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Author Topic: Where did the Bible´s Abraham come from?
Archeopteryx
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Seems there are different suggestions in the literature, and on different maps, about which way Abraham wandered to get to Canaan, and from which Ur he came.

Compare these two

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There seem to have been different opinions through the ages of where the biblical Ur was located. Wiki has a summary:

Ur of the Chaldees -Wikipedia

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Once an archaeologist, always an archaeologist

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Djehuti
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^ Ur of the Chaldees is different from Sumerian Ur. The former was identified with Urfa in northern Mesopotamia which concorded with rabbinic and Christian traditions, not to mention the shorter distanced from Urfa to Haran both of which were part of the land of Arphakhshad (later called Padan-Aram) after which Abraham was called by God to travel south to Canaan.

Strangely, the identification of Sumerian Ur in southern Mesopotamia with Abraham's homeland only began after the excavation of that city by English archaeologist Leonard Woolley in the 1920s. In fact I've done some research on that issue some years back and found some curious connections namely that Woolley was a prominent freemason and that the notion of Sumerian Ur being Abraham's home was pushed by a lot of newspapers owned by freemasons. I mean I hate to get into conspiracy theories, but that's the connection I found for this agenda.

Abraham was a Hebrew and Hebrews come from the land of Arpakhshad

Until Woolley's identification of Ur, Arpachshad was understood by many Jewish and Muslim scholars to be an area in northern Mesopotamia. This led to the identification of Arpachshad with Urfa-Kasid (due to similarities in the names ארפ־כשד‎ and כשדים‎) – a land associated with the Khaldis, whom Josephus confused with the Chaldeans. Donald B. Redford asserted that Arpachshad is to be identified with Babylon.

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the lioness,
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I would have posted this here but I wanted the article title in the thread title , also talks about pedigree of Abraham and Ur of Chaldees + DNA

Topic: Meanwhile in Megiddo: DNA family research reveals facts about Biblical Semites

http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=15&t=013475

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Djehuti
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^ Megiddo is one of the oldest cities in the Levant dating to the Early Bronze Age and was along the trade routes.

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Abraham and his people definitely either passed through or had business transactions in Megiddo.

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Yatunde Lisa Bey
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quote:
Palestine Origin Hypothesis


The earliest possible reference to Abraham may be the name of a town in the Negev listed in a victory inscription of Pharaoh Sheshonq I (biblical Shishak), which is referred as “the Fortress of Abraham”, suggesting the possible existence of an Abraham tradition in the 10th century BCE.[81] The orientalist Mario Liverani proposed to see in the name Abraham the mythical eponym of a Palestinian tribe from the 13th century BCE, that of the Raham, of which mention was found in the stele of Seti I found in Beth-She'an and dating back to 'around 1289 BCE.The tribe probably lived in the area surrounding or close to Beth-She'an, in Galilee (the stele in fact refers to fights that took place in the area). The semi-nomadic and pastoral Semitic tribes of the time used to prefix their names with the term banū ("sons of"), so it is hypothesized that the Raham called themselves Banu Raham . Furthermore, many interpreted blood ties between tribe members as common descent from an eponymous ancestor (i.e., one who gave the tribe its name), rather than as the result of intra-tribal ties. The name of this eponymous mythical ancestor was constructed with the patronymic (prefix) ("father"), followed by the name of the tribe; in the case of the Raham, it would have been Abu Raham, later to become Ab-raham, Abraham. Abraham's Journey from Ur to Harran could be explained as a retrospective reflection of the story of the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile. Indeed, Israel Finkelstein suggested that the oldest Abraham traditions originated in the Iron Age (monarchic period) and that they contained an autochthonous hero story as the oldest mentions of Abraham outside the book of Genesis (Ezekiel 33 and Isaiah 51) do not depend on Genesis 12–26, do not have there indication of a Mesopotamian origin of Abraham, and present only two main themes of the Abraham narrative in Genesis: land and offspring.[83] Yet, unlike Liverani, Finkelstein considered Abraham as ancestor who was worshiped in Hebron, which is too far from Beit She'an, and the oldest tradition of him might be about the altar he built in Hebron.[83]

Beit She'an



quote:
During the three hundred years of rule by the New Kingdom of Egypt , the population of Beit She'an appears to have been primarily Egyptian administrative officials and military personnel. The town was completely rebuilt, following a new layout, during the 19th dynasty.[18] The Penn Museum excavations uncovered two important stelae from the period of Seti I and a monument of Ramesses II.[19] One of those steles is particularly interesting because, according to William F. Albright,[20] it testifies to the presence of a Hebrew population: the Habiru, which Seti I protected from an Asiatic tribe . Pottery was produced locally, but some was made to mimic Egyptian forms.[21] Other Canaanite goods existed alongside Egyptian imports, or locally made Egyptian-style objects.[22] The 20th Dynasty saw the construction of large administrative buildings in Beit She'an, including "Building 1500", a small palace for the Egyptian governor.[23] During the 20th Dynasty, invasions of the "Sea Peoples" upset Egypt's control over the Eastern Mediterranean. Though the exact circumstances are unclear, the entire site of Beit She'an was destroyed by fire around 1150 BC. The Egyptians did not attempt to rebuild their administrative center and finally lost control of the region


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Djehuti
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^ I've heard of the above theory though there are holes in it. For one according to Israelite tradition the two main cities of Abraham were Hebron and Beersheba with other cities like Bethel, Shechem, Shiloh, and Jerusalem. Beth She'an was annexed into the tribal territory of Manasseh (Joshua 17:11), but the Israelites were unable to dislodge the native people (Judges 1:27), in part, due to the people possessing “chariots of iron” (meaning an iron axel; Joshua 17:16), which gave them a military advantage in the plain. The city made its appearance again the book of Samuel when King Saul and his sons were killed by the Philistines and their bodies were hung in that city.

Abraham even if not a real individual may very well represent a tribal group or community that spread into the Levant since Genesis personifies tribes and nations as personages, with Abraham said to descend from the nation of Arphakhshad somewhere in Mesopotamia. I find it interesting how Egyptian records show that city was inhabited by a tribe called 'Raham' though the presumption is that it is connected with the alleged patriarch Abraham whose own name the etymology is questionable. See What Does the Name Abraham Really Mean?

I do believe in the astro-theological theory of Abraham and his family. Abraham came from Ur which in Hebrew means 'light' and moved to Haran the city of his brother whose name translates as 'mountaineer' but may mean 'high/risen one'. The name of their father Terah means 'wanderer' which was also a euphemism for moving celestial bodies like planets. Ab-ram means 'exalted father' with Ab meaning father. Genesis says his new God given name Ab-raham means 'father of multitude' but 'raham' does not mean multitude. One definition of raham is 'mercy' or compassion, yet interestingly there was a South Arabian lunar deity named Rahaman. His half-sister and wife was renamed from Sarai (my lady) to Sarah meaning 'princess' yet the name could be connected to Sarakh meaning glowing or shining and Mishnah claims she was as fair as the moon. You had other relatives like Laban (pale one), and Milkah which means may mean 'queen' but also holds some celestial meanings.

Also is the fact that 'Habiru' is different from the original ethnic name of Hebrews which is Ebrim who are the children of Eber. Tukuler has explained this several times in other threads. What's interesting is that there was more to connect the Habiru with the Hyksos than with the Ebrim or Israelites but there is confusion due to similarity of language and names.

As author and researcher Chris King wrote:

Benjaminites were nomads on the outskirts of Mari around 1760 BC who had specific associations with Harran (Segal R631, R632). The names Abi-ram (Abraham) Yasmah-El (Ishmael) Yaqob-El (Jacob), a name also shared by a Hyksos chief and El-Laban (Laban) all appear at Mari. The root mlk  denoting melech king or in its sacrificial form Moloch is also found. Another word at Mari in this time which will come to have significance in Islam is umma  or "mother unit" of the nomadic tribes (Malamat R434 31, Bright R77 70).


Here is another good source-- Where was Abraham's Ur?

Abraham was from the city of Ur according to Genesis 11:31 above. The problem is that there are several places called Ur. It is mostly translated as "Ur of the Chaldeans." The problem with "Chaldeans" is that it is a late word used in the Neo-Babylonian times. It is either anachronistic, or a poor translation.

Josephus and Rabbi Maimonides believed that Ur Kasdim was in Northern Mesopotamia, in what is today Syria or Turkey.

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 is an important Hurrian center, mentioned in the Nuzi tablets. The moon god, Sin was worshiped here.

There are two cities not far from Haran; Ura and Urfa. Local tradition says that Abraham was born in Urfa. Northern Ur is mentioned in tablets at Ugarit, Nuzi, and Ebla, which refers to Ur, URA, and Urau (See BAR January 2000, page 16).

The names of several of Abraham's relatives like Peleg, Serug, Nahor and Terah, appear as names of cities in the region of Haran (Harper's Bible Dictionary, page 373). Abraham sent his servant back to the region of Haran to find a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24:10).


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