CHAPTER 1. ABRAM'S BIRTHPLACE. Ur; Chaldæa: its aspect; Former fertility; Religion of its inhabitants; Population; Civilization-Abram born -His family-Selection of a centre of true religion-Legends of Abram's early life-Truth underlying such myths. SOME five thousand years ago, when civilization first visited the alluvial plain of Babylon, and the Babylonian monarchy came into existence, the Persian Gulf extended inward far beyond its present limits, and sites now more than a hundred miles distant from the sea were then close to the coast, and enjoyed all the advantages and participated in all the dangers of such proximity. The alluvium brought down by the two great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, encroaches on the gulf with marvellous rapidity. The present rate of increase is estimated at one mile every seventy years, and it is upon grounds satisfactory to geologists considered that the average growth during the historic period has been as much as a mile in every thirty years.1 We must take this fact into account in estimating the extent of the country called Chaldæa and the position of many of its towns. Among the cities which were thus placed was that which is called in the Bible "Ur of the Chaldees," now known as Mugheir, situated on the right bank of the Euphrates, some six miles distant from the stream, and nearly opposite the point where the river Shat-el-Hie, which comes from the Tigris, • Prof. Rawlinson, “Ancient Monarchies," i. 4. joins the Euphrates. The name Ur, or Uru, is the Semitic form of the Accadian eri, meaning "city," and was probably given to this place as being the most important in the locality or as the first settled dwelling of its once roving inhabitants. It was, in fact, "the capital of one of the oldest of the pre-Semitic dynasties, though it had probably passed into the hands of the Semitic Casdim" (Chaldees) before this time. Of course, this adjunct, Casdim, does not appertain to the original name, but is an explanation added by the Hebrew narrator. The modern name of this place means "the bitumined," and is appropriate owing to the quantity of bitumen which is found in the neighbourhood. If it was not actually on the coast, it was placed so low down the Euphrates as to be practically a maritime town and to serve as the port of Babylonia. The native inscriptions constantly speak of the ships of Ur and of the brisk commerce carried on by its inhabitants.3 It was a city of great importance, and B.C. 2000 was the capital of a powerful monarch called Urukh, or Lig-Bagas (for the reading is uncertain),^ who founded the great temple dedicated to the moon-god, Hurki, the remains of which are still to be seen. This monarch was an independent sovereign, and exercised a sway over a tract of country extending as far north as Niffer, the ancient Calneh. The magnificence of his buildings and the extent of his constructive operations prove him to have possessed large resources and high conceptions. A mistaken tradition, followed by many commentators ancient and modern, identified Ur with the Greek Edessa, the modern Orfa, which seems to have had the name Orrha at one time. This city, situated in Upper Mesopotamia, which became famous in Christian times as the capital of that king Abgarus who is supposed to have written a letter to Christ, still retains some traditions of Abraham in the names of its mosque and lake. But all the most probable notices that have come down to us place Ur in Chaldæa proper, the alluvial country on the Persian Gulf; and there can be no reasonable doubt that Mug • This identification, which we owe to late researches, removes the neces sity for discussing at length the claims of other cities to be the birthplace of Abram. * Prof. Sayce, "Fresh Light from the Monuments," p. 46; Rawlinson, "Ancient Monarchies," i. 6. 3 Prof. Rawlinson, "Monthly Interpreter," ii. 331. 4 See Prof. Sayce's note in G. Smith's "History of Babylonia," p. 72. heir which, as the inscriptions witness, bore the exact name of Ur, or Hur, was the birthplace of Abram. Even the tradition quoted by Eusebius from Eupolemus, a pre-Christian Greek historian, that Ur, or Uria as he called it, is the Babylonian city Camarina, or Chaldæopolis, points to the same view; for, as Professor Rawlinson remarks,3 these names make it a city of the moon-god, which, as we have seen, was the case with Ur. The remains of the town consist of a series of low mounds disposed in an oval shape, measuring about two miles in extent, and dominated by that on which the temple was erected, which is very conspicuous, rising some seventy feet above the plain. This temple is built of large bricks, raised on a basement of great size, and facing the cardinal points. Originally this basement rose in receding stages, on the highest of which was placed the shrine containing the image of the god. It was surrounded by date groves of luxuriant growth; and from its huge size and towering height, the building was conspicuous from all parts of the city, and compelled every inhabitant and wayfarer to recognize the worship of Hurki, the great moongod. There is a peculiarity in the buidling which confirms the fact gathered from the inscriptions, that it was the work of two different monarchs, the earliest of whom is supposed to have reigned about B.C. 2200. In the lower stage the bricks are cemented with bitumen, in the upper with lime mortar. The cylinders recording the name of the founder were found, as usually in Chaldæan buildings, deposited at the corners. Among the edifices raised by the builder of this temple was a palace called the house of Rubu-tsiru, "the supreme prince," the ruins of which are still to be traced. What this monarch left uncompleted his son Dungi finished; and this son extended his father's kingdom northward, so that he has left traces of his handiwork in the rebuilding of the temple of Erech, and in a temple which he erected at Babylon. It was probably in his time that Abram was born. The present appearance of Chaldæa is singularly monotonous • Schrader, "Die Keilinschriften des Alt. Test.," 129 f. Præp. Evang." ix. 17. 3 "Dictionary of the Bible," Art. Ur. plained by Arabic etymology, would signify 4 "Ancient Monarchies," i. 16 f. 157; pp. 127 ff. Schrader, 130. Camarina, ex"moon-town." Loftus," Travels in Chaldæa," 1 and uninteresting. Being strictly an alluvial region, owing its existence to the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, it is a level plain, unrelieved by mountain or hill. But its amazing fertility is unquestioned, and with a teeming population and under a system of high cultivation, it must have presented a striking contrast to its present barren and dispeopled condition. The dreary stretches of sandy waste were once well watered and cultivated, and were mines of wealth to the industrious peasant. Herodotus, who himself visited the country, thus describes its fecundity (Herod. i. 193): “The land is but little watered by rain, but the root of the corn is nourished by other means. It is fed by the river, not by its overflow, as in Egypt, but by artificial irrigation. No part of the known world is so fruitful in grain. No attempt, indeed, is made to grow the fig, the vine,' or the olive; but in grain it is so fruitful as to yield commonly two hundred-fold, and in the best seasons even three hundred-fold. Wheat and barley often carry a blade of four fingers in breadth. As for millet and sesame I shall not say, though within my own knowledge, to what a surprising height they grow; for I am not ignorant that what I have already said concerning the produce of Babylonia must seem incredible to those who have never visited the country. The whole plain is covered with palm trees, most of them bearing fruit, and from them they make bread, wine, and honey." Modern travellers recognize the productive powers of the soil while deploring the neglect and idleness which have led to its present miserable condition. The two great natural products are the wheat plant and the date palm. The former, it is said, grew so rankly that it was mown twice, and then fed off by cattle, in order to check its luxuriance and induce it to run to ear. The beautiful date palm gives a charm to the monotonous landscape, which in that country can scarcely be over estimated. Its utility is proverbial, and it was applied to more purposes than Herodotus mentions. Besides furnishing the inhabitants with bread from its fruit and pith, wine and honey from its sap, it supplied firing, ropes, vinegar, and a famous mash for fattening cattle. Fruits, such as pomegranates, apples, grapes, and tamarisks, were abundant ; but 'Herodotus is mistaken in asserting that the vine was not cultivated. Wine was brought down the Euphrates. See Rawlinson on Herodotus, i. 194. the country producedo great forest trees; and the cypress, acacia, and palm could alone be encountered in many days' journey. To supply this lack of timber the Chaldæans had recourse to the enormous reeds which are almost peculiar to this region, and of which to this day the Arabs make both houses and boats. Reeds were also used in constructing some of the great Chaldæan buildings. They were placed in the form of matting as a foundation for successive layers of bricks, and by projecting beyond the external surface served for a time to protect the earthen mass from disintegration. The country produced no stone for building; if any was used, it had to be imported or conveyed from a long distance down the rivers. But excellent clay was everywhere found, and sun-dried bricks cemented with bitumen formed the usual material from which the edifices were constructed. The religion, of the Chaldæans was markedly polytheistic, and seems to have been developed from the worship of the celestial bodies. But it was not as mere powers of nature that these were adored, but as real persons with a history and character, many of whom bear a striking resemblance to the personages of classical mythology. The principal deity is Il (the Hebrew El) or Ra; then follows a triad, Ana, Bil, or Belus, and Hea or Hoa, who correspond partly in attributes to the classical Pluto, Jupiter, and Neptune, and have each their wife. Another triad succeeds, accompanied by female powers or wives, viz., Vul or Iva, Shamas, San, or Sansi (the Sun), and Sin or Hurki (the Moon). The predominating influence of Ur caused the worship of the moon-god (whose name means the Protector of the land) to extend far and wide, and to eclipse the fame of Shamas (the Sun) in most towns of Babylonia. Next in order comes a group of five minor deities, representatives of the five planets respectively, Nin or Ninip (Saturn), Bel-Merodach (Jupiter), Nergal (Mars), Ishtar or Nana (Venus), and Nebo (Mercury). These principal gods are followed by numerous divinities of the second and third order, which at present it is impossible to describe or classify. The older com Loftus, "Travels in Chaldæa," p. 168. Rawlinson, "Five Monarchies," i. chap. 4. There is a list of deities in “Assurbanipal's Inscriptions." See "Records of the Past," ix. Comp. G. Smith, "History of Babylonia," p. 74; and Rawlinson, "Herodotus, ́ vol. i. essay x. |