Genesis
World of the Patriarchs
A geographic overview of the ancient Near East and its modern setting
Two reference maps for the world of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — tracing the geography of the patriarchal narratives and how it corresponds to the modern Middle East.
Map 1: World of the Patriarchs
The world of the patriarchs Original map of Abraham’s journey from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran and on into Canaan, with the descent into Egypt. The Great Sea Red Sea Persian Gulf River Nile Euphrates Tigris Ur Erech Babylon Haran Carchemish Damascus Shechem Bethel Hebron Beersheba Memphis Nineveh C A N A A N E G Y P T M E S O P O T A M I A A R A B I A N D E S E R T Abraham — Ur to Haran, Haran to Canaan Down into Egypt and back He went out not knowing where he was going — about eleven hundred miles of it. 200 miles N Ur to Haran, Haran to Canaan — and down into Egypt. Middle East: then and now
The Middle East, then and now Original map pairing the places of the Old Testament with the cities and countries that stand on the same ground today. The Great Sea Red Sea Persian Gulf Caspian Sea River Nile Euphrates Tigris ASIA MINOR MESOPOTAMIA PERSIA · MEDIA EGYPT ARABIA SHEBA CUSH Turkey Iraq Iran Egypt Saudi Arabia Yemen Sudan and Ethiopia Ur Babylon Nineveh Haran Carchemish Damascus Tyre Sidon Jerusalem Susa Ecbatana Persepolis Memphis Thebes Tarsus Petra Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq near Hillah, Iraq Mosul, Iraq Harran, Turkey Jarabulus, on the border Damascus, Syria Sur, Lebanon Saida, Lebanon Jerusalem Shush, Iran Hamadan, Iran near Shiraz, Iran near Cairo, Egypt Luxor, Egypt Tarsus, Turkey Petra, Jordan what stands there now Old Testament name Along the coast the names are packed close: Canaan is Israel and the Palestinian territories · Phoenicia is Lebanon Aram is Syria · Edom, Moab and Ammon are Jordan The names changed. The ground did not — and it is still the road between three continents. 300 miles N The same ground, under its two sets of names.
