Trade and Travel

I. Trade in the [[Old Testament]]. Abraham came from a trading port, [[Ur of the Chaldees]], which stood in those days at the head of the Persian Gulf, on whose waters man first learned deep-sea navigation. Pottery from Ur has been identified in the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro on the Indus, and Ur was no doubt a trading station between the seaborne commerce of the Gulf and the Arabian Sea, and the caravan routes of the Euphrates Valley. The most negotiable route between East and West ran this way. The fact that Abraham was rich in gold and silver as well as in the nomad wealth of flocks and herds (Gen.13.2; Gen.24.22, Gen.24.53) is an indication of the wealth of his birthplace and of the commerce that no doubt existed between the desert and the town. The middlemen of this early commerce in the Middle East were the people of the desert.