Page 7 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Student Textbook

Social order in Ancient Mesopotamia:
In the time of Abraham families lived together in communities. Abraham traveled with his father Terah.
He is also seen as having his nephew Lot working with him until the two decided to part ways. Marriage
was important in these societies as well. As was true in many ancient societies, marriage was more often
a contract between families than it was an issue of desire between the man and
woman. We see Abraham use marriage in this way. The goal of marriage was to have
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sons to carry on your lineage. Sons were educated, daughters were not. In school,
students would copy lessons from their teacher. Many of these copied lessons have
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been found in various archaeological dig sites. These students would grow up to
work in a trade, as a merchant, as an administrator, a priest, a scribe, or what we
today call a government employee.

This example of a student’s cuneiform tablet is from the city of Nippur during the Hammurabi Dynasty.
Abraham was likely an educated man for the time. Most believe he could at least read and write. Vos
speculates that because of his background and ability to move his entire family and all his herds, he was
likely a wealthy man as well.

Commerce in Ancient Mesopotamia:

Howard Vos explains that commerce had many different
aspects. The Sumerians were engaged in growing plants
and animals for food, making bricks for personal and
industrial profit, growing and importing trees to be used
for decoration in dwellings and temples, and
metalworking among other things. Metals such as gold
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came from outside Sumer. These metals were used to
make tools, weapons, crowns, statues of deities, jewelry,
and other items. Other common metals included silver
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and copper. Pottery was also important in the commerce
of the time. Like many cultures today, the state and the
religion were often involved in orchestrating commerce.
The Sumerian rulers are known to have created factories
for the development of goods. Both the government and the temples owned land and used it to
produce commercially functional items such as those listed above. Individuals owned land as well but
did not produce on the level of the industrial operations.

Abram may have lived in this area of town, but perhaps did worship this false god when the Lord spoke
directly to him. However, Abram was from the godly line of Seth through Shem and, contrary to his
culture, may have worshipped the Lord. We really don’t know.

The common district was filled with marketplaces, schools, libraries, and many of the people were very
wealthy. People had very elaborate homes with lush gardens and many conveniences for the day.

10 Voss, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs, 17.
11 Penn Museum. About Cuneiform Writing. https://www.penn.museum/games/cuneiform.shtml
12 Voss, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs, 20-22.
13 Public Domain Image. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/322903.

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