Page 5 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Student Textbook

Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but
when they came to Haran, they settled there.” (ESV)

As you can see, Ur was located just off the Euphrates river in the southwest corner of Sumer. If Howard
Vos is correct about the date of Abraham’s birth, 2166 BC, then Abraham experienced Ur in its greatest
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period of prosperity. The land was particularly suited to the developments that happened there. If
Abraham did grow up in the peak of its prosperity, leaving to follow the Lord would be quite an act of
faith. Now let’s turn to the government structure of Ancient Mesopotamia.

Government in Ancient Mesopotamia:

Despite the seeming backwardness we often seem to assume was the case in
ancient civilizations, Ur was at the forefront of technology and power when
Abraham would have known it. Its leader, Ur-Nammu, had managed to take Uruk
from its leader and founded what became known as the third dynasty. Ur-Nammu
conquered the regions of Sumer and Akkad as well as regions beyond. He
established various regions which were administered by military leaders he had
selected. They would rule under his authority. A system of roads existed which
made travel and carrying messages much easier. As a result, in Abraham’s time, Ur
seems to have been in control of trade and commerce. The government often
codified laws similar to what they do today. Once such law code we have was
carved in stone and was found by archeologists. This stone is the famous Code of
Hammurabi seen in the picture above. If you look closely below the two figure there is ancient writing
recording the laws.

Now let’s look at the religious practices and thought of Ancient Mesopotamia.

Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia:
In the time of Abraham the people of Mesopotamia, specifically in Ur, were polytheistic. This means
they worshipped many gods. We are told that Abraham’s own father had many gods he worshipped.
Joshua 24:2 confirms this “And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long
ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they
served other gods.” (ESV) According to John Walton, these gods were formed through function. If it did
not rain you would try to identify the God that needed to be appeased. If the appeasement worked, and
it rained, you added that god to your list of gods. Many in ancient Sumer had family and personal gods.
If following a personal god paid off, you kept following that God. This practice can help us understand
why when Abraham was told by God to leave and go to a place God would show him, Abraham obeyed.
In their culture this may not have been unusual.

Religious life centered around the temple. In the time of Abraham there were resting places for the
God’s known as Ziggurats. This picture is an aerial view of the ziggurat at Ur.
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2 Howard Frederic Vos, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs: How the People of the Bible Really
Lived (Nashville, Tenn.: T. Nelson Publishers, 1999), 9.
3 John Holmes. Biblical Backgrounds Course Notes.

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