Geography of Ai and Ayodhya:
The Bible says Abraham’s home place named Ai was located east of an unnamed river: “Then [Abraham] moved to the hill east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west [towards a] river and Ai on the east….” The location of the places embedded in this verse are as follows:
River/Bethel (west) – Abraham’s Tent – Hill/Ai (east)
This verse tells us that an unnamed river was located on the west, and Ai was located on the east. We found such a place at Ghuram. The site is located east of the Ghaggar River as shown in the accompanying Google Earth Picture 1 with Biblical names mentioned therein.
The Ramayana says that Rama ruled from the city of Ayodhya, located on banks of the Sarayu River. It also says that Sarayu River was flowing to the west as Rama left on his last journey. The location of the places embedded in this verse are as follows:
Sarayu (west) – Ayodhya (east).
That means Ayodhya was located east of the Sarayu River. Ghuram is indeed located east of the Ghaggar River as shown in the accompanying Google Earth Picture 2 with Hindu names mentioned therein.
Now we can put the two informations together. Both the descriptions tell that a river flowed to the west of Ai-Ayodhya, as the Ghaggar does at Ghuram.
Archaeology of Ghuram:
Ghuram provides evidence of habitation around 2100 BCE when Abraham or Rama lived. Excavations have found a dump containing artefacts from the Harappan period as mentioned in the report of excavator of the site, Rajinder Singh Batth of the Punjab State Archaeology Department. It is therefore possible that Ghuram was inhabited at the time of Abraham or Rama at c. 2100 BCE.
The names Ai and Ayodhya:
The names of Ghuram is Ai in the Bible and Ayodhya in the Ramayana. Ai is also written as Ayath (Bible, Isaiah 10:28). The names Ayath and Ayodhya have common letters “a,” “y” and “th/dh.”
The Hebrew word used for Ai in the Book of Joshua (7:2) in the Bible is “ryi.” This word means “a fortified site.” The meaning of Ayodhya is “unconquerable,” which too indicates a fortified city (Reference: Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Page 86).
Therefore, both “Ai” and “Ayodhya” mean fortified places.
Conclusion:
We suggest that Abraham’s home at Ai and Rama’s home at Ayodhya were both located at Ghuram because (1) Ghuram is located east of a river; (2) Archaeological evidence of habitation is available from here; (3) The names Ai and Ayodhya are similar and both mean a fortified place.
Visit our website: https://www.commonprophets.com/
For Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN4sb3toJxNGPjmSubnwz_Q