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What is Ur of the chaldees?
        UR OF THE CHAL'DEES
        (light?, or, from the rendering in the Septuagint, region), the place at which Abraham resided with Terah, his father, before he was called to go into the land of Canaan. Gen 11:28, 1 Chr 24:31; Luke 15:7. It is mentioned in the O.T. as "of the Chaldees," and Josephus calls it "a city of the Chaldaeans." Stephen speaks of it as in Mesopotamia. Acts 7:2. These are the only biblical clews to its site, and hence the identification has been a disputed question. Among the places Ur are - 1. The modern Orfah, or Urfa, in Mesopotamia, some 20 miles north of Haran and a short distance east of the Upper Euphrates, It is about 450 miles north-north-east of Jerusalem in a straight line. This is the classic Edessa. It is now a city of about 50,000 to 60,000 inhabitants, nearly equally divided into Muslims and Christians (Jacobites and Armenians). Among the arguments for making this Ur are:(1) The resemblance in name. (2) The long-standing tradition among both Jews and Mohammedans that Abraham dwelt there. At the base of the mountain, to the south-east of the town, is the cave which tradition says was his birthplace, and over it is a mosque so holy that only Muslims are allowed to enter it. There is a pool called Bicket el- Ibrahim, el Khaleel, the "pool of Abraham the beloved." (3) The saying of Josh 24:2 that it was "on the other side of the flood " - i. e., east of the Euphrates. But in opposition to this identification it is urged, among other things, that Chaldaea did not extend into Upper Mesopotamia, that the history points to a longer migration between Ur and Haran than the 20 miles between Orfah and Haran. Uz is also connected with Orfah by tradition. See Uz. 1. Warka, in south-eastern Mesopotamia, 120 miles south-east of Babylon, 4 miles east of the Euphrates. The tract of land is slightly raised above the ordinary water-level. Upon a sandy platform are situated the remains of numerous ancient buildings, A rampart of earth, nearly 6 miles in circumference and 40 feet high, surrounds the area. This is now commonly supposed to represent the city of Erech of Scripture and the Orchoe of the Greeks. A tradition of the Talmud and in early Arabic works makes this Ur. Wacka is a city of tombs, and is now utterly desolate. 2. Mugheir, "mother of bitumen," a ruined site about 6 miles west of the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris, and about 125 miles north-west of the Persian Gulf. The ruins now cover an oval space 1000 yards long and 800 broad. The Koran and the Talmud contain legendary accounts of the escape of Abraham from the fire into which idolaters threw him at Ur. The most remarkable ruin at Mugheir is a temple built of bricks laid in bitumen, and many of them inscribed with the name of Urukh, a Chaldaean monarch whose date is supposed to have been b.c. 2230. This is perhaps the most ancient Chaldaean site discovered. Rawlinson, Porter, Eadie, and others accept this as the most probable site of Ur of the Chaldees.


Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'ur of the chaldees' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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