Page 4 - Biblical Backgrounds

The area of
Mesopotamia is also
known as ancient
Sumer. There was north
and south Sumer that
were eventually united.
The capital city of
ancient Sumer during
the time of Abraham
was called Ur. This is
the same Ur that the
Bible tells us that
Abraham was called out
of by God. In Acts 7:2-3 says, “And Stephen said: ‘Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory

appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,and said to
him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’” (ESV) In
Genesis 11:28-31, we see Abraham, called Abram at this point, coming from UR and leaving for Haran.
Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land
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of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and
Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai,
and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of
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Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was
31
barren; she had no child. Terah took Abram, his son, and
Lot, the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai, his
daughter-in-law, his son 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. Voss tells us that 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. Voss notes that 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

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.

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