Nadene Goldfoot
UR
Archaeologists from Britain have made an exciting find near Ur of Mesopotamia, the home of Abraham and his father Terah, the idol maker, before they set out with nephew Lot for Canaan. Ur is in southern Iraq. Ur of the Chaldees was an ancient Babylonian city situated on a former branch of the Euphrates River. Past excavations in the ruins were conducted by Sir Leonard Woolley which revealed the highly civilized nature of the city. They also feel they had uncovered evidence of an extensive flood at an earlier date. The Brits recently uncovered a complex they think is about 4,000 years old that could have been an administrative center around the time Abraham lived there.
This is important since Abraham lived there. He was the father is Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael's mother was Hagar, the maid of Sarah, his wife. Ishmael was the ancestor of the Arab people. Finally Sarah bore a son named Isaac, ancestor of the Jewish people. Ishmael and Hagar had been sent away from Abraham's compound because of the friction between the two women and the two sons. Jews have the tradition that it was Isaac who Abraham was going to sacrifice to G-d while the Muslims tell it with Ishmael being the sacrifice.
UR
To make matters more complicated, Isaac married Rebecca and she had twins, Esau and Jacob. Again we have this split. Esau became Jacob's enemy. The story of the twins symbolizes the relationship between the two nations that ensued which developed into hostility. Jacob-or Israel as he later was called was the father of the Jewish people by being the father of 12 sons that became the 12 Tribes of Israel. Ishmael's daughter then married Esau.
It was Stuart Campbell of Manchester University who led the dig in Iraq. The complex they found was 80 yards on each side, a huge square of rooms around a large courtyard was 12 miles from Ur, which was the last capital of the Sumerian royal dynasties. This would make the square footage to be 57,600 sq.feet.which is very large.
This compound is near the site of the Ziggurat or Sumerian temple. Sumeria was a section in southern Babylonia which was named for a non-Semitic people who migrated there in prehistoric times and founded a series of city-states. Its culture was the basis of Babylonian civilization and influenced the Semitic people of Accad. Nimrod and Cush are connected with Sumerian tradition. Nimrod, whose father was Cush, was a biblical figure of Cushite origin who was a strong ruler of the kingdom of Babylon, Erech, Accad, etc. Assyria was known as "the land of Nimrod." Cush refers to tribes in Africa and southern Arabia.
They found a a 3.5 inch clay plaque showing a worshipper wearing a long, fringed robe.
Babylonia, also known as the land of Shinar or the Kasdim (Chaldees) seems to be the cradle of humanity and where man first revolted against G-d with the Tower of Babel. Babylonian literature found in Ur have parallels in the Bible (Torah). such as the Flood. The Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar II inherited the Assyrian Empire and restored Ur in the 6th century BCE. He conquered Judah in 597 and 586 (fall of Jerusalem) which resulted in the exile of many Jews to Babylon. The 10 Tribes were exiled before this, so there was a large Jewish population there. Many remained even after Cyrus allowed them to return to their land of Israel in 538 BCE. .
Oregonian newspaper, 4/5/13 QuickREAD, page A6, British archaeologists
Tanakh, Stone Edition
The New Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ur
UR
Archaeologists from Britain have made an exciting find near Ur of Mesopotamia, the home of Abraham and his father Terah, the idol maker, before they set out with nephew Lot for Canaan. Ur is in southern Iraq. Ur of the Chaldees was an ancient Babylonian city situated on a former branch of the Euphrates River. Past excavations in the ruins were conducted by Sir Leonard Woolley which revealed the highly civilized nature of the city. They also feel they had uncovered evidence of an extensive flood at an earlier date. The Brits recently uncovered a complex they think is about 4,000 years old that could have been an administrative center around the time Abraham lived there.
This is important since Abraham lived there. He was the father is Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael's mother was Hagar, the maid of Sarah, his wife. Ishmael was the ancestor of the Arab people. Finally Sarah bore a son named Isaac, ancestor of the Jewish people. Ishmael and Hagar had been sent away from Abraham's compound because of the friction between the two women and the two sons. Jews have the tradition that it was Isaac who Abraham was going to sacrifice to G-d while the Muslims tell it with Ishmael being the sacrifice.
To make matters more complicated, Isaac married Rebecca and she had twins, Esau and Jacob. Again we have this split. Esau became Jacob's enemy. The story of the twins symbolizes the relationship between the two nations that ensued which developed into hostility. Jacob-or Israel as he later was called was the father of the Jewish people by being the father of 12 sons that became the 12 Tribes of Israel. Ishmael's daughter then married Esau.
It was Stuart Campbell of Manchester University who led the dig in Iraq. The complex they found was 80 yards on each side, a huge square of rooms around a large courtyard was 12 miles from Ur, which was the last capital of the Sumerian royal dynasties. This would make the square footage to be 57,600 sq.feet.which is very large.
This compound is near the site of the Ziggurat or Sumerian temple. Sumeria was a section in southern Babylonia which was named for a non-Semitic people who migrated there in prehistoric times and founded a series of city-states. Its culture was the basis of Babylonian civilization and influenced the Semitic people of Accad. Nimrod and Cush are connected with Sumerian tradition. Nimrod, whose father was Cush, was a biblical figure of Cushite origin who was a strong ruler of the kingdom of Babylon, Erech, Accad, etc. Assyria was known as "the land of Nimrod." Cush refers to tribes in Africa and southern Arabia.
They found a a 3.5 inch clay plaque showing a worshipper wearing a long, fringed robe.
Babylonia, also known as the land of Shinar or the Kasdim (Chaldees) seems to be the cradle of humanity and where man first revolted against G-d with the Tower of Babel. Babylonian literature found in Ur have parallels in the Bible (Torah). such as the Flood. The Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar II inherited the Assyrian Empire and restored Ur in the 6th century BCE. He conquered Judah in 597 and 586 (fall of Jerusalem) which resulted in the exile of many Jews to Babylon. The 10 Tribes were exiled before this, so there was a large Jewish population there. Many remained even after Cyrus allowed them to return to their land of Israel in 538 BCE. .
Oregonian newspaper, 4/5/13 QuickREAD, page A6, British archaeologists
Tanakh, Stone Edition
The New Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ur
