Asshur

Asshur was the second son of Shem and the eponymous ancestor of the Assyrians (Genesis 10:22; 1 Chronicles 1:17). Assyria—the great empire centered on the upper Tigris River—became one of the dominant powers of the ancient Near East and Israel's most feared oppressor: it destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC and nearly captured Jerusalem under Sennacherib in 701 BC. The name Asshur appears in the Hebrew Bible both as a personal name and as the standard term for Assyria. In Genesis 10:11–12, 'Asshur' may also refer to Nimrod's Assyrian building activities, reflecting the overlapping use of personal and ethnic designations.