Do the Germans have any ties to ancient Babylon or Asshur?

Assyrian Relief from Nineveh, 645-635 B.C.

Where do the Germanic peoples come from? The male ancestors of all those currently on planet earth are listed in Genesis chapter 10.

In that portion of the Bible we see that one of the sons of Shem and grandson of Noah was named Assur/Ashur/Asshur:

1 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood…21 And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. 22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. (Genesis 10:1,21-22, NKJV).

Throughout the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament) there are various mentions of a people called the Assyrians (e.g. 2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36). The old area of Assyria is first listed in scripture in Genesis 2:14 and apparently was near where Eden was:

10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. (Genesis 2:10-14)

The first century Jewish historian Josephus tied this son Asshur/Ashur in with Assyria as did the late fourth/early fifth century Catholic doctor and saint Augustine:

Shem, the third son of Noah, had five sons, who inhabited the land that began at the Euphrates, and reached to the Indian Ocean. Elam left behind him the Elamites, the ancestors of the Persians. Ashur lived in Ninevah; and named his descendants Assyrians, who became the most fortunate nation, beyond others. (Josephus. Josephus Complete Works. Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, Chapter VI, Verse 4. Translated by William Whiston in 1867. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids (MI), 1960, p. 31)

Assur, father of the Assyrian…Of these nations the names have partly survived, so that at this day we can see from whom they have sprung, as the Assyrians from Assur…(Augustine. The City of God (Book XVI). Translated by Marcus Dods. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 2. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120116.htm>)

So, the term Assyria has long been considered to be a derivative term for descendant of Assur/Ashur/Asshur, grandson of Noah. Some Assyrian kings were named a version of Ashur (Rines GE. The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge, Volume 2. Encyclopedia Americana Corp., 1918 Original from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Digitized Nov 9, 2007, pp. 428-439).

The Catholic saint Jerome (late fourth/early fifth century) seems to have indicated that the descendants of the biblical Asshur (Genesis 10:22) which seems to be Assyria (Radmacher Concordance in. Nelson Study Bible, p. 11), ended up in parts of Europe, like Germany:

He that lets is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes, Antichrist is near…The whole country between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid waste by hordes of Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Herules, Saxons, Burgundians, Allemanni and— alas! For the commonweal!— even Pannonians. For Assur also is joined with them. The once noble city of Moguntiacum has been captured and destroyed. In its church many thousands have been massacred. The people of Vangium after standing a long siege have been extirpated. The powerful city of Rheims, the Ambiani, the Altrebatæ, the Belgians on the skirts of the world, Tournay, Spires, and Strasburg have fallen to Germany: while the provinces of Aquitaine and of the Nine Nations, of Lyons and of Narbonne are with the exception of a few cities one universal scene of desolation. (Jerome. Letter CXXIII to Ageruchia, Chapter 16. Translated by W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 6. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001123.htm>).

The late scholar and evangelist Dr. Herman Hoeh wrote the following:

Ninus (his Bible name was Nimrod), according to Genesis 10, led the ancient Assyrians from Babylon and supervised their building of Nineveh, the capital of ancient Assyria. (In 1957 Dr. C. Paul Meredith and I viewed in Iraq, the ancient Mesopotamia, the very cities originally settled with the Assyrians by Nimrod.) From there the Assyrians began their conquest of the ancient world. They, too, called themselves “the Master Race.” But why do the German records speak of the son of an ASSYRIAN King as the builder of their first city? What connection have the German tribes WITH THE ASSYRIANS of history?

Jerome, who lived at the time when the Indo-Germanic tribes were invading Europe, gives the answer: “For ‘Assur (the Assyrian) also is joined with them'”! (Letter 123, § 16, quoted from Psalm 83:8; from “Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers”.)

Did the Assyrians Invade Europe?

Yes! Jerome said so! But how did he know?

He saw them! He was an EYEWITNESS to their migrations from Mesopotamia and the shores of the Black and Caspian seas!

Only 300 years before Jerome, the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder declared the “Assyriani” — the Assyrians — were dwelling north of the Black Sea (“Natural History”, IV, § 12, page 183). But the Assyrians did not remain there! They are not there today! Of course not — they migrated into Central Europe — where the Germans live today! (Hoeh H. Germany in Prophecy! – Part 1. Plain Truth, December 1962)

Various other scholars have noted similarities between ancient Assyria and modern Germany:

Assyria is interesting on account of the close parallel between her methods and morals and those of modern Germany. In politics, Germany has been an imitator of Assyria. (Vestal SC. The maintenance of peace, or, The foundations of domestic and international peace as deduced from a study of the history of nations. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1920 Original from Harvard University Digitized Dec 15, 2008, p. 118)

Similarities between Assyria and Germany have been noted by several (Oswalt JN, Oswalt J. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1-39 New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986, p. 226)

There is a relatively new report that concluded that certain modern ancestors of the Germans came from the Near East:

A study of remains from Central Europe suggests the foundations of the modern gene pool were laid down between 4,000 and 2,000 BC – in Neolithic times…a wave of migration by Near Eastern farmers some 6,000 years ago. (in the early Neolithic)

But the extent to which present-day people are descended from the indigenous hunters versus the newcomers that arrived in the Neolithic has been a matter of some debate…

Haplogroup H dominates mtDNA variation in Europe. Today, more than 40% of Europeans belong to this genetic “clan”, with frequencies much higher in the west of the continent than in the east.

The team selected 39 human remains from the Mitelelbe Saale region of Germany, all of whom belonged to the “H” clan…The remains investigated here span 3,500 years of European prehistory, from the Early Neolithic to the Bronze Age…

And only about 19% of the Early Neolithic remains from Central Europe belonged to this genetic clan.

But, from the Middle Neolithic onwards, DNA patterns more closely resembled those of people living in the area today, pointing to a major – and previously unrecognised – population upheaval around 4,000 BC…

“We have established that the genetic foundations for modern Europe were only established in the Mid-Neolithic, after this major genetic transition around 4000 years ago,” said co-author Dr Wolfgang Haak. (Ricon P. Making of Europe unlocked by DNA. BBC, April 23, 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22252099)

People coming from the Near East is consistent with Assyrian migrations from that area. And there are also various facts and legends.

A while back, World News Daily reported the following:

…Babylonian artifacts. Ancient tablets describe “Alla” as a deity of “violence and revolution.”… The…find…links the name to the Epic of Atrahasis, chiseled on tablets sometime around 1700 B.C. in Babylon…“The beginning of the Epic of Atrahasis describes Allah as how all of the gods labored endlessly in grueling work, under the rule of the patron deity Enlil or Elil. But soon revolt of the gods had erupted, and one deity of ‘violence and revolution’ [was] named Allah (spelled by the experts as Alla),” he wrote….“The question remains as to why no expert on Assyriology or Sumerology had even suspected that ‘Alla’ had a connection with the Arabian ‘Allah,’” he wrote. http://www.wnd.com/2012/09/1700-b-c-alla-god-of-violence-and-revolution/

While the above article attempts to connect that to modern Islam, various scholars likely have their doubts. But there is no doubt that the names Alla and Allah certainly seem similar. Whether or not Islam is tied to ancient Assyrian deities, Islam is not a religion of peace as some claim, but often a religion that promotes war (see also Differences Between Islam and the Continuing Church of God).

But could there be any Germanic ties?

Well clearly this research shows a connection between the ancient Assyrians and a warring deity.

Other sources have demonstrated that the ancient Assyrians used the term Alla for some of their deities:

Al-sarru, if Al had been an Assyrian god. We may set down Alman as a possible reading, or even Alnis, but there seems no meaning to either. Now we have a similar name Alla-MAN, this can hardly be phonetic. I venture therefore to read Alla-sarru and Al-sarru, ‘Alla is king.’ As MAN means king…Mannu-ki-Alla shows the same divine name. (Johns CHW. An Assyrian doomsday book, or, Liber censualis of the district round Harran in the seventh century B.C.: copied from the cuneiform tablets in the British Museum, Volume 17 of Assyriologische Bibliothek. J. C. Hinrichs, 1901. Original from Princeton University, Digitized May 28, 2009, p. 15)

They also had other warring deities.

Here are two other references:

ON THE ORIGINAL ASSYRIA. WE proceed to consider the character of another country, noticed as marking… by the Hebrews and Chaldeans, was either Syr, Shur, or Tyr ; so that the compound word might be Ai-syria, or Ai-shyria…which is here rendered Assyria. (Clamet A, Taylor Calmet’s dictionary of the Holy Bible: with the Biblical fragments, Volume 4, 5th edition. Holdsworth and Ball, 1830. Original from the New York Public Library, Digitized Oct 20, 2010, p. 60)

Men prayed to Tyr…In some places he was called Tiwaz and was associated with the Roman God, Mars, the Celtic God, Nadu, as well as the Indian God, Mitra…Tyr was the original God of war, and the precursor of Odin…The name Tiwaz is also related to the Roman God Jupiter, and the Greek God, Zeus. All three names are descended from Dyaus Piter or Father Dyaus, and are all descended from the name Dieus…

A helmet was found in Negau in Austria which bears an inscription…translated as Teiwa, which is an archaic form of Tyr’s name…Tyr was worshipped…in Bavaria (Blumetti R. The Book of Balder Rising. iUniverse, 2004, pp. 142, 143).

Tyr, Mars, etc. were gods of war. And Tyr was worshiped in Bavaria (essentially southern Germany).

Also notice:

Ishtar was a favorite goddess of the Assyrian kings, who styled her as “their lady,” and sometimes coupled her with Asshur, “the Great Lord,” in their invocations. Ishtar had a very old temple at Asshur, the primitive Assyrian capital, and this temple, Tiglath-Pileser I, repaired and beautified. (Clare IS. Ancient oriental nations, Volume 1 of The Unrivaled History of the World: Containing a Full and Complete Record of the Human Race from the Earliest Historical Period to the Present Time, Embracing a General Survey of the Progress of Mankind in National and Social Life, Civil Government, Religion, Literature, Science and Art. Unrivaled Publishing Co., 1889. Original from Indiana University, Digitized Feb 3, 2010p. 225).

Ishtar, also known as Easter/Oster/Ostern (the Germanic goddess of Springtime), long influenced the Assyrians and as well the modern Germans. Ishtar was the goddess of fertility and war. Ishtar also has ties to the ancient Babylonian mystery religion and Nimrod. She was also called Beltis. Beltis was the wife of Bel-Nimrod. She was called “the Queen of Fertility” and also known as “the Great Mother” (similar to how some revere Mary, the mother of Jesus today) and essentially was also Ishtar in the Assyrian triad (Clare, pp. 222-223).

Bel, or Bel-Nimrod, according to the testimony of the Assyrian monuments, was worshiped as extensively in Assyria as in Chaldaea, and Babylonia. (Clare, p. 222)

What is the possible relevance of any of this?

The tying together of violent deities from Babylon to Assyria in the past suggests a possible connection in the future.

Why?

The Bible tells of a time where a leader with Assyrian ties (Isaiah 10:5-7) will rise up and destroy not a few nations. This leader is also the one called the King of the North. This final such leader will, according to the Bible, honor a violent god and he also will destroy many:

38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. 39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain. 40 “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown…(Daniel 11:38-41)

What’s the Alla, Tyr, and Ishtar connection?

Precisely the distinguishing in Daniel 11:38 between the “god of fortresses” and “a god his fathers did not know.” The implication, to me at least, is that the “god of fortresses” is related to a “god” of violence that his fathers did know, like Alla, Tyr, and Ishtar.

And while there will also be a new “god” that the King of the North will honor, there will be some difference between his empire (Daniel 2:41-43) and the Babylonian one (Daniel 2:24, 36-37). It may be important to realize that the empire of this final King of the North is also called the “daughter Babylon” in scripture (Jeremiah 50:41-43), thus it must be somehow different, but with some Babylonian connections.

So, this information about the Babylonian warring connection of ancient deities tied in with biblical prophecy shows an additional apparent connection between ancient Babylon and the coming King of the North power.

It should be understood that although the coming King of the North will likely claim to be some type of Christian, the reality is that the historical record shows that the early professors of Christ would not participate in carnal warfare. It is only those whose faiths have stronger ties to warring deities than the true Christian God that do that.

For details on those and other prophecies, check out the following:

Differences Between Islam and the Continuing Church of God What are some of the main differences? Are there any similarities? A video of related interest is titled: Islam: Any Christian Concerns or Similarities?
Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History Are the Germanic peoples descended from Asshur of the Bible? Have there been real Christians in Germanic history? What about the “Holy Roman Empire”? There is also a You-Tube video sermon on this titled Germany’s Biblical Origins.
Germany in Biblical and Catholic Prophecy Does Assyria in the Bible equate to an end time power inhabiting the area of the old Roman Empire? What does prophecy say Germany will do and what does it say will happen to most of the German people? Here are links to two English language sermon videos Germany in Bible Prophecy and The Rise of the Germanic Beast Power of Prophecy. Here is a link to a video Is the USA Pushing Germany to Start WWIII?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.
Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North? Is the former German Defense Minister (who is also the former German Minister for Economics and Technology) one to watch? What do Catholic, Byzantine, and biblical prophecies suggest? A video of related interest would be: Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Europe’s Future.
Military Service and the Churches of God: Do Real Christians Participate in Carnal Warfare or Encourage Violence? Here are current and historical perspectives on a matter which show the beliefs of the true church on military participation. Is war proper for Christians? A related sermon would be: Christians, Violence, and Military Service.