CALAH kā’ lə (כָּֽלַח; Akkad. kalẖu). One of the Assyrian capital cities. Now called Nimrud and located in the NE angle of the confluence of the Tigris and Upper Zab rivers, it is twentyfour m. S of Nineveh on the E bank of the Tigris River.

According to Genesis 10:6-12, Calah was built by Nimrod (KJV “Asshur”). It was apparently rebuilt by Shalmaneser I (1274-1245) and then later abandoned until it was restored by Ashurnasirpal (883-859). The inscrs. of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II mention their attacks on Israel and Judah launched from this Assyrian military capital. Sargon II stored his booty here, and later Esarhaddon built himself a palace. Calah fell to the Medes and Babylonians in 612 b.c.

Excavations at this site have revealed immense statuary in the form of winged bulls and lions. Austen Henry Layard began his excavations there in 1845 and immediately found the splendid palace of Ashurnasirpal II, including a statue of the king in a state of perfect preservation. Layard also found the famous Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III which portrays, among other captives, Jehu of Israel. The many antiquities from this site may be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the University Museum at Philadelphia, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Bibliography M. E. L. Mallowan, Twenty-five Years of Mesopotamian Discovery (1956); Nimrud and Its Remains (1962).