JOSEPH W. TKACH
PASTOR GENERAL

May 1987

Dear Friend:

Thank you for your recent inquiry about the modern-day descendants of the ancient Chaldeans or Babylonians.

The Chaldeans descend from Arphaxad, who is also the ancestor of Abraham and Israel. Chaldeans were associated with Babylon and the city of Ur because they settled near Babylon and in Shinar. However, some Chaldeans settled farther north, around Lake Van -- about halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Caspian Sea. There they came to be called "Chaldians" and, more often, the people of Van. (Haran, the ancestor of Lot, Abram's nephew, also settled in northern Mesopotamia, south of Lake Van.)

History records that some of the "Chaldians" were driven northward out of the Near East by the Assyrians and Medes prior to 610 B.C. ("An Encyclopaedia of World History," by William L. Langer, p. 38). From the shores of the Black Sea they turned to southeastern Europe, then headed west into the Roman Empire. They settled in northern Italy, southeastern France, and parts of Spain and northern Africa. The ancient Chaldeans of Babylonia were also sent into exile to Syria in the Greek period of rule over Babylon. The Latin Romans often bought these people as slaves; afterward their descendants were freed. Wherever the Chaldeans are mentioned in Bible prophecy, the reference is to these people in central and southwestern Europe.

Thank you for your interest. If you have other questions about any of the subjects we cover in our publications, please let us know.

PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT