Donnerstag, 10. November 2011

Abraham and the moon god

I like contradictions in the Bible. They are a fruitful source for new insights about the providence, the character and the way God acts with us.
In Genesis chapter 12 we learn that God called Abraham. The calling of Abraham is retold by Stephan in Acts 7. Stephan emphasis that God appeared to Abraham “before he lived in Haran” (Acts 7:2). Genesis 12 places the calling in Haran. When did God speak to Abraham?
To put the scene to life, we need to recapitulate the historic setting of those distant days. The historical background of the patriarchs is a wide subject on its own. A lot of books have been written about it and still no consensus is found. It is not my intention to add to this particular discussion. I support a date of 2166 to 1991 BC for Abraham (see this explanation) and the middle chronology for the ANE in general.
The birth of Abraham came to happen in the Dark Age of the Sumerian days. The wild tribes of the Gutian brought the Akkadian empire to fall. The once great empire felt into anarchy. Economically it had been difficult times. But on the other hand, the Gutians did not enforce a certain religious system. It could have been given rise to kind of religious tolerance or even freedom, a comfortable place for the worshipper of the One God.
Abraham left Haran in 2091 BC. We do not know when he left Ur to move to Haran. Was it in the days of anarchy or later, when Ur-nammu (about 2111-2094 ВС) established what once was to become the 3rd dynasty of Ur?
Haran is renowned as center of the moon god. The city was the chief home of the Mesopotamian moon god Sin. But we should be carefully to jump to conclusions about the kind of relation to Abraham. Of course the moon god of Haran is the very same goddess worshipped for centuries in Ur. The moon god Sin was the city deity of Ur.
What concerns Haran, in literature one moment is constantly underestimated – the date. A temple of the moon god in Haran is attested only from the 20th century BC. Abraham left Haran before the temple was built. If we take a look at the historical connections between Haran and Ur of that period, we might observe another interesting fact. The 3rd dynasty of Ur started the so called “Sumerian Renaissance”, where the return of the Sumerian gods played a central role.
The second king in this dynasty was Shulgi (about 2094-2046 BC). He defeated and drew off the Gutians. So it was probably he who reestablished the control over Mesopotamia. And extended the influence of Ur up to Haran and to the Mediterranean coast. It is only corollary to see the begin of the worship of the moon god in Haran as a result of the expansion of the 3rd dynasty of Ur and the Sumerian Renaissance.
We should add one more word about a connection between Abraham and Haran. Haran is mentioned as closely tight to the kingdom of Ebla in the 24th century BC. The same texts (Ebla tablets) are written in an early Semitic language and the names show a great similarity to the names of Abraham and the patriarchs. Could this have been the reason why the family of Abraham went to Haran? Back to their family roots, fleeing to far relatives or even returning to from where they emigrated once?
When did God speak to Abraham? No matter what the reason was for Terah to leave at that time and to move: The way of Abraham turned out to be an escape away from the moon god. They left Ur just before the 3rd dynasty of Ur reestablished the old Sumerian way. They managed to leave Haran, just before the influence of Ur stretched out to the far north-west. God led his man not only to a new land. He also kept him safe from the influence of the pagan religion of the moon god.

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