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Ur (Place)
Excerpt from the Lexham Bible Dictionary, the most advanced Bible dictionary.
An ancient Mesopotamian city first mentioned in the Bible in reference to Abraham’s early life. The Bible mentions this Ur only four times (Gen 11:28, 31; 15:7; Neh 9:7). The majority view locates it in southern Mesopotamia, but a few scholars prefer a northern Mesopotamian location closer to the ancient city of Haran. The name Ur may derive from Akkadian Uru or Sumerian Urim.
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The Lexham Bible Dictionary
Ur
Ur (א֣וּר כַּשְׂדִּ֗ים‎, ur kasdim). An ancient Mesopotamian city first mentioned in the Bible in reference to Abraham’s early life. The Bible mentions this Ur only four times (Gen 11:28, 31; 15:7; Neh 9:7). The majority view locates it in southern Mesopotamia, but a few scholars prefer a northern Mesopotamian
The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
Ur (Place)
UR (PLACE) [Heb ʾûr (אוּר)]. A very important Sumerian city that played an active role in the 3d millennium and in the beginning of the 2d millennium b.c. Its modern name is Tell Muqqayyar (30°56´N; 46°08´E). After Babylon, it is without a doubt the best known Mesopotamian site in the Bible because
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised
Ur
Ur ûr [Heb. ʾûr, Akk. uru; Sum urim]. An ancient city of Mesopotamia, mentioned in the Bible as the birthplace of Abraham (Gen. 11:28, 31; 15:7; Neh. 9:7). I. Site II. Prehistory and History III. Ziggurat IV. Royal Tombs V. Relationship of Ur to AbrahamThe “Peace Panel” from Ur is a shell
Tyndale Bible Dictionary
Ur (Place)
UR (Place) Hometown of Terah, the father of Abraham, and the birthplace of Abraham and Sarah. It is mentioned by name only four times in the Bible (Gn 11:28, 31; 15:7; Neh 9:7), always with the full name “Ur of the Chaldeans.”The modern site is known as Tell el Muqayyar, “The Mound of Bitumen.” The
The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated)
Ur
Ur (oor), one of the oldest cities of southern Mesopotamia. Ur, modern Tell el-Muqayyar, lies ten miles west of the Euphrates, on whose bank it stood in antiquity, before the river changed course. The site is an oval, about a half mile at its greatest extent, dominated by an oblong sacred enclosure.
Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
Ur
Ur (Heb. ʾûr; Sum. Urim) (PLACE)A major city of ancient Mesopotamia. Tell al-Muqayyar, discovered in the early 17th century by the explorer Pietro della Valle, is a large imposing site, oval in shape, and rising some 18 m. (60 ft.) above the flood plain. It was first excavated in 1849 by William Kennett
Eerdmans Bible Dictionary
Ur (Place)
UR [ŏor] (Heb. ˒ûr; Akk. Uri; Sum. Urim) (PLACE). A city in Mesopotamia that flourished during the Early Dynastic period (ca. 3000–2350 B.C.) and later, functioning as a city-state controlling Sumer, with its own ruler, temple, and pantheon. The site has been identified as modern Tell el-Muqaiyer,
Catholic Bible Dictionary
Ur of the Chaldeans
UR OF THE CHALDEANS A city on the Euphrates River in lower Mesopotamia; the chief city of the Sumerian civilization. The site is now called Tell el-Muqayyar. Ur flourished in the third millennium b.c. but declined with the rise of Babylonia in the second millennium b.c. According to Gen 11:28–31 and
Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Ur
Ur was the land of Haran’s nativity, Gen. 11:28, the place from which Terah and Abraham started “to go into the land of Canaan.” Gen. 11:31. It is called in Genesis “Ur of the Chaldæans,” while in the Acts St. Stephen places it, by implication, in Mesopotamia. ch. 7:2, 4. These are all the indications
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Ur
Ur—light, or the moon city, a city “of the Chaldees,” the birthplace of Haran (Gen. 11:28, 31), the largest city of Shinar or northern Chaldea, and the principal commercial centre of the country as well as the centre of political power. It stood near the mouth of the Euphrates, on its western bank, and
Harper’s Bible Dictionary
Ur
UrUr, one of the oldest cities of southern Mesopotamia. Ur, modern Tell el-Muqayyar, lies ten miles west of the Euphrates, on whose bank it stood in antiquity, before the river changed course. The site is an oval, about a half-mile at its greatest extent, dominated by an oblong sacred enclosure.Modern
Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Ur
UR — Abraham’s native city in southern Mesopotamia; an important metropolis of the ancient world situated on the Euphrates River. Strategically situated about halfway between the head of the Persian Gulf and Baghdad, in present-day Iraq, Ur was the capital of Sumer for two centuries until the Elamites
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Ur (city)