Ur Kaśdim

Ur Kaśdim (Hebrew:אוּר כַּשְׂדִים‎ ’Ūr Ḵaśdîm), commonly translated as Ur of the Chaldees, is a city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the birthplace of the Jewish patriarch Abraham. One of the traditional sites of Abraham's birth is placed in the vicinity of the Assyrian city of Edessa. Some classical Islamic and Jewish authorities, such as Maimonides and Josephus, placed Ur Kaśdim at various Assyrian or south east Anatolian sites such as Urkesh, Urartu, Urfa or Kutha. Recent archaeology work places the location in present day Nasiriyah, Iraq where the ancient Ziggurat of Ur is located.