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The Jewish historian Josephus (37 or 38-about 101 A.D.) makes reference to the Adamic
origin of astronomy and mathematics: "They [the Sethites] also were the inventors of that peculiar
sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies and their order." Ancient Persian and
Arabian traditions also ascribe the invention of astronomy to Adam, Seth and Enoch.

Abraham inherited this fund of knowledge and became known as a man of great learning.
The Chaldean historian Berosus recorded that "In the tenth generation after the Flood, there was
among the Chaldeans a man [Abraham] righteous and great, and skillful in the celestial science"
(as quoted by Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews).

In Abraham's day, however, the city of Ur had become steeped in Babylonian idolatry and
the worship of its patron moon-god Sin. Writes Josephus --

He [Abraham] was a person of great sagacity, both for understanding all things and per-
suading his hearers, and not mistaken in his opinions; for which reason he began to have
higher notions of virtue than others had, and he determined to renew and to change the
opinions all men happened then to have concerning God; for he was the first that ven-
tured to publish this notion, that there was but one God, the Creator of the universe; and
that, as to other [gods], if they contributed anything to the happiness of men, that each of
them afforded it only according to his appointment, and not by their own power (Antiqui-
ties of the Jews, book I, chapter VII, verse 1).

Continues Josephus:

This his opinion was derived from the irregular phenomena that were visible both at land
and sea, as well as those that happen to the sun and moon, and all the heavenly bodies,
thus:- "If [said he] these bodies had power of their own, they would certainly take care of
their own regular motions; but since they do not preserve such regularity, they made it
plain, that in so far as they co-operate to our advantage, they do it not of their own abili-
ties, but as they are subservient to Him that commands them; to whom alone we ought
justly to offer our honour and thanksgiving" (ibid.).

As a result of Abraham's preaching, the inhabitants of Ur rose up against him and were a
factor in his decision to leave the city: "For which doctrines, when the Chaldeans and other people
of Mesopotamia raised a tumult against him, he thought fit to leave that country; and at the com-
mand, and by the assistance of God, he came and lived in the land of Canaan" (Antiquities of the
Jews, book I, chapter VII, verse 1).

Abraham and his family left Ur and traveled northeastward to Haran -- some 600 miles
distant -- and remained there until the death of his father Terah. Now 75 years old, Abraham began
to move his household out of Haran to the land of Canaan, where he lived out the remaining hun-
dred years of his life in tents as an alien and migratory resident. With Abraham went his wide-
ranging knowledge of astronomy and the sciences and, of course, his understanding of God's Sab-
bath and holy days. It is interesting to note that when Abraham left Haran he crossed the Euphrates
River on the 14th day of the month that later became known as Nisan.

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