Ur, Abraham's hometown, was a metropolis. It sat near the west bank of the Euphrates River in lower Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq. Abraham lived in Ur at the height of its splendor during the Third Dynasty (ca. 2070-1969 BC). He left the city ca. 2,000 BC near the apex of its prosperity and power. The first Ur-Ill period king, Ur-Nammu, had the title of "King of Sumer and Akkad." His splendid city temple tower, one of four that he commissioned, is the best-preserved ziggurat