CALAH . The Kalach of the inscriptions, one of the great fortresses which after the fall of Nineveh (cf. Jonah 4:11 and the Greek writers) were supposed to make up that city. Both Nineveh and Calah were, however, always separate in structure and in administration. Calah lay on the site of the great modem mounds of Nimrûd , as was first proved by the explorer Layard. In Genesis 10:11 f. it is said to have been founded by Nimrod, and, along with Nineveh and other cities, to have formed part of ‘the great city.’ It was the capital, or at least the chief royal residence, under several of the greatest Assyrian kings, whose palaces have been excavated by modern explorers. Here also was found the famous black obelisk of Shalmaneser II.
J. F. McCurdy.