Gen.1-Gen.11

Ancient Sumerian city on the Euphrates in southern Mesopotamia. Abraham's birthplace, called 'Ur of the Chaldeans'.

The first man, formed by God from the dust of the ground and given the breath of life (Gen.2.7). With his wife Eve he was placed in Eden, gi…

Seventh patriarch from Adam, father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God for 300 years (Gen.5.22) and was taken by God at 365, never dying —…

Son of Seth, grandson of Adam. In his day “men began to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen.4.26). Fourth in the antediluvian line, he live…

Son of Noah and survivor of the flood, Ham is the ancestor of Cush, Egypt, Canaan, and Put — peoples whose lands intersect with Israel's his…

Son of Noah, blessed by his father with enlargement and the promise of dwelling in the tents of Shem. His descendants in Genesis 10 are link…

Son of Enoch, grandfather of Noah, and the longest-lived person in scripture at 969 years (Gen.5.27). He died the year the flood came.

Tenth of the pre-flood patriarchs, son of Lamech, builder of the ark. The only righteous man of his generation (Gen.6.9), Noah was warned of…

Third named son of Adam and Eve, born after Abel’s murder (Gen.4.25). Through Seth runs the godly line that leads to Noah and ultimately to …

Eldest son of Noah, ancestor of the Semitic peoples and of Abraham. Through Shem’s line God’s redemptive promise advances after the flood (G…

In Noah’s day God judged a violent and corrupt world by a global flood (Gen 6–9). Eight people — Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wi…

On the plain of Shinar the descendants of Noah set out to build a city with "a tower with its top in the heavens" (Gen 11:4). God scattered …

From about 2112 to 2004 BC the Third Dynasty of Ur ruled a centralised Sumerian empire on the lower Euphrates — the most powerful civilisati…

First book of the Bible. Origin of the world, the flood, and the patriarchs. Tradition assigns authorship to Moses, drawing on older Hebrew …

The rock dove (Columba livia), kept in dovecotes for food and offering. Scripture uses it for peace, purity, and at the Jordan for the Holy …

The all-black scavenging bird — first sent from Noah's ark, and the unlikely provider God used to feed Elijah in the desert.

The venomous snake of the Bible lands — vehicle of the Fall, instrument of judgment, and a type of the crucifixion in John 3:14.

The thorny shrub of the curse — from Eden's punishment to the crown pressed on Jesus's head, thorns mark the presence of sin and suffering.

A binding agreement between two parties, sealed by a sign — a meal, a sacrifice, a mark on the body. Used throughout the Bible for the agree…

The most common Hebrew word for 'God' — grammatically plural, treated as singular when referring to the God of Israel. The first name of God…

The standard ancient unit of length — about 45 cm, the distance from a man's elbow to his fingertips. Noah's ark was 300 cubits long, Goliat…