Farewell to Ur

Abram was 37 when he departed from Ur of the Chaldees in ancient Mesopotamia. He left in 1528 BC. Ur was part of modern day Iraq, on the river Euphrates, near to Eden. Abram left fertile abundance for the barren solitude of the desert. He knew not where he was going, but followed a divine call.

He took with him, his wife Sarai, his brother in law, Lot, his father, his tents, household and flocks. At the crest of a hell he looked back and bid a final farewell to the bustling city of Ur. His last view was of the towering ziggurat of Ur, home of the sumerian moon god. After leaving, Abram turned towards the North-West, to Haran, where Terah died and was buried. It was the beginning of a 600 km journey that would effectively last one-hundred and thirty eight years. It would establish him as the founder of the hebrew nation and father to the three primary world religions. He was a strong, resilient man, single minded man, set aside by God for an eternally significant purpose in a world that barely grasped the concept of a monotheistic God.

The life and times of Abraham (c) P Eleazar, http://www.bethelstone.com/