A version of a famous Talmud quote states:
Whoever destroys a single life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed the whole world, and whoever saves a single life is considered by Scripture to have saved the whole world.
As I ponder these words, the importance of an individual life shines forth. A person’s unique experiences and interactions provide a distinct reflection of reality. The rest of us are witnesses as we hazily observe each other’s actions. But what about those who lived in the distant past? Very little is left. Solomon wrestles with this when he writes:
For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory forever, since in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool! (Eccl 2:16)
So, as we consider Terah who lived nearly four thousand years past, what can we expect? Let’s start with clues from the Bible itself.
Abraham’s Hometown
Four verses in the Old Testament tell us that Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees (or Chaldeans in many translations).1 In the 1920s, excavations by Sir Leonard Woolley persuaded the scholarly community to consider Ur to the south of Babylon as Abraham’s hometown.2 There’s a problem. The Chaldeans were not in Babylon till hundreds of years after the time of Moses. Skeptics jump on this discrepancy. Proof they say! “Genesis was not written by Moses, but by those who lived much later.” We could reply, “Perhaps these scripture verses simply are scribal clarifications.” “Yeah right” the skeptics would retort.
There is another possible answer. The Chaldeans did not pop out of nowhere. From where did they originate? There is good reason to suspect that they migrated south from upper Mesopotamia around the same time that the Israelites were establishing themselves in Canaan.3 This raises the possibility that Abraham’s Ur is not the Ur that many think it is.
Could there be another city with a same or similar name? A recent discovery opens this up as a possibility. 1800 clay tablets were found from the city of Ebla, Syria. One of these is inscribed, “Ur in Haran.”4 This potentially puts Abraham’s hometown in the region of Haran in the north (see map above). This could explain why the Bible implies that he was a wandering Aramean and Sarai had Hittite roots.5 The homelands of both of these groups are in the north.
This in itself is not conclusive. Let’s consider additional clues that the Bible provides. Joshua 24:2 states:
Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor. They served other gods.’
The river to which this text refers is the Euphrates. The famous Ur of Sumer does not lie beyond this river. Joshua must be referring to somewhere else. Genesis 11:31 gives us another clue:
Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.
Why did Terah wind up at Haran. If you look at the map at the top of this article, Terah would have to go two hundred miles out of the way. Why didn’t he turn left at the Kings Highway? A two hundred mile detour on foot is quite suspicious.
There is more. Consider the following verses where Abraham gives instructions to his servant:
You shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac. (Gen 24:4)
Southern Ur is not in Mesopotamia (the land between the two rivers) and Aram-Naharaim is to the North. Genesis 28:2 is even more explicit:
Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
Paddan Aram is shown on the map above. It is north from Canaan, not south. So then, where is Abraham’s UR?
A couple of possibilities have been proposed by scholars (Urfa north of Haran6 and Urkesh7,8 to the West). Both are promising because they are between the two rivers and in both cases, one would need to go through Haran to get to Canaan. For the sake of this article, we’ll focus on Urkesh. This is because of extrabiblical evidence that could apply.9
Terru of Urkesh10,11
In the 1930s, Andre Parrot uncovered many thousands of cuneiform tablets in the Great Royal Palace of Mari, an ancient city state.12 More discoveries followed. To date, few of these tablets, including letters and administrative texts, have been published.13 A number of those that have could possibly refer to Terah, Abraham’s father. A synopsis follows.
In ancient times, the city of Urkesh was a border region. Terru was the local ruler, a vassal of Zimri-Lim of Mari. He lived during a time of political toil. His domain was subject to repeated attacks resulting in frequent expansions and contractions. A Mari letter (ARM 28 44) contains Terru’s response to a complaint that he did not repay for Zimri-Lim’s favor towards him. He counters the charge saying that he did repay the kindness and as a result he is hated. The local population was ready to stone him to death for the deed. Despite his life being in peril, he maintains control of the city fortress and remains loyal to Zimri-Lim.
We might then ask: “What was the good deed that Terru did for Zimri-Lim. The answer comes in another letter (ARM 28 7 12). That letter reports that Terru killed Išḫi-Addu and expelled an attacking city state aligned with the Elamites. Išḫi-Addu was a deceptive sort, quick to shift alliances (MARI 7 10:11–25). His dead head was sent to Zimri-Lim by currier. Perhaps it was never received. The hostility to Terru was exacerbated because the people were more culturally aligned with the attackers than to the kingdom of Mari (ARM 28 44bis).
One more letter from Terru describes the final outcome of the matter (ARM 28 46:1′–7′). Terru has left his home in Urkesh and is pleading for Zimri-Lim’s help. He is living as a Habiru (an ancient word meaning outcast) in Šinaḫ, west of Urkesh and close to Haran.
Conclusion
This article focused on two issues. The first: “Where was Abraham’s hometown?” Both Christian and Jewish traditions thought it was in the north.14 It wasn’t until Woolley’s excavations the that the majority opinion changed to support the famous Ur to the south. A close look at biblical verses seem to support the original tradition. We don’t know for sure which is the exact location, but Urkesh concords with the biblical geographic requirements.
The second question, “Who is Terah?” is more difficult to address. The Bible gives us little to go on. The applicable facts tell us that he was an idol worshiper (Josh 24:2), he left Ur intending to go to Canaan (Gen 11:31), and he died in Haran (Gen 11:32). Could Terah be the same person as Terru, a local ruler of Urkesh while Zimri-Lim was king of Mari (1776-1761 BCE)? His name seems to be a near fit. The timing of Zimri-Lim’s reign is consistent with the synchronisms of Abraham, Hammurabi15 and the war of kings (Gen 14). Finally, Urkesh is a viable location for Abraham’s home city.
If Terah can be identified as Terru, we have an explanation to questions that the Bible doesn’t address. Example: “Why did Terah move his family from Ur?” The answer: “He was hated and fled for his life.” We can guess the answer to another question, “How did Haran, Terah’s son die?” Answer: “The people of Urkesh killed him.”
I cannot say for sure whether Terah and Terru are the same person. I can say that the Mari letters are interesting in that they enhance our understanding to the culture and peoples alive during the time of Abraham. I hope you found the discussion interesting, along with the possibilities that it presents.
In the next article, I’ll turn to Jacob’s son Joseph. Can archaeological findings supplement the biblical narrative?
Thanks for listening
References
Gen 11:38, 31; 15:7; Neh 9:7.
Leonard Woolley, Abraham: Recent Discoveries and Hebrew Origins (1935), 57–71.
Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq , Penguin Books Limited (1992), 281, 298, 302.
Cyrus H. Gordon, “Where is Abraham’s Ur? ”
Deut 26:5 (Some translations say Syrian instead of Aramaean); Ezek 16:3, 45.
Gary A. Rendsberg, “Ur Kasdim: Where is Abraham’s Birthplace. ”
A. S. Issar, Strike the Rock and There Shall Come Water: Climate Changes, Water Resources and History of the Lands of the Bible , Springer (2014), 67.
Patricia Berlyn “The journey of Terah: to Ur-Kasdim or Urkesh ” Jewish Bible Quarterly (2005), 33(2):73.
Christopher Eames, “Has Abraham’s Father, Terah Been Discovered? ” Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (2021).
Jack M. Sasson, From the Mari Archives: An Anthology of Old Babylonian Records David Falk, “Synchronisms for Terah, the Father of Abraham. ”
Jean-Claude Magueron, “The Great Royal Palace of Mari: Discovery and Excavation .”
Dr. Gregoire Nicolet, “The ‘House of the Tablets’ and the teaching at Mari during the Old Babylonian Period (ca 1800 BC) .”
Serge Frolov, “Between Urfa and UR “.
Dan J. Harvey, “The Language of the Exodus – Update .
Dan Harvey, author of Wrestling with Faith,
secondlooknow.com .
I landed in tallil, modern day ur when serving in Iraq. I thought it was so cool that I was in Abraham’s hometown. Well, maybe not. Fascinating article!
Dan,
You have summed up the information and made it readable!
Your work is very impressive, and helps me to consider the possibilities offered by your hard work and reading. Especially since I am not skilled in research, I appreciate and am encouraged with your hard work!
thanks, Viv