Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Ian Hutchesson <mc2499 AT mclink.it>]

At 21.14 18/01/00 +0200, Jonathan D. Safren wrote:
>
>
>Peter Kirk wrote:
>
>> Good evidence that the early part of Genesis is based on Sumerian
>> traditions brought to Canaan from southern Mesopotamia by the
>> Patriarchs. Don't forget that the exile was not the only point of
>> contact between Jewish and Mesopotamian cultures.
>
>[JSafren] Prove that the Patriarchs came to Canaan from Southern
Mesopotamia and not
>from Northern. The Biblical and extra-Biblical evidence is all for
Northern - amd that
>includes the name of Abraham's city, which is not Ur but Ur Kasdim.  And
see my long
>discussions with NPL on this list and on ANE,

I don't think this theory is actually dealing with the text, Jonathan. We
are told that Abraham was to set off from Ur of the Chaldeans and go to the
land of Canaan, but when he came to Haran, they settled there. The
narrative is written ot indicate that Ur was a long way from Haran, which
is in line with the Ur that we all know and not some northern Ur which may
have been known to the writer. The first part of the chapter (11) is set in
southern Mesopotamia.


Ian