Avraham Avinu
1813 BCE–1638 BCE · Biblical · Ur Kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees)
Avraham (born in Ur Kasdim, in the traditional reckoning the 18th century BCE) is the first of the patriarchs and, in Jewish tradition, the pioneer of belief in one God. Called by God to leave his birthplace for the land of Canaan, he entered a covenant sealed by circumcision and was promised descendants as numerous as the stars. He is remembered for his hospitality, his appeal on behalf of Sdom, and above all the binding of his son Yitzchak (the Akeidah) on Mount Moriah. He died at 175 and was buried in the Cave of Machpelah at Hebron.
Did you know?
Avraham Avinu was born closer to the Mabul than to Matan Torah
By the mesorah, Avraham Avinu was born in the year 1948 from Creation — only about 290 years after the Mabul, but a full 500 years before Matan Torah at Har Sinai. The first of the Avos stood closer in time to the waters of the Flood than to the day his descendants would receive the Torah.
Meet Moshe Rabbeinu →How we know
Seder Olam: Mabul 1656 AM (c. 2105 BCE); Avraham born 1948 AM (1813 BCE); Matan Torah 2448 AM (1313 BCE). Flood→Avraham = 292 years; Avraham→Sinai = 500 years.
Life journeyclick any stop, or use ←/→Trace on the orchard map →
Ur Kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees)אור כשדים
What they did here
Born in Ur Kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees); by tradition the son of Terach the idol-maker.
About Ur Kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees)
Ur Kasdim ('Ur of the Chaldees') is named in the Torah as the original homeland of Abraham, from which his family set out toward Canaan. It is commonly identified with the ancient Sumerian city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq), though some traditions and scholars locate it in northern Mesopotamia.
See other sages who lived in Ur Kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees)→
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Avraham Avinu’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
In the same tradition
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Avraham Avinu’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Mesopotamian world
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.