Biblical Archaeology Review

See, e.g., “Aram-Naharaim” and “Paddan-Aram” in the Anchor Bible Dictionary. The entry for Paddan-aram in the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (1996) states that “Haran and perhaps Ur were located in Paddan-aram.”

In general, see P. Kyle McCarter, Jr., “The Patriarchal Age,” revised by Ronald S. Hendel, in Ancient Israel, ed. Hershel Shanks, rev. ed. (Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1999).

See Seton Lloyd and William Brice, “Harran,” Anatolian Studies 1 (1955), pp. 77–111.

One of Terah’s sons (Abraham’s brother) was named Haran. Lot was Haran’s son (and Abraham’s nephew). But in Hebrew the name of the person Haran is spelled differently from the place Haran. The initial letter of the person is heh; of the place, het.

Cyrus Gordon, in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies 17 (1958), p. 28; “Abraham of Ur,” in Hebrew and Semitic Studies (G.R. Driver festschrift) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963), pp. 77–84; and “Where Is Abraham’s Ur?” BAR 03:02.

Karen D. Vitelli, Franchthi Neolithic Pottery, vol. 2, The Later Neolithic Ceramic Phases from 3 to 5 (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1999).

Hershel Shanks, “How to Stop Illegal Excavations,” BAR 22:05, “How to Stop Looting,” Archaeology Odyssey, September/October 1999; Avner Raban, “Stop the Charade,” BAR 23:03.

This last conclusion has been given additional support from a few of the metal finds: three very corroded Roman pilum, or javelin, points. The pilae are not all of the same type, and their forms are a bit out of date for this period. This suggests that they were acquired piecemeal or secondhand, which would fit quite well with reservists in the employ of a client-king. I thank Gloria Meker for this information.

Apicius 4.2.1–37.

See Berlin, “Monarchy to Markets,” pp. 84–85.