Ashur (אַשּוּר; often also transliterated as Asshur to reflect the pointing of Hebrew letter 'ש' (Shin) in the Masoretic text, which doubles the 'ש'), was the second son of Shem, the son of Noah. Ashur's brothers were Elam, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
The Hebrew text of Genesis 10:11 is somewhat ambiguous as to whether it was Asshur himself (as the 1611 Authorized Version says), or Nimrod (as in some other English translations) who, according to Biblical tradition, built the Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Resen, Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, since the name Asshur can refer to both the person and the country.(Genesis 10:8-12 AV, Genesis 10:8-12 ESV)
The 1st century Judaeo-Roman historian Flavius Josephus further gives the following statement: "Ashur lived at the city of Nineve; and named his subjects Assyrians, who became the most fortunate nation, beyond others” (Antiquities, i, vi, 4).
According to some Judaeo-Christian traditions, the city of Ashur (also spelled Assur or Aššur) was founded by Ashur the son of Shem, who was deified by later generations as the city's patron god. However, no record of this has been found in Mesopotamian annals; Assyrian tradition lists an early Assyrian king named Ushpia as having dedicated the first temple to the god Ashur in the city in ca. the 21st century BC. It is highly likely that the city was named in honour of the Assyrian god of the same name.
Ashur the father of Tekoa is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 4.