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Virtual Guide | Lands of AbrahamLands of AbrahamEgypt | Roman Glass | Bricks Abram, later called Abraham by Jews and Christians and Ibrahim by Muslims, lives in the minds of hundreds of millions as the Patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Patriarchs dwelled in a great-developed land in the Near East, known as the Fertile Crescent. From the valley of the two great rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, it stretches northwestward and then southward along the narrow plain between the Mediterranean Sea and the desert, to the mouth of the river Nile and beyond southward. Abraham's countriesAbram, later called Abraham by Jews and Christians and Ibrahim by Muslims, lives in the minds of hundreds of millions as the Patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The Patriarchs dwelled in a great-developed land in the Near East, known as the Fertile Crescent. From the valley of the two great rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, it stretches northwestward and then southward along the narrow plain between the Mediterranean Sea and the desert, to the mouth of the river Nile and beyond southward. Whether Abraham was a historic or legendary figure is unknown. The Biblical book Genesis 11:31,32; 12:1-9; 13:3-18; 17:1-8; 18 and the Islamic Holy book, the Qur'an, Sura 37:100-113; Qur'ran, 6:78 ff., 21: 58ff.; 2:127, tell the story of Abram's wanderings around the Fertile Crescent, his knowledge of astronomy, his covenant with one God, the sacrifice of his son Isaac (known as, Akedah), and his role as Patriarch. Genesis 11:31 recounts Abram's birth as a Sumerian, in Ur of Chaldees (today's Ur in Iraq), as the son of Terah, scientists believe sometime in the period of 2100-1700 BCE. Father Terah was most likely a worshipper of the moon-god, Sin. When the Babylonian King Hammurabi (probably the Amraphel of Shinar in Gen 14:1) conquered Ur and set up Sun worship, Terah refused to change and took his family to Haran (today's East Turkey). After Terah died in Haran, Abram took his wife Sarai and nephew Lot, their flocks, herds, precious possessions and arms and trekked southward towards Canaan and became known as a Hebrew- "they who crossed the river." Abram's clan traveled the Phoenician Plain between the Mediterranean and the mountains of Lebanon, circumvented the Mount Carmel range, proceeded towards the hills of Galilee, traversed the Plain of Esdraelon, the hills of Samaria, and moved southward along the Jordan river into the Dead Sea valley. Abram pitched his tent in Shechem (today's Nablus, Palestine), then moved from Bethel and journeyed through the Negev -" the dry" desert, towards Hebron (today's Israel). Severe drought drove Abram to Egypt, where he passed off his wife Sarai as his sister and allowed her to enter the harem of the Pharaoh. When Abram and Sarai left Egypt, God changed their names into Abraham and Sarah. When Sarah remained without child, Hagar, Abraham's slave wife, bore him a son, Ismael. Hagar and Ismael fled from Sarah's jealousy, passed through Beersheba (Israel) and settled in the Wilderness of Paran (Saudi Arabia). Ismael became the Patriarch of the Arabs. Following Canaanite habits of child sacrifice (archeological findings at Gezer, revealed remains of and eight-day-old baby sacrificed on a altar dating as late as 600 BCE.), Abraham decided to sacrifice the son that Sarah finally bore him, called Isaac. Abraham traveled to the Land of Moriah and built an altar on one of the mountains of Salem (Jeru-Salem). The Hebrews under King Salomon built first their Tabernacle, and later their Holy Temple, on this spot. Today, Muslims worship the 'Rock of Abraham's sacrifice' as one of their holiest sites of Islam and built the famous mosque, " The Dome of the Rock" on the very same spot where once stood Salomon's Holy Temple of the Hebrews. Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac is the central theme of the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca every Muslim is supposed to make once in his life. Abraham's sacrifice, the Akedah, symbolizes absolute obedience to God. Muslim means "total submission" to God. This exhibition shows artifacts of the Fertile Crescent from Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, Anatolia, Syria, Canaan, Palestine, Israel and Egypt from 2500 BCE till 300 CE. Sumer's trading partners in Sind (today's Pakistan) were cities along the Indus River, like Taxila and Mohen-jo-daro. Artifacts of both towns show the strong influence the Indus culture had on the early Near East and beyond. 
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