1. Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov

2.  Where was he born?  When did he live?  What civilizations did he encounter?  Details of his life  Ur Kasdim  Haran  Mitzrayim  Sodom The war between the four kings and the five The destruction of cities of Sodom Malkitzedek  Avimelech  Purchase of Ma’aras Hamachpelah from Ephron

3. Map of Middle East  Avraham was born approximately 1813 or 1976 BCE  It is generally assumed to be the city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia since it is near what will be the Babylonian civilization its people are known in Hebrew as כשדים Kashdim  Ur had been one of the largest cities in the world.  It was well developed with several law codes having already been given by strong leaders

4. Ur Ruins Including Reconstructed Ziggurat  Until it was destroyed by the Elamites in about the year 2000 BCE  Somewhere between 24 and 187 years before Avraham was born  It was rebuilt but much smaller than previously  פרשת נח בראשית י " א ל " א  וַיִּקַּח תֶּרַח אֶת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ וְאֶת לוֹט בֶּן הָרָן בֶּן בְּנוֹ וְאֵת שָׂרַי כַּלָּתוֹ אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ וַיֵּצְאוּ אִתָּם מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ עַד חָרָן וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם :  Terach took Avram his son and Lot the son of Haran his grandson and Sari his daughter- in-Law the wife of Avram and the left Ur Kasdim to go to the land of Canaan and the came until Haran and they settled there.

5. Mosque in Turkey Set on the Site of Avraham Avinu’s Birth In Urfa, Southern Turkey  The Muslims have a tradition that Urfa in southern Turkey is the birth place of Avraham.  They have put a shrine on the site.  Urfa is very close to the agreed upon site of Harran.  Is that proof that Urfa is אור כשדים or not?  People did write in cuneiform the same language as in southern Mesopotamia

6. City of Harran with typical beehive homes  The location of חרן is well established in southern Turkey  The larger area in which it is located is ארם נהריים since it is located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers  ארם is the name of a people living in this area of Syria at the time.

7.  It was an important stop in the caravan routes from Mesopotamia to Anatolia and south to Israel and Egypt

8.  The Gemorah tells us that אברהם was 75 years old when he left חרן  He almost immediately leaves Israel for Egypt  When?  1976BCE +75 = 1901BCE  1813BCE +75 = 1738 BCE

9. King Tutankhamen His Father and Mother were siblings and he married his half-sister  In Egypt he claims שרה אמנו was his sister.  The Royal family practiced incest with half sisters.  Commoners did not but they did often refer to their wives as “sister.”

10.  Egyptian History  Early Dynastic period Dynasties 1-2 3100 BCE – 2880 BCE  Old Kingdom Dynasties 3 – 6 2686 BCE – 2134 BCE  First Intermediate Period Dynasties 7 – 10 2134 BCE- 2030 BCE  Middle Kingdom Dynasties 11- 12 2030 BCE – 1720 BCE  Second Intermediate Period Dynasties 13 – 17 1720 BCE – 1550 BCE  New Kingdom Dynasties 18- 20 1550 BCE – 1096BCE  Third Intermediate Period Dynasties 21 – 25 1096BCE – 664BCE  Who was the Pharaoh when אברהם אבינו was there?  What was the political situation in the country?

11. A Great sphinx thought to have been originally carved for Amenemhat II, now on display in the Louvre, Paris  Avraham was in Egypt 1901 BCE during the Reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat II  According to Wikipedia “Not much is known about his reign. He ruled Egypt for 35 years from 1929 BCE to 1895 BCE”  Or possibly during the reign of his successor Senusret II there is little relevant information about his reign either

12.  Avraham was in Egypt in 1738 BCE  Which was in the Second intermediate period  According to Manetho the Hyksos invaded Egypt  The Hyksos invasion shattered the unity of the country  Smaller Egyptian provinces or Nomes fought back

13. A group of Asiatic peoples (perhaps the future Hyksos) depicted entering Egypt c.1900 BC from the tomb of a 12th dynasty official Khnumhotep under pharaoh Senusret II at Beni Hasan  Avraham was in Egypt in 1738 BCE  Which was in the Second intermediate period  According to modern historians the Hyksos peacefully migrated into Egypt  Lack of central government allowed unchecked immigration that changed the culture of Egypt in places and gave rise to Hyksos states

14. Salt Dunes Near the Dead Sea  There is no historical evidence for the war  There is also no historical evidence for the destruction of ערי הככר or Sodom and Gomorrah  However, as we have said lack of evidence does not mean that it did not happen.

15. The tiny clay fragment – dating from the 14th century B.C.E. – found by Hebrew University archaeologists in excavations outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls contains the oldest written document ever found in Jerusalem. (Photo: Sasson Tiram)  ירושלים has been continually occupied since 3000 BCE  It lies on the road from the Red Sea to the north  It has a permanent water supply  It has a temperate climate and is close to arable land

16. מערת המכפלה Left over from the Avraham slides  Lived a private  The wells mentioned in the Torah do exist at the center of ancient cities  No other evidence of his life could be expected to remain

17. Mt. Ebal  Lived with לבן in Harran  Was a shepherd for a while  There is no evidence for Shimon and Levi’s attack on Shechem  However, Shechem was destroyed 22 times and rebuilt before 200 CE

18. EventDate accordin g to חז " ל Egyptian History Date according to historians Egyptian History Abraham's birth 1813 BCEMiddle Kingdom 1976 BCEMiddle Avraham going to Eretz Yisroel 1738 BCE2 nd Inter.1901 BCEMiddle Birth of Yitzack1713 BCEMiddle1876 BCEMiddle Birth of Yaakov1653 BCE2 nd Inter.1816 BCEMiddle Birth of Yosef1559 BCE2 nd Inter.1722 BCE2 nd Inter. Yosef in Egypt1529 BCE2 nd Inter.1692 BCE2 nd Inter. Death of Yaakov 1512 BCENew1675 BCE2 nd Inter. Death of Yosef1459 BCENew1622 BCE2 nd Inter Exodus from Egypt 1313 BCENew Kingdom 1476 BCENew Kingdom

19.  Death of Yosef till Leaving Egypt  146 years  חז " ל 1459-1313BCE  Historians 1622- 1476 BCE  Exodus from Egypt  Bondage  Storehouses  Pharaoh of the Exodus  Conquest of Yehoshuah  Archeological evidence  The times of the Judges  The Jewish people in the Canaanite world