Abraham's home city, a wealthy, sophisticated Sumerian city-state on the Euphrates, famous for its great ziggurat. Leaving Ur meant leaving the most advanced civilization of the day for a life of wandering.
Lower Mesopotamia (Sumer)
Southern Iraq
Ur was one of the great cities of the Middle Bronze Age, a center of learning, law, and the worship of the moon-god Sin. Abraham's family were Ur's elite, leaving it behind was a radical act of faith and a sharp economic downgrade into pastoral nomadism.
From Ur to Haran (Abraham's first stop) is roughly 600 miles up the Euphrates. From Ur to Canaan is about 1,000 miles, a journey of months on foot with herds.