Ur of the Chaldees

Ur of the Chaldees is the name given to the city where Abraham was born.

Location
The location of the particular city called "Ur of the Chaldees" is completely unsettled. Traditionally, the location of Ur is believed to be near or actually be the city of Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa, or simply Urfa) in south-eastern Turkey however, it has been popularly identified since 1927 by Sir Charles Woolley as a Sumerian city named Ur (modern Tell el-Mukayyar).

Since then, other scholars have proposed other identifications, including the city of Enoch, as if any city could have survived the Global Flood and been repopulated. The chief flaw in the available scholarship on Ur of the Chaldees is that it assumes either that the city predated the Flood, or that Abraham lived far later than the Bible says that he lived, or that the name "of the Chaldees" is simply an anachronism.

According to, Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees (or Ur Kaśdim). The problem is that there are several ancient sites in that region called "Ur." The sites of Urfa, Urkesh, Kutha, Uruk, and Urim have all been identified, at one point or another, as the Biblical Ur Kaśdim. In, after Abram (later Abraham) and his father Terah have left Ur Kaśdim for Haran in Aram-Naharaim, God instructs Abram to leave his native land.

Similarly, in, Abraham instructs his servant to bring a wife for Isaac from his mowledeth, and the servant departs for Aram-Naharaim. Hence, Abraham's birthplace is somewhere in Aram-Naharaim (literally "Aram of the Two Rivers). Based on the meaning of its name, we see that Aram-Naharaim was located in Aram (ancient Syria) between the two rivers (the Tigris and Euphrates). Thus, Ur of the Chaldees can best be identified as the modern city of Urfa (also called Şanlıurfa) in Turkey, which was known in antiquity as Edessa, near the ancient Kingdom of Urartu. The Sumerian site of Urim (Tell el-Mukayyar), therefore, is not the Biblical city of Ur as has often been speculated.

Urfa (Edessa or Şanlıurfa) is indeed located on the other side of the Euphrates River from Canaan, and is in the region of Aram-Naharaim. There is no debate over where Haran is located, 10 miles north of the Syrian border in Turkey along the Balikh River, a tributary of the Euphrates River. Haran later became an important Hurrian center, mentioned in the Nuzi tablets. If Ur were located in Southern Iraq, why would Abraham travel 60 miles way out of his way to go to Haran?

The names of several of Abraham's relatives like Peleg, Serug, Nahor and Terah, appear as names of cities in the region of Haran. In northern Syria, in 1975, the archives of ancient Ebla (a city 150 miles south of Haran) were discovered. This city existed during the time of Abram. And mentioned in the Ebla texts, uncontested, are cities whose names reflect Abraham's relatives: "Phaliga" (Peleg); "Sarugi" (Serug); "Til-Turakhi" (Terah); "Nakhur" (Nahor); and "Harran" (Haran). They also mention "Ur in the region of Haran." A town called Nahuru (Nahor, the name of Abraham's grandfather as well as a brother) is known from both the Cappadocian tablets and the Mari texts to be in the same region. The name of Abraham's father, Terah, is preserved at Til-sa-Turah, the "ruin of Terah" in the Balikh Valley.

Abraham sent his servant back to the region of Haran to find a wife for Isaac. After working for Laban, Jacob fled across the Euphrates River back to Canaan. If Ur was located Southern Iraq, then Jacob would not need to cross the Euphrates. Laban lived in Paddan-Aram, which is in the region of Haran, which seems to be the same area as Aram-Naharaim, Abraham's homeland.

The Patriarchs, then, one can clearly see, were closely identified with northern Mesopotamia and northern Syria. The Bible states that:

He was called "Haran" because he was born in the district of Haran, near where Ur was in northern Mesopotamia. Nahor, too, was born in that area, which was also called "Aram-Naharaim," in which we find a city called Nahor, near Mari. The picture we gain is that the whole area of northern Mesopotamia is the theatre of activity of the Patriarchs, not southern Mesopotamia.

The Muslims, for centuries, have accepted the city of Edessa (modern Urfa) as the Biblical city of Ur and still do. The Christian world also accepted Edessa as the Biblical city of Ur for centuries. Only in the latter half of the 19th century when Urim (Tell el-Mukayyar) was discovered that the latter gained acceptance as Abraham's home. The New Bible Dictionary says that if Urfa is the correct location, it would require that "Chaldaea" be equated ''"with the Indo-Aryan Haldai."

Now, the Bible mentions that Terah took his son Abram, Lot, and Sarai and "went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees". St. Stephen's statement in the Book of Acts lends support to Urfa ("the northern Ur") as the location of Ur of the Chaldees:

See.

Joshua's statement also proves the northern Ur:

Notice that Abraham came from the other side of the Euphrates River. Ur of the north (Urfa) was and is on the other side of the Euphrates. For the descendants of Arpachshad—Arfu-Chesed or "Urfa of the Chaldees"—occupied northern Mesopotamia. That is were his descendants first located; 400 miles northwest of Babylon. Patriarchal activity was centered around the north of Mesopotamia at this time. It is where Jacob fled and found a wife  and Abraham sent his concubines and their sons to the "east country"  which was Haran.

History
According to the Book of Jubilees the city of Ur was founded in Founded::1688 AM by Ur, son of Kesed, presumably the offspring of Arpachshad, adding that in this same year wars began on Earth.