Abraham

Abraham. The very name transcends time as well as continents. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Abraham was the “First of the Hebrew patriarchs and a figure revered by the three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.”1

He is commonly referred to as the father of the Jewish nation. Until the twentieth century, many felt that Abraham was a product of people’s imagination. Many thought that he was nothing more than a legend, found only in the book of Genesis and elsewhere throughout the Bible.

In 1933 an extraordinary excavation began in the Middle East that far exceeded the greatest expectations of its excavators. The incredible journey into the “Kingdom of Mari” reads like a romantic, mystical tale of adventure. It would eventually yield a palace of over 200 rooms and courtyards and 24,000 tablets that described in great detail the fabulous civilization of Mari.

Science, detective work and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge all came to bear as the archaeologists slowly began to piece together the puzzle of this lost civilization. What emerged after years of excavation and thousands of hours of deciphering and translation of the tablets into our language of today was that Mari was a highly advanced culture existing 4,000 years ago. Industry, government, arts, crafts and writing were highly developed in this society.

The Mari expeditions, while greatly enriching our knowledge of ancient Mesopotamia, also gave us documents that in the words of Keller, “…Produce startling proof that the stories of the patriarchs in the Bible are not ‘pious legends’ – as is often too readily assumed – but things that are described as happening in a historical period which can be precisely dated.”2

Throughout the entire Mari excavations name after name of biblical cities heretofore only mentioned in the Bible came to life. Such cities as Haran and Nahor were found on inscriptions. Again, Keller stated, “Haran, the home of Abraham, father of the patriarchs, the birthplace of the Hebrew people, is here for the first time historically attested, for contemporary texts refer to it.”3

In addition, many names of people who played an important part in the Genesis account of patriarchal succession up to Abraham are specifically mentioned on various artifacts; and they date from the period that the Bible assigns to Abraham. Archaeology has once again proven to be a valuable aid to verify more and more biblical accounts.

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1 The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia, 15th Edition (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1986), Volume I, p. 36.

2 Werner Keller, The Bible as History ( New York: Bantam Books, Inc., 1980), p.50.

3 Ibid., pp. 49-50.