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Famously, Abraham, the grandfather of the man Israel, was from “Ur of the Chaldees” according to the Bible. Ur is very possibly the same place as Ur of the Chal

Famously, Abraham, the grandfather of the man Israel, was from “Ur of the Chaldees” according to the Bible. Ur is very possibly the same place as Ur of the Chaldees (Wikipedia calls it “the current scholarly consensus” although I don’t know enough archaeology to confirm that).

fedeb95 4y ago
I've been reading "I Sumeri" by Pettinato and he says that it's very probable that they are both the same city. However I too am not an expert in this field
HeckFeck 4y ago
I think we can give the ancient writers their credit. Ur was famous then, its name linked to the one city. If future generations read that someone contemporary was born in an equivalently famous city like New York, they'll know where we mean.
- boomboomsubban 4y ago
  On Wikipedia, there are nine places called New York outside of New York state. It's pretty easy to imagine someone getting confused if you told them you're from New York Texas now, I wouldn't expect someone millennia from now to know for sure.
  - Beltalowda 4y ago
    Plus there might be confusion with the many Yorks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_(disambiguation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_(disambiguation) British settlers had zero imagination at all.
    - _dain_ 4y ago
      >British settlers had zero imagination at all. Surely you must admit that eastern Australia is the spitting image of South Wales. There's hardly a more appropriate name.
  - samatman 4y ago
    Yes, but this would be like saying they're from "New York of the Yankees", since we know that Ur was Chaldean. Little room left for doubt.
    - tsimionescu 4y ago
      If you're coming from New York, Texas to some village in Romania and founding a religion here, they may well misunderstand which speicifc city you mean, and believe (and write down) that you're coming from the much more famous NYC.
      - HeckFeck 4y ago
        > New York, Texas to some village in Romania and founding a religion here The worst thing is I could very well see this happening. Some gent starts getting visions, then a few weeks later he's entitled to time with everyone's wife. Then he fails a tax audit and the same day gets a vision to leave America and begin a global mission. Who said the US was struggling with exports? ;)
Mikeb85 4y ago
It's almost certainly the same place. Ur existed through many empires (Sumerian, Old Babylonian, Chaldean, etc...) and the era that the Torah was written in is most likely when southern Mesopotamia was known as "Chaldea" (ie. Of the "Chaldees").
layer8 4y ago
It doesn’t sound that conclusive on the Wikipedia page: > Ur is possibly the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim patriarch Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic), traditionally believed to have lived some time in the 2nd millennium BC. There are however conflicting traditions and scholarly opinions identifying Ur Kasdim with the sites of Şanlıurfa, Urkesh, Urartu or Kutha. [etc.]
- bentley 4y ago
  That quote doesn’t contradict mine.

fedeb95 4y ago

I've been reading "I Sumeri" by Pettinato and he says that it's very probable that they are both the same city. However I too am not an expert in this field

HeckFeck 4y ago

I think we can give the ancient writers their credit. Ur was famous then, its name linked to the one city. If future generations read that someone contemporary was born in an equivalently famous city like New York, they'll know where we mean.

boomboomsubban 4y ago
On Wikipedia, there are nine places called New York outside of New York state. It's pretty easy to imagine someone getting confused if you told them you're from New York Texas now, I wouldn't expect someone millennia from now to know for sure.
- Beltalowda 4y ago
  Plus there might be confusion with the many Yorks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_(disambiguation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_(disambiguation) British settlers had zero imagination at all.
  - _dain_ 4y ago
    >British settlers had zero imagination at all. Surely you must admit that eastern Australia is the spitting image of South Wales. There's hardly a more appropriate name.
- samatman 4y ago
  Yes, but this would be like saying they're from "New York of the Yankees", since we know that Ur was Chaldean. Little room left for doubt.
  - tsimionescu 4y ago
    If you're coming from New York, Texas to some village in Romania and founding a religion here, they may well misunderstand which speicifc city you mean, and believe (and write down) that you're coming from the much more famous NYC.
    - HeckFeck 4y ago
      > New York, Texas to some village in Romania and founding a religion here The worst thing is I could very well see this happening. Some gent starts getting visions, then a few weeks later he's entitled to time with everyone's wife. Then he fails a tax audit and the same day gets a vision to leave America and begin a global mission. Who said the US was struggling with exports? ;)

Mikeb85 4y ago

It's almost certainly the same place. Ur existed through many empires (Sumerian, Old Babylonian, Chaldean, etc...) and the era that the Torah was written in is most likely when southern Mesopotamia was known as "Chaldea" (ie. Of the "Chaldees").

layer8 4y ago

It doesn’t sound that conclusive on the Wikipedia page: > Ur is possibly the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim patriarch Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic), traditionally believed to have lived some time in the 2nd millennium BC. There are however conflicting traditions and scholarly opinions identifying Ur Kasdim with the sites of Şanlıurfa, Urkesh, Urartu or Kutha. [etc.]

bentley 4y ago
That quote doesn’t contradict mine.