Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech, son of Methuselah, son of Encoh, son of Jared, son of Mahalalel, son of Kenan, son of Enosh, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of Elohim.
Serug is Abram's great-grandfather. He survived his son Nahor I. His grandson is Terah, who is Abram's father.
He has seen a lot and remembers firsthand the events of Babel at Shinar.
He does not know Adonai, but he does have suspicions that there is a god who helped mankind survive the great flood. Maybe he's responsible for planting curiosity in the mind of young Abram; a realization that prevailing understandings can be questioned.
Terah, son of Nahor
Meaning: wanderer or loiterer
Terah, son of Nahor, son of Serug. Father of Abram as well as Abram's two older brothers Nahor and Haran.
Yes, Terah has a father and a son both named Nahor. Maybe he memorialized his father, who died young at the age of 148, by giving his son the same name.
Terah does not know Adonai, though he does seek the divine, perhaps in the best ways he knows how. He is a wealthy and successful leader in Ur of the Chaldeans. He marries a priestess of Nanna named Amathlai, who bears him Abram.
Terah has a hard life. He loses his own son even as his grandfather Serug lost his son. He is ousted from Ur of the Chaldeans and sojourns in the wilderness before settling in... Harran, so named, it seems to commemorate his deceased son.
Amathlai, daughter of Cornebo
Meaning: possibly tender goddess
Amathlai is the daughter of Cornebo, a prominent elder in Ur.
She becomes a well-loved priestess in the Ziggurat and is eventually wed to Terah. This is a powerful marriage with a bright future.
Amathlai is known to break out in prophecy, and when she does, no one doubts that the power of the Annunaki flows through her. It was she who gave Abram his peculiar name. She instills piety and religious devotion in Abram, while tolerating his meddlesome curiosity more than the men might like.
She knows soaring heights of ecstasy and great depths of pain in her life, and she faces them with a ferocity hard to imagine.
Nahor, son of Terah
meaning: scorched, heat source, or possibly snort
Also known as Nahor II, to distinguish him from his deceased grandfather Nahor I.
Nahor is Abram's older brother. He is the middle brother as Haran is older than he.
Being closest in age to Abram, he spent a lot of time with his younger brother in their father's idol shop growing up. He witnessed firsthand Abram's mischief and nonconformity as he reasoned his way to monotheism.
Later in life, when Haran is dead, Abram convinces him that they must marry their brother's orphaned daughters in service of their brother and his family line. In this way Nahor marries Milcah, who bears him eight sons, in contrast to Iscah, who bears Abram none.
Young Abram, son of Terah
meaning: exalted father
Young Abram grows up under the care of his mother Amathlai, priestess of Nanna.
He is a calm and gentle person, and everyone can see he has a certain moral intelligence, but at the same time he has a terrible habit of boldly questioning or even flatly contradicting long held religious beliefs in Ur.
Young Abram has a keen mind and a sharp wit, which allied with his openness to new ideas makes him a threat to social order around him.
When he renounces Chaldean gods like Nusku and Nanna in favor of El Elyon, the tension reaches a breaking point.
Nimrod, son of Cush
meaning: rebel
Also known as Nimrod, the Mighty Hunter.
Nimrod is the son of Cush, son of Ham, son of Noach (who the Chaldeans call Utnapishtim). Yes, he is the great grandson of Noah, who built the ark!
Nimrod is a wild and powerful man, and a world-renowned hunter. He is hundreds of years old, but as one of the Gibborim he is still more youthful and stronger than men hundreds of years his junior.
Nimrod wears marvelous robes said to have been worn by Utnapishtim before they were stolen by Utnapishtim's son, Ham, leaving him naked. Or something like that; there is definitely turmoil in the family though the details vary depending on who tells it.
Nimrod is a devotee of Nusku, god of fire. Predictably, he clashes with Abram when visiting Ur.
Haran, son of Terah
Meaning: heat source, or possibly hill climber
Older brother of Abram and Nahor II.
Father of two daughters: Iscah and Milcah.
Haran knows that his brother Abram is righteous, and he stands up for Abram to Nimrod, ultimately costing him his life.
His memory lives on in the name of the city Harran, where Terah and his household settle and where Nahor II bears sons by Milcah in his name. There also the temple to Nanna is dedicated in his name.
Abdhulraman of Damascus
Meaning: servant of the most gracious
Abdhulraman grew up a scrappy orphan on the banks of the Pharpar river in Damascus, far from Ur. He was picked up by the slave trade, and because of his strength and intelligence he ended up in the service of the wealthy household of Terah.
Eliezer "of Damascus" is his son, and Kalumtum is his daughter.
He is Terah's most trusted slave, and with good reason. He is brave, trustworthy, and has a good heart. He has come a long way from his humble beginnings and his children will go even further.
Beltis, friend of Amathlai
Meaning: Innana (goddess), sister of Bel
Beltis is a priestess of Nanna in Ur and a good friend of Abram's mother, Amathlai.
She admires Abram but is troubled that his unconventional views have brought so much trouble to the house of Terah. She can only watch as the household of Terah must leave Ur in disgrace.
Iscah, Daughter of Haran
Meaning: to look out from behind a cover, to see
Iscah's father Haran dies in the fire of Nusku, trying to defend his brother against Nimrod.
She is known for her extremely rare beauty and so she gets a lot of attention from suitors, until they learn that she is probably barren, at which point the interest evaporates.
Abram weds and thus redeems Iscah when Haran dies. Her barrenness seems to be of little importance to Abram, who makes her his princess without hesitation, naming her Sarai.
Milcah, daughter of Haran
Meaning: queen
Milcah is Haran's daughter, as is Iscah her sister. Their brother is Lot.
When her father dies, leaving her an orphan, she is redeemed by Nahor, who becomes her husband.
Milcah goes on to have eight sons, in contrast to her barren sister.
Kalumtum, daughter of Abhulraman of Damascus
Meaning: a female lamb
Kalumtum and her brother Eliezer are children of Abdhulraman of Damascus, Abram's head servant. They've never actually been to Damascus, as their father has, but they long in their hearts to see it.
Kalumtum and her brother grew up playing with Haran's children, Milcah, Iscah, and Lot.
Sarai, wife of Abram
Meaning: my princess
Sarai, formerly Iscah, is the daughter of Haran, Abram's deceased brother. She is redeemed by Abram and becomes his wife.
Sarai is barren, she has no child.
Eliezer of Damascus
Meaning: my god is help
Eliezer of Damascus is not literally from Damascus, but his father Abdhulraman of Damascus is. His sister is Kalumtum.
Abdhulraman grew up playing with Lot and was like a member of Haran's household until Haran died. He is a hard worker who demonstrates integrity. He looks up to Abram and is honored to become a servant of Abram when Abram redeems Iscah.
As the son of the chief slave of Terah's household, and something like a son to Abram, Eliezer has more status than most of Terah's people.
Lot, son of Haran
Meaning: covering, veil
As Haran's son, Lot is Abram's nephew and Iscah and Milcah's brother.
Lot looks up to Abram and joins Abram's household when they leave for the land of Canaan. He is interested to see what prosperous opportunities await there.
Though he is the natural choice as heir to Abram's household, given that Sarai is barren, Lot goes on to separate from Abram and form his own household in the best part of the land.
Eventually he settles in Sodom, where much trouble awaits him.
Otiartes, herdsman of Lot's cattle
Meaning: named for a great king of Babylon, perhaps from Ubaru-Tutu, "servant of Marduk"
As herdsman, Otiartes is one of the chief slaves of Lot. He has conflict with Abram's servant Eliezer over where they graze their many livestock.
Abram
Meaning: Father of Aram, or Exalted Father
Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered his enemies into his hand.
Rim-Sin, King of Luz
Meaning: Servant of Sin (the Moon God)
A friend of Abram, who rules the city of Luz, which later was named Bethel. He believes in El Elyon, but also worships the other gods of Canaan.
Melchizedek, King of Salem
Meaning: King of Righteousness
Melchizedek is king of Salem and priest of El Elyon. He meets Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gives him a tenth of everything. Some say that he is without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, and remaining a priest forever.
Sarah does not make life easy for Hagar when she becomes jealous of Hagar's fertility
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Eshcol is an Amorite, of the Kiritah-Arba (four villages) at Hebron. He is brother to Enau and Mamre, and together these three form an alliance with Abram and fight alongside him in the war of the nine kings.
