Erech (Hebrew name ארך, meaning 'to extract, or draw out') was an ancient city in the land of Shinar, thought to be the second city built by king Nimrod following the destruction of the Tower of Babel. Shinar (Hebrew שנער, Septuagint Senaar) is a broad designation applied to Mesopotamia, occurring eight times in the Hebrew Bible. ... The Confusion of Tongues by Gustave Doré (1865): the artist has based his conception on the Minaret of Samarra According to the narrative in Genesis Chapter 11 of the Bible, the Tower of Babel was a tower built by a united humanity to reach the heavens. ...

Although the exact location of Erech is now uncertain, the Book of Jubilees 9:3 identifies that the land of Shinar was allocated to Asshur, second son of Shem, and this strongly supports the placement of Erech in the northern part of Mesopotamia. The Book of Jubilees expands and reworks material found in Genesis to Exodus 15. ... Shem (שֵׁם renown; prosperity; name, Standard Hebrew Šem, Tiberian Hebrew Šēm; Greek Σημ, Sēm) was one of the sons of Noah in the Bible. ...

There are nevertheless many notable scholars who believe from archaeological artefacts that the place of Erech may be Uruk in southern Mesopotamia. ~*Apple*~ Uruk (Sumerian Unug, Biblical Erech, Greek Orchoë and Arabic وركاء Warka), was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates, on the line of the ancient Nil canal, in a region of marshes, about 140 miles (230 km) SSE from Baghdad. ...