon. He is located on the Amazing Bible Timeline

He was one of the four kings of the east who allied together to invade the five kingdoms in the west or the kingdoms of the Jordan plain during the time of Abram (Abraham). The three other kings were; the head of alliance King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Arioch of Pontus (Ellasar), and the king of the Nations (Goyim) King Tedal. The war that happened at Valley of Siddim was called the Battle of Siddim. The battle was won by the four kings.

King Hammurabi of Babylonia

King Hammurabi was the great ruler of Babylonia credited with the famous law code named Code of Laws. He was the sixth king of the first Babylonian dynasty. It is thought that he ruled for 55 years but the period of time he reigned as king is still debatable. But he supposedly reigned during the time the nations of Sumer and Akkad were ruled by the kingdom of Elam.

Hammurabi was credited with the Code of Laws which was thought to be the first and oldest code of law. It was found in the old capital city of Elam, Susa.

He was also credited for establishing the Babylonia as a united kingdom and built its capital city at Babylon.

King Amraphel associated with other names

King Amraphel of Shinar was usually connected to King Hammurabi of Babylonia.

Babylonia was a divided kingdom. It was ruled by two kings. Aside from King Amraphel ruling Shinar, there was King Arioch heading Ellasar. The two leaders recognized the dominance of the King of Elam.

It is presently acknowledged by majority of the Biblical scholars and theologians that King Hammurabi and King Amraphel was one person. This assumption was first asserted by Schrader. Though the names of the two matched phonetically, this assumption is still subject for further clarifications.

There were also speculations that King Amraphel is Khammu-rabi who united the two kingdoms of Babylonia under his leadership after he won the battle against Arioch. He founded his capital at the city of Babylon.

Shinar and Babylonia

Shinar was also a nation associated with Babylonia. It is written a number of times in the Bible under the Old Testament. It was the spot where the shrine for a woman named Wickedness was constructed. The infamous Tower of Babel was also constructed from the bitumen gotten from the sea of Shinar. And after the Great Flood, it was where the survivor families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth went after they first settled in uplands of Armenia. Shinar was an area situated in Mesopotamia with no definite boundaries.

Babylonia was an old kingdom located at the central-southern of Mesopotamia where the modern day Iraq is presently found. Its capital city was Babylon founded by King Hammurabi after he defeated the Akkadian Empire. The oldest account relating to Babylon was written in a tablet during the time of the Akkadian Sargon. It is thought to be dated from the 13th century BC.

The official written language of the new empire was Semitic Akkadian while its religious written language was Sumerian.

It is situated in the middle of the two famous rivers, namely; Euphrates and Tigris that’s why its land was largely made out of the alluvial deposits from these two rivers. A complex canal system of this ancient empire was a result of the combined effort of both man and nature. Its soil was rich enough to nurture agricultural products such as wheat, barley, sesame, dates, corns, palm tree, among other fruits and cereals.

King Amraphel in the Bible

Genesis 10:9-10. Nimrod, the mighty hunter started his kingdom in Shinar which included the lands of Babylon, Uruk, Akkad, and Kalneh.

Genesis 11:1-3. Shinar is Babylonia a kingdom situated at the plain in the east.

Genesis 14:1. Amraphel as the king of Shinar.

Genesis 14:8-10. King Amraphel as one of the four kings allied together to fight against the five kingdoms of the plain at the Valley of Siddim.

References:

http://classic.net.bible.org/dictionary.php?word=AMRAPHEL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amraphel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Vale_of_Siddim

http://www.answers.com/topic/shinar

http://www.biblegateway.com