"Ur was a city in the region of Sumer, in southern Mesopotamia, and its ruins lie in what is modern-day Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq. According to biblical tradition, the city is named after the man who founded the first settlement there, Ur, though this has been challenged. The city is famous for its biblical associations and as an ancient trade center."
"The city's other biblical link is to the patriarch Abraham, who left Ur to settle in the land of Canaan. This claim has also been contested by scholars who believe that Abraham's home was further north in Mesopotamia in a place called Ura, near the city of Harran, and that the writers of the biblical narrative in the Book of Genesis confused the two."
"The site became famous in the modern era in 1922 when Sir Leonard Wooley excavated the ruins and discovered what he called The Great Death Pit (an elaborate grave complex), the Royal Tombs, and, more significantly to him, claimed to have found evidence of the Great Flood described in the book of Genesis. This claim was later discredited but continues to find supporters."
Ur was a major Sumerian city in southern Mesopotamia whose ruins lie at Tell el-Muqayyar in modern Iraq. The city likely began as a Ubaid-period village (6500–4000 BCE) and became established by 3800 BCE, remaining inhabited until 450 BCE. Ur served as a wealthy port on the Persian Gulf, facilitating long-distance trade as far as the Indus Valley. Biblical tradition links Ur to a founder of that name and to the patriarch Abraham, though scholars contest these identifications and suggest a northern Mesopotamian Ura near Harran. Excavations beginning in 1922 uncovered royal tombs and large grave complexes, and claims of flood evidence remain disputed.
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