Ur
About 6200-6500 years ago there existed a civilization located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers near the Persian Gulf. The area was known as Mesopotamia and the city was called Ur. Because of the geographic location the city had fertile soil and was the perfect place to irrigate the land and raise productive crops, as well as domesticate sheep, goats and other animals.
Ur is known in the Bible as Ur of the Chaldees. This biblical name, Ur of the Chaldees, refers to the Chaldeans, who settled the area about 900 B.C. It is known as the ancient city of the Sumerian civilization and the home of Abraham, father of the Hebrews. Its ruins are between the modern city of Baghdad, Iraq, and the head of the Persian Gulf. The site is now known as Tall al Muqayyar, Iraq. The site of ancient Ur is located 140 miles south of Babylon. It was the capital of a small wealthy empire during the third millennium B.C. Most of the great ziggurat of Ur is still standing.
Archaeologists were spurred by biblical accounts to excavate mounds in what is now Iraq. There they uncovered the ancient civilizations of Assyria, Babylonia, Sumeria, and Ur. These excavations, along with others, confirmed and expanded on the historical accounts offered in the Bible.