Was Abraham of the Bible oriental?

Answer 1

No, he was a descendent of Noah via the line of Shem to Terah, his father. He was the first to be called a Hebrew in Genesis 14:13. There are some who believe Noah via the line of Japheth is the progenitor of the Oriental lineage.

Jewish answer:

Abraham was Asian, but that refers to the Fertile Crescent in western Asia, since he was born in Babylonia (Iraq).

Abraham's Semitic ancestors lived in the Fertile Crescent, while he lived most of his life in the Middle Eastern country of Israel (Canaan) 3800 years ago. Abraham is called a Hebrew (Genesis ch.14) because Hebrew (Ivrim) means descendants of Eber (Ever). Ever was an anscestor of Abraham (Genesis ch.10-11) and the early Hebrews were Abraham's uncles and cousins for several generations back. They were Western Semites and lived in northern Mesopotamia, near the confluence of the Balikh and the Euphrates.

The Torah speaks of three branches of post-Flood mankind: Yefet (Japheth), Ham, and Shem (the three sons of Noah; Genesis ch.10).

The children of Yefet are (broadly speaking) the Europeans.

The children of Ham include the ancient Egyptians, Canaanites, Nubians, Bantu (and sub-Saharan Africans in general), Canaanites and many others.

The children of Shem include the ancient Assyrians, Elamites, Arameans, Lyddians and Semites in general. One group of Semites gave rise to the Arabs, Hebrews, Moabites, Ammonites, Edumeans and others.

According to tradition, the peoples of East Asia are Hamitic.

Though technically "Hebrews" includes all descendants of Eber (a Semite descendant; see Genesis ch.10-11), today the term is usually used to mean those who would later be called Israelites.