Pope John Paul's controversial pilgrimage to Iraq to visit the home of the Jewish patriarch Abraham could be taking him to the wrong Ur. That, at least, is the conclusion of Prof Giovanni Pettinato, one of Italy's leading experts on ancient Mesopotamia.
"The Pope will be going to the wrong place, because Abraham has nothing to do with the Sumerian city of Ur," Dr Pettinato told an Italian newspaper. He said the birthplace of Abraham was some 2,000 km away in what today is Syria.
The pope's determination to visit Ur of the Chaldees, traditionally considered the place where God first spoke to Abraham, has brought the Vatican into conflict with the US and Britain, which fear the visit will be used to bolster President Saddam Hussein's regime.
There are also security implications since Ur, 180 kms northwest of Basra, is in the no-fly zone.
The trip, expected to take place early in December, forms part of a tour of key sites in the Bible story that Pope John Paul wishes to make to mark the end of the first Christian millennium.
Prof Pettinato's view is based on recent archaeological discoveries, made by a team from Rome's La Sapienza university, in the Syrian city of Ebla.
He believes the biblical tradition placing Abraham in the Iraqi Ur is probably a mistake.
A Vatican spokeswoman said Prof Pettinato's arguments had not convinced the Pope. "It wouldn't be a disaster if it turned out to be the wrong place," she said. "After all, the Pope is going there to pray."