Abraham. A History Channel Film. DVD , Video

Description

Run Time: approx. 60 min.

Language: English

The figure of Abraham looms over three of the major religions of the world: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity which are sometimes referred to as the "Abrahamic religions", because of the progenitor role Abraham plays in their holy books. In the Jewish tradition, he is called Avraham Avinu, Abraham, Our Father.

God promised Abraham that through his offspring, all the nations of the world will come to be blessed, interpreted in Christian tradition as a reference to Christ. For Muslims, he is a prophet of Islam and the ancestor of Muhammad through his other son Ishmael.

His story is replete with famous incidents: a covenant with God that would lead to the birth of the Jewish nation, the near-sacrifice of his Isaac as a sign of his obedience to God, and the famous scene of destruction in his father's idol shop, are three of the famous incidents in his life story.

But is this Biblical hero simply a symbol representing the birth of the Jewish people, or was he of real flesh and blood? Scholars disagree, but archaeology may hold the answer.

Fifteen hundred cuneiform tablets, discovered in 1975 at an ancient city called Ebla, may be the key to unlocking the riddle of Abraham. Scholars were enthralled to discover the name "Abraham" repeated again and again in the tablets, which detail life in Abraham's native Mesopotamia and his adopted home of Canaan.

In this hour long History Channel Journey, we will discover what this important finding means to three of the religions which hold Abraham in such high esteem and we will visit the site of the Ebla tablets, as well as traditional locations in Abraham's life, such as the Dome of the Rock, the fabled location of the near-sacrifice of Isaac to God.