What is…
Cuthah
also known as: Kutha, Cuth, Cuthah, Gudua, Tell Ibrahim
This is one of the Babylonian cities or districts from which the Assyrian King Shalmaneser transplanted certain Cutheans to Samaria.
“…the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel…” —2 Kings 17:24 NKJV excerpt
The idol they worshipped was the false god Nergal.
“…the men of Cuth made Nergal…” —2 Kings 17:30 NASB
Some have conjectured that the “Cutheans” were identical with the “Cossaeans” who inhabited the hill-country to the north of the river Choaspes.
Archaeologists have identified Cuthah with Tell Ibrahim in Iraq. It lies on the right bank of the eastern branch of the Upper Euphrates, north of Nippur and around 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Babylon. The site consists of two tells or settlement mounds. The larger main mound is 0.75 miles (1.21 km) long and crescent-shaped. A smaller mound is located to the west. The two mounds, as is typical in the region, are separated by the dry bed of an ancient canal, the Shatt en-Nil.
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