A sojourner's footprint.

Hebrews 11:8-10,"By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

 Facts, widespread beliefs, and customs seen today, and how they compare to Scripture:

• Geographical places involving Abraham/Isaac/Jacob/Joseph:
• Ur of the Chaldees
• National Geographic, placing Ur of Chaldees at the Great Ziggurat of Ur in Iraq based on recent archaeology, with some extra-Biblical speculation
• Encyclopaedia Britannica identifying Chaldea with Southern Iraq
• All About Turkey tourist guide, placing Ur of Chaldees at Urfa, Turkey with added local legends
• Muslim Urfa legends (extra-Biblical, but illustrate traditional Muslim beliefs about this being the Ur of Abraham): Pool of Abraham, Cave of Abraham
• Jewish views on the location of Ur Kaśdim/Ur of the Chaldees in south-eastern Turkey (in region of Urfa): A History of Israel, and Jewish Virtual Library



From Great Ziggurat of Ur (Iraq) to Harran/Haran (Turkey) - Suggested by archaeologist Leonard Woolley's claimed discovery of Ur in 1930's



From Sanliurfa/Urfa (Turkey) to Harran/Haran (Turkey) - A ~30 mile journey held by local, Jewish, and Muslim tradition, and more direct route toward Canaan

• Genesis 11:27-32, "Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans . . . Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran."
• Haran/Harran (city)
• National Geographic, with some extra-Biblical speculation



Traditional "beehive" shaped houses in Harran, built to relieve dwellers from hot climate.

• Encyclopaedia Brittanica, current population ~7375 (2013)
• Turkey Travel Planner site
• Genesis 12:1-5, "Now the LORD said to Abram [Abraham],
              “Go forth from your country,
              And from your relatives
              And from your father’s house,
              To the land which I will show you . . .
              So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan."
• Shechem/Oak of Moreh
• Jewish Virtual Library: stopping point in Abraham's journey, Jacob's well, Joseph's tomb, and Mt. Gerizim
• Near East Tourist Agency: Jacob's well near Shechem
• Chabad.org: Notes Joseph's Tomb at Shechem is a confirmed historic site.
• General 2nd source for Mount Gerizim at Nablus/Shechem
• Genesis 12:6, "Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land."
• Genesis 37:12-13, "Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. Israel [Jacob] said to Joseph, 'Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.' And he said to him, 'I will go.' Then he said to him, 'Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.' So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem."
• John 4:5-6, "So He [Jesus] came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour."
• Joshua 24:31-32, "Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the LORD which He had done for Israel. Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons."
• Joshua 8:30-33, "Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal . . . All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had given command at first to bless the people of Israel."
• The Negev
• General Source
• Genesis 13:1, "So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him."
• Hebron/possible Oak of Mamre
• General Source
• Official Palestine Tourist Site
• Genesis 13:18, "Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD."
• Sodom & Gomorrah
• Ebla Tablets
• Bryant G. Wood, Ph.D. 
• Steve Austin, Ph.D.
• Genesis 13:10-13, "Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD."
• Genesis 19:23-25, "The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground."

--Ok, I should break here until next time.