Abram (who later became Abraham) was born about 300 years after the Flood. By then, the various tribes had been scattered after the incident at Babel, populating the area we now call the Middle East.
Although we credit Abra(ha)m of moving to Canaan, it is his father Terah who made the first critical decision:
31 One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there.
But stopping short wasn’t enough:
12:1-3 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
And Abra(ha)m did what he was told and moved to Shechem in Canaan, before moving to Egypt, disgracing himself in Egypt (he was escorted out of the country), then moving back north to Canaan, where he should have been the whole time. There is no doubt that Abra(ha)m was a flawed character.
Abra(ha)m’s nephew, Lot, went with him and they both became very wealthy men. So wealthy that they separated on their return to Canaan: Lot (who got to choose first) took the lush, well-watered plain around Sodom and Abra(ha)m took Hebron in Canaan.
As it turned out, Lot hadn’t chosen wisely. Sodom was attacked and its wealth and inhabitants carried off by the victorious army. Lot almost lost everything, but Abra(ha)m rescued him and recovered it all. Some time afterwards, Sodom was destroyed and Lot did lose everything except his life and his children.
Abra(ha)m, on the other hand, got this promise from God:
14-17 After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.”
You can see where Sodom and Gomorrah were in relation to Mamre (near Hebron) at the Bible-Library.com website
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