Chaldea

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An ancient region in southern Mesopotamia, near the lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers ; the people of that region who founded a powerful empire under Nebuchadnezzar ; the star-gazing and divination practices once associated with Chaldean priests
2. A historical land in lower Mesopotamia ; the nation and people who established a Babylonian empire ; the astrological and occult lore traditionally linked to Chaldean scholars
3. Ancient southern Mesopotamian territory ; the Chaldean people whose empire flourished in Babylon ; the mystical astronomy and divination attributed to Chaldean sages

Etymology: Chaldea was the name the Greeks gave to a region of southern Mesopotamia, the lowland country around the lower Tigris and Euphrates, where the Chaldeans lived. The Greek form "Khaldaía" passed into Latin as "Chaldaea," and English borrowed the name from that Latin source. The Greeks used it for a land whose people were best known for their astronomy and omen-reading, so the name became attached to the learned priests of Babylon rather than to any single city or state. That association is why the word carried such weight in later European writing. Because the Chaldeans were admired as keepers of ancient star lore, "Chaldean" came to mean an astrologer or magician, and the region's name was remembered mainly through that reputation. Its use in English is therefore largely historical and literary, pointing back to the ancient Near East and the scholars who worked there.