No other part of the Bible has generated so much controversy as Genesis 1-11. Whole libraries have been written on various aspects of these chapters. For some 25 years, the debate between believers and non-believers was noticed by the media, and gave rise to the term "Scientific Creationism." This described a school of thought that tried to make the biblical account plausible enough to find a place in public school curricula. The effort has had little success, so far. A more recent movement is called "Intelligent Design," and stands a far better chance of acceptance, on both scientific and philosophical grounds.
Even more importantly, we recognize that what is recorded in these first few pages of Genesis sets the stage for all that follows. We could wish that the ancient Hebrew record keeping included more precise descriptions of the circumstances of these events. That would accord nicely with our Western thinking. We could further wish for a record of other events surrounding the ones preserved for us. The Hebrew writers took for granted a great deal of reader knowledge, knowledge lost to us today. In spite of the dearth of details, though, we find enough to make sense of the rest of the story.
It cannot be said enough that efforts to convince by logic are a waste of time. The best we can hope for is a claim that our faith is reasonable, and deserves a place at the table in human decision making. Even then, history indicates we gain little or nothing from that. While such a study helps clarify things nicely for us, who are on the inside of the faith, it cannot do much for those outside. Only the Holy Spirit can move a heart to faith.
Abraham is the archetype of the Man of Faith. Yet this image of him was the result of trials and much error. He was born in a culture we scarcely understand simply for lack of information. He gave birth to a new culture many do not understand for lack of trying, a failure to look beyond shallow and unexamined assumptions. We are introduced to him as Abram, living in the Lower Mesopotamian Valley.
It was no doubt due in part to the instability of the earth's crust that so many large tribal groups would simply pick up and migrate long distances to re-settle in some other land. Archaeology tells us that sometime after the continental separation, the Sumerians appear to have moved from Central Asia and settled in the Lower Mesopotamian Valley. Arriving around 3500 BC, they were one of many groups to build cities, along with dikes and canals. They developed a written alphabet -- we call it cuneiform -- and a rather high culture.
This culture included building and rebuilding the old Babylonian style ziggurats. Each of their large cities was dedicated to at least one of their numerous nature deities. Sumer was a small empire of city-states ruled by a royal priestly caste. When the Akkadians rose to conquer them, they built their own, much larger empire. They seem to have adopted the whole culture of the Sumerians, except for the language. They hardly destroyed the Sumerian people. The Akkadians simply took the place of the ruling class, and rebuilt much of what was damaged in the conquest. This new empire was powerful, yet very unstable.
The Persian Gulf extended much farther inland in those days, and the old Sumerian city of Ur would have been on the coast. It was here that Abram ("High Father") was born into one of the upper class Akkadian families, in 2166 BC. He married his half-sister, Sarai (feminine of "Ruler"). Abram was the eldest of three brothers. The second was Nahor ("Snorer"). The third, Haran ("Mountaineer"), died before the family made their move north, but not before he sired a son, Lot ("Veil").
Within a century of their departure the Akkadian Empire was falling apart. As the central imperial control was loosened, the southern coastal city of Ur rose to prominence as the greatest city in Mesopotamia. To their east, in the foothills of the Zagros Mountain Range, was the rising Elamite Kingdom. Ur's prominence served only to provoke conquest and destruction by the neighboring Elamite princes, who were seeking to be displace the old Akkadian power.
It was probably due in part to the rising tensions among the southern cities of Mesopotamia that Terah decided to move to the northern city of Haran, more accurately spelled Charan ("Road"). There is also evidence of catastrophic destruction due to a massive meteorite strike in the area about that time, from which God wanted to save them. Both Ur and Charan were dedicated to the worship of the moon goddess, Sin. There is strong evidence that Terah was one of the high priests in her service. His extended family household could have constituted the whole population and property of a substantial village. There would have been slaves and servants to keep the facilities, as well as care for the mixture of herd animals, and perhaps some farming. Under ideal circumstances, the move would have taken months, covering a distance of some 550 miles up the Euphrates River (Genesis 11:27-32).
Thus, while God had called Abram to leave Ur (Genesis 15:7), for reasons we can only guess, his father moved the entire household, as well. We can safely infer that Abram stayed in Charan awhile before he realized that he had not fully carried out that calling.
[ Return to Lesson Index ]
[ <-- Previous Lesson ]
[ --> Next Lesson ]
Ed Hurst
revised 12 January 2004
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: People of honor need no copyright laws; they are only too happy to give credit where credit is due. Others will ignore copyright laws whenever they please. If you are of the latter, please note what Moses said about dishonorable behavior -- "be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23)