Kir

Kir was the ancient homeland from which the Aramean people had migrated, "I brought up Israel from the land of Egypt and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir" (Amos 9:7). The prophet Amos warned that the Arameans would be sent into exile back to Kir as judgment for their cruelty (Amos 1:5). The prophecy was fulfilled in 732 BCE when Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria captured Damascus, killed King Rezin, and deported the Aramean population to Kir (2 Kings 16:9). Isaiah also lists Kir among the nations involved in the great siege of Jerusalem — "Elam took up the quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield" (Isaiah 22:6). Its precise location is debated but was probably somewhere in Mesopotamia or the Iranian highlands east of the Tigris.