Chaldea: 4 definitions
Introduction:
Chaldea means something in Christianity. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. On this page you will also find search and cross-referencing tools.
In Christianity
General definition (in Christianity)
: archive.org: Easton's Bible DictionaryChaldea definition and references: The southern portion of Babylonia, Lower Mesopotamia, lying chiefly on the right bank of the Euphrates, but commonly used of the whole of the Mesopotamian plain. The Hebrew name is Kasdim, which is usually rendered “Chaldeans� (Jeremiah 50:10; 51:24, 35).
The country so named is a vast plain formed by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris, extending to about 400 miles along the course of these rivers, and about 100 miles in average breadth. “In former days the vast plains of Babylon were nourished by a complicated system of canals and water-courses, which spread over the surface of the country like a network. The wants of a teeming population were supplied by a rich soil, not less bountiful than that on the banks of the Egyptian Nile. Like islands rising from a golden sea of waving corn stood frequent groves of palm-trees and pleasant gardens, affording to the idler or traveller their grateful and highly-valued shade. Crowds of passengers hurried along the dusty roads to and from the busy city. The land was rich in corn and wine.�
Recent discoveries, more especially in Babylonia, have thrown much light on the history of the Hebrew patriarchs, and have illustrated or confirmed the Biblical narrative in many points. The ancestor of the Hebrew people, Abram, was, we are told, born at “Ur of the Chaldees.� “Chaldees� is a mistranslation of the Hebrew Kasdim, Kasdim being the Old Testament name of the Babylonians, while the Chaldees were a tribe who lived on the shores of the Persian Gulf, and did not become a part of the Babylonian population till the time of Hezekiah. Ur was one of the oldest and most famous of the Babylonian cities. Its site is now called Mugheir, or Mugayyar, on the western bank of the Euphrates, in Southern Babylonia. About a century before the birth of Abram it was ruled by a powerful dynasty of kings. Their conquests extended to Elam on the one side, and to the Lebanon on the other. They were followed by a dynasty of princes whose capital was Babylon, and who seem to have been of South Arabian origin. The founder of the dynasty was Sumu-abi (“Shem is my father�). But soon afterwards Babylonia fell under Elamite dominion. The kings of Babylon were compelled to acknowledge the supremacy of Elam, and a rival kingdom to that of Babylon, and governed by Elamites, sprang up at Larsa, not far from Ur, but on the opposite bank of the river. In the time of Abram the king of Larsa was Eri-Aku, the son of an Elamite prince, and Eri-Aku, as has long been recognized, is the Biblical “Arioch king of Ellasar� (Genesis 14:1). The contemporaneous king of Babylon in the north, in the country termed Shinar in Scripture, was Khammu-rabi. (See Babylon; Abraham; Amraphel.)
: archive.org: Hitchcock's Bible Names DictionaryChaldea refers to: “as demons, or as robbers”—[The definitions from this source are translations of Hebrew names found in the Bible and are included in Hitchcock's New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible].
: archive.org: Smith's Bible DictionaryChaldea refers to:—more correctly Chaldae’a, the ancient name of a country of Asia bordering on the Persian Gulf. Chaldea proper was the southern part of Babylonia, and is used in Scripture to signify that vast alluvial plain which has been formed by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris. This extraordinary flat, unbroken except by the works of man, extends a distance of 400 miles along the course of the rivers, and is on an average about 100 miles in width. In addition to natural advantages these plains were nourished by a complicated system of canals, and vegetation flourished bountifully. It is said to be the only country in the world where wheat grows wild. Herodotus declared (i. 193) that grain commonly returned two hundred fold to the sower, and occasionally three hundred fold. Cities.—Babylonia has long been celebrated for the number and antiquity of its cities. The most important of those which have been identified are Borsippa (Birs-Nimrun), Sippara or Sepharvaim (Mosaib), Cutha (Ibrahim), Calneh (Niffer), Erech (Warka), Ur (Mugheir), Chilmad (Kalwadha), Larancha (Senkereh), Is (Hit), Durabe (Akkerkuf); but besides these there were a multitude of others, the sites of which have not been determined. Present condition—This land, once so rich in corn and wine, is to-day but a mass of mounds, “an arid waste; the dense population of former times is vanished, and no man dwells there.� The Hebrew prophets applied the term “land of the Chaldeans� to all Babylonia and “Chaldeans� to all the subjects of the Babylonian empire.
: archive.org: Nave's Topical BibleChaldea definition and references: �(The southern portion of Babylonia, often used interchangeably
with Babylon, as the name of the empire founded in the valley of the Euphrates)
–Abraham a native of Genesis 11:28,31; 15:7
–Founded by the Assyrians Isaiah 23:13
–Character of its people Habakkuk 1:6
–S±đ±đ Babylon
–S±đ±đ Chaldeans
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Chaldean Orthodox Church of the East, Chaldeans.
Full-text (+18): Ellasar, Merathaim, Pekod, Ulai, Wise men, Arioch, Northward, Amraphel, Gopher, Shuhite, Dagon, Mesopotamia, Babylon, Chaldeans, Babylonia, Tammuz, Chaldees, East, Nebajoth Nebaioth, Abraham.
Relevant text
Search found 18 books and stories containing Chaldea; (plurals include: Chaldeas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria (by Lewis Spence)
From under the Dust of Ages (by William St. Chad Boscawen)
A Cyclopedia of Biblical literature (by John Kitto)
The civilization of Babylonia and Assyria (by Morris Jastrow)
Part I < [Chapter I - Excavations At Babylonian And Assyrian Sites]
The Chaldean account of Genesis (by George Smith)
Chapter XVI - The Story of the Flood and Conclusion
Chapter VI - Other Babylonian Accounts Of The Creation
Bible cyclopedia, critical and expository (by Andrew Robert Fausset)