Abraham and the City of Ur

This topic has really gone on too long dealing with the crap of a few apologists who can't accept that when the Hebrew text says Ur of the Kasdim, that it means Ur of the Kasdim. The problem for the apologist of course is that the notion of an anachronism is so unpalatable, but let's face it, concocting exotic exit strategies is only going to leave more egg on the face of the apologist.The Kasdim (Gr: Chaldaeans) were relatively new arrivals on the Mesopotamian scene. Their name rarely occurs before the 8th century BCE. In fact the name may come from lower Mesopotamia where it seems to relate to a town name and was applied to these people when they arrived in the area. They held power in Babylon when the Neo-Assyrian power to the north was starting to wane and emerged as the leading force in the area under Nebuchadrezzar, who was responsible for a large building campaign in Ur (hence the connection Ur of the Kasdim). This is plainly what is referred to in Gen 11. One has to try to invent other links such as with Urkesh or with Urfa (Turkish name for what the Greeks called Edessa and the locals at the time of Augustus called Orhay, or similar). Then they have to imagine some link between their revised Ur(something, Urfa, Ura, Urkesh, etc., never plain old Ur) and the Kasdim of southern Mesopotamia.The apologetics of this effort are transparent. Why bother with it?spin

There doesn't seem to be a way to post without it having to be a reply to something earlier. I didn't want to give the impression that I was specifically replying to your previous message.I remember someone on some scholarly mailing list arguing that camels had been around a lot longer in the fertile crescent. Dunno, myself.And you'd better watch out -- although I totally agree with you --: the Philistines some diehards try to claim were indigenous and not those people talked about by the Egyptians as Peleset. Where there's a will to ignore evidence there's a way.

It sure don't hold water...The archaeology of the coastal zone shows a great influx of Greek-type influence around 1150 BCE. This coincides with the migration process that brought an end to Aegean and Mediterranean coastal realms, Hatti, Ugarit and finally the well-depicted attack on Egypt (outside wall at Madinat Habu near Luxor). Important Canaanite cities along the coast of Palestine fall and are replaced by the Greek-type culture, Egypt slowly loses more and more possessions in the southern Levant. All classical signs of the Philistine arrival. The only way to get around this one is to stick one's head in the sand.