[[File:Ur location.png|right|250px|thumb|Location of the Biblical city of Ur in Iraq.]]
The city of '''Ur''' is one of the oldest cities known to [[archaeology]], located between the [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]] Rivers near the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref name=ur>Stacey Pexa. [http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/middle_east/ur.html Ur], ''University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology'', mnsu.edu, 1999.</ref> Ur is a place that often bears the title "cradle of civilization," which the [[Greeks]] called "the Land Between the Rivers," or [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name=NatHist>Azzam Alwash. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_9_116/ai_n21092828/ Water at war: Iraq's marshlands, once decimated by Saddam Hussein's campaign against his own people, are reviving with global aid], ''Natural History''. FindArticles.com. 14 Nov, 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.amazeingart.com/seven-wonders/ziggurat.html The Sumerian Ziggurat at Ur], ''Amazeing Art''.</ref> The first settlers of this land were known as Ubaidians, identified with the Ubaid period from 5200-4500 B.C., and was ruled under a king known as Mes-Anni-Padda, who was succeeded by his son, A-Anni-Padda.<ref name=ur/> But it wasn't until the Sumerians arrived when the land developed an established civilization, because they brought with them [[art]] and [[literature]], which far surpassed that of the Ubaidians.<ref>[http://www.crystalinks.com/sumerhistory.html Sumerian History]</ref>

Ur is one of the sites where the [[epic of Gilgamesh]] was found, written in [[cuneiform]] in an example of the world's oldest written language.<ref> Mike Francis. [http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonatwar/2009/11/scenes_from_the_cradle_of_civi.html At the Cradle of Civilization: Ziggurat of Ur], ''The Oregonian'', November 07, 2009.</ref> During the era when the [[Sumerian]] civilization lived in the city, Ur is believed to be the site where [[farming]] and [[writing]] first developed, from which villages first grew into cities, cities into kingdoms, and kingdoms into empires. Most of what was built in the city has long since crumbled into ruin, with the notable exception of the Sumerian "[[Ziggurat]] at Ur."<ref>[http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/ziggurats/explore/exp_main.html The Ziggurat of Ur], ''The British Museum''.</ref> The temple-pyramid is part of the ruins of an ancient Sumerian city.<ref name=foxnews>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575147,00.html U.S. Soldiers Among First to Tour Ancient Iraqi Temple], ''Fox News'', November 14, 2009.</ref> Another site, near the Ziggurat of Ur, is considered even more historically significant. The city is known in the [[Bible]] as "Ur of the Chaldees."<ref name=ur/> This biblical name refers to the [[Chaldeans]], who settled the area about 900 B.C., and is believed to have been the home of [[Abraham]], a central figure in the [[Muslim]], [[Jewish]] and [[Christian]] religions.<ref name=foxnews/>

==History==

By the year 2800 B.C., Ur was a well known city in Mesopotamia, and was one of the more powerful cities in the region. Ur was located along the ancient waterway of the [[Euphrates River]], although the river has since shifted to a position to the north of the modern archaeological site. Because of its position near the river, Ur was in a prime location for agricultural and commercial growth.

The leaders of Ur were divided between three dynasties. The first was set up in roughly 2670 B.C. by the Sumerian leader Mesanepada, who is the earliest known king from the Sumerian city-states to be mentioned in contemporary documents. His son took over after his death around twenty years later, in 2650 B.C., and helped to construct the ancient temple of Ninhursag, five miles outside of the city's walls.

Not much is known about the second dynasty of Ur, as not much mention to it is made in the historical record. The third dynasty began in 2113 B.C., with the king Ur-Nammu as its first ruler. Under his rule, Ur became the seat of a vast empire, and opened up an important route to the [[Persian Gulf]]. Under Ur-Nammu, the city also experienced a resurgence in art and literature, and the famous [[ziggurat]] of Nanna, a local [[pagan]] moon god, was constructed.

The third dynasty of Ur ended in 2004 B.C., when the [[Elamites]] overthrow the king and razed the city to the ground.

When Ur was rebuilt soon after its destruction, it became part of the kingdom of Isin. As politics in the region shifted, so did control of the city, until it eventually became a part of the empire of [[Babylon]]. Further shifts in control of the city eventually put it under the control of the [[Assyrians]], and of King [[Nebuchadnezzar]] II. A few more generations of Assyrian kings ruled over Ur, until finally, [[Persia]] conquered Babylonia, and the city began to become less prominent. Possibly because of the movement of the Euphrates River away from the city, Ur became all but uninhabited by 300 B.C.

==Archaeology==

British consul J.E. Taylor was the first western archaeologist to do a considerable amount of work at the ruins of Ur, excavating much of the ziggurat of Nanna during an expedition from 1854-1855. Later expeditions to the site continued, mostly carried out by the British, through the early decades of the twentieth century.

Evidence of a flood was also discovered in the ruins of the city, leading some to believe that it may have been the origin of flood legends from throughout the region, including the story of the [[Great Flood]] contained in the Biblical book of [[Genesis]]. However, most archaeologists doubt that this could have imprinted so heavily on the region's literature, as the flood was probably not all that large, and small floods around the Euphrates were likely not that uncommon.

==As a religious center==

Ur was a prominent center of the worship of the moon god Nana, as evidenced by the enormous ziggurat found in the ruins outside of the city. The worship of Nanna's Babylonian equivalent, a god called Sin, also occurred in the city.

[[Abraham]], the founder of the Judeo-Christian belief system, may have also come from Ur, although there are some questions as to whether the biblical Ur of the Chaldees is a reference to the city of Ur or not. At the time that Abraham lived in Ur, he would have been named Abram.

== References ==
<references/>

==External Links==
* [http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/ancientarchitecture/g/Ziggurat.htm Ziggurat - Ancient Towering Temples or Ziggurats]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEh-iXnud60 Ziggurat of Ur], Video
*[http://www.swartzentrover.com/cotor/Bible/Timelines/2210-2090%20BC.htm Timeline 2210-2090 BC]
----

[[Category:Babylon]]
[[Category:Iraq]]
[[Category:Articles in need of an image]]

Creation week

2011-06-22T02:20:30Z

CobaltFusion: Please see the talk page for a summary of my removal reason.

The '''creation week''' is the seven days described in the [[Bible]] during which God created the universe, including the day of rest. The six days on which God created are collectively referred to as the Hexaemeron.
== Length of the days ==

The Bible does not of course say that each day was 24 hours, because hours are a later human invention, but there is sufficient reason for believing the days to be normal days. These reasons include:
* The Hebrew word ''yom'' (day) must mean a normal day in the context of Genesis 1. In Genesis 1, each day is numbered and used with the words "morning and evening".
** ''Yom'' only ever means a normal day when used with a number.
** ''Yom'' only ever means a normal day when used with "morning".
** ''Yom'' only ever means a normal day when used with "evening".
* God used the seven days of creation as a basis for keeping the [[sabbath]] every seven days, in the [[Ten Commandments]].
* Each day is ''defined'' as comprising a morning and an evening.

That the passage describes normal days is the consensus of the experts. Professor James Barr, former Oriel Professor of the interpretation of the Holy Scripture at Oxford University, wrote:
{{quoteBox|...probably, so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1–11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that: ... creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience ... Or, to put it negatively, the apologetic arguments which suppose the "days" of creation to be long eras of time ... are not taken seriously by any such professors, as far as I know.<ref>Letter from Professor James Barr to David C.C. Watson, quoted in [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/943/ Should Genesis be taken literally?] by Russell Grigg, ''Creation'', vol. 16 No. 1 p. 38.</ref>}}

== Narrative or poetry? ==

Since the rise in popularity of ideas that the Earth is much older than would be indicated by a straightforward reading of Genesis, many people have proposed that the creation account is poetry rather than literal history.
However, there are a number of reasons to reject this proposal.

The quote from James Barr (above), points out that the language indicates that the writer intended it to be understood as actual history.
The style of writing does not conform to the distinctive style of Hebrew poetry, which includes, among other characteristics, parallelism of thoughts.
A statistical analysis of the verbs used in the [[Old Testament]] shows that percentage of [[preterite]] verbs in narrative accounts have a median value of 52%, whilst the percentage in poetic passages have a median value of 4%.
The creation account in Genesis has a preterite verb percentage of about 65%.<ref>DeYoung, Don, "Thousands... not Billions", Master Books, 2005, p.157-167.</ref>

==The Sabbath Rest==

The common literary feature of the creation week is that it is broken down into days. Different English translations have different styles in the English, but the main feature is the way the creation week is broken down into listed days. The following is the last verse in the first creation account.

{{Bible quote|book=Genesis|chap=2|verses=1-3|version=NIV|Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.}}

This change in literary structure is considered important by some, who claim, despite the past tense, that it conveys an idea that is found in several other Bible stories: The seventh day is still continuing, it never ended.

Mankind was created in day six, likely the last thing created in that day. According to this idea, mankind then fell. God, in his mercy is at rest in this day of mankind's fall, but he is working doing one thing: Rescuing fallen mankind.

== Other views ==
Despite the arguments listed above, some Christians try to harmonise the biblical account with naturalistic science, usually by interpreting the days to be long periods of time, figurative days, days of revelation of the account, or other explanations.

Some do this by claiming that there was a "[[Gap theory|gap]]" of millions or even billions of years between the events of Gen1:1 and Gen 1:2, into which the billions of years of naturalistic science and the fossils are placed.<ref>[http://www.gospelcenterchurch.org/Gaptheory.html Gap Theory]</ref> Others do this by reference to [[Theistic evolution]] or [[Guided evolution]].

== Notes ==
<references />
[[Category:Creationism]]

Talk:Creation week

2011-06-22T02:19:12Z

CobaltFusion:

{{Wikiproject Religion}}

== Test of orthodoxy ==

I'm not sure if the length of the creation week is a "good test of orthodoxy." There are many theistic evolutionists and old earth creationists too, who are orthodox Christians. This should be set off with "according to (someone)..." [[User:AddisonDM|AddisonDM]] 11:21, 18 February 2009 (EST)
: It's probably better off not being there, although there is some truth to it. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 01:00, 19 February 2009 (EST)\]

::Well, now I am changing the "test of orthodoxy" bit. [[User:AddisonDM|AddisonDM]] 09:34, 7 June 2009 (EDT)
::: I'm going to just remove it, because I think that the page is better off without it. Most Young Earth Creation ministries are pretty explicit that YEC ''shouldn't'' be used as a test of orthodoxy. This seems like the opinion of the person who created the page, and since the majority of Young Earth ministries don't agree with him, I think that it needs to be removed. [[User:CobaltFusion|CobaltFusion]] 22:19, 21 June 2011 (EDT)

User:CobaltFusion

2011-06-21T18:17:39Z

CobaltFusion:

CobaltFusion:

CobaltFusion is a registered Conservapedia editor as of May 12th, 2009.

In real life, this user is named Christopher, and lives in the western mountains of North Carolina. As of the writing of this user page, CobaltFusion is a senior in high school, and is planning to go to a four year university in the fall to study clinical laboratory science.

On a personal and religious level, this user identifies himself as a Christian, although not as a fundamentalist or conservative. CobaltFusion is an [[Old Earth Creationist]], and believes, to an extent, in the idea of [[theistic evolution]].

This user's name was inspired by the large atomic bomb from the film ''Dr. Strangelove''.

If other users wish to consult CobaltFusion, then they are encouraged to do so on his talk page. However, this user would like to inform others that he does not wish to discuss religion or politics on his talk page. This user is here to contribute constructively to the wiki and add to articles which he deems to be important and ignored by other users. These pages have no logical rhyme or reason, but will likely be found to deal mostly with purely historical or scientific issues.

Also, this user loves referring to himself in the third person. Which is a sign of serious mental illness. Take that as you will.

==Userboxes==

{{User Christian1}}
{{User Political Compass|-3.00|-2.87}}
{{User comp-4}}
{{User OEC}}
{{User ClintonFan}}
{{User antigun}}
{{User nowar}}
{{User no death penalty}}

User:CobaltFusion

2009-05-13T01:35:06Z

CobaltFusion:

User:CobaltFusion

2009-05-13T01:33:42Z

CobaltFusion:

2009-05-13T01:02:00Z

CobaltFusion:

CobaltFusion is a registered Conservapedia editor as of May 12th, 2009.

In real life, this user is named Christopher, and lives in the western mountains of North Carolina. As of the writing of this user page, CobaltFusion is a senior in high school, and is planning to go to a four year university in the fall to study clinical laboratory science.

On a personal and religious level, this user identifies himself as a Christian, although not as a fundamentalist or conservative. CobaltFusion is an [[Old Earth Creationist]] and a believer in the idea of [[theistic evolution]].

This user's name was inspired by the large atomic bomb from the film ''Dr. Strangelove''.

If other users wish to consult CobaltFusion, then they are encouraged to do so on his talk page. However, this user would like to inform others that he does not wish to discuss religion or politics on his talk page. This user is here to contribute constructively to the wiki and add to articles which he deems to be important and ignored by other users. These pages have no logical rhyme or reason, but will likely be found to deal mostly with purely historical or scientific issues.