| Description |
xvii, 342 pages ; 25 cm |
| Contents |
The history of Abraham -- Out of Sumer -- The original audience in Jerusalem -- What will history be now? -- A portable culture -- The meaning of journeys -- The call -- The education of Abraham -- Contracts -- The journey -- Promised Land -- The witness -- The cosmic theater in Ur and Harran -- Arranging a child -- The court of the world -- Acting out the drama -- The survivors -- The influence of the writing prophets -- Inheritance and the threat of extinction -- Death and burial |
| Summary |
"Three of the world's major religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - all find a common root in one man: Abraham. Yet Abraham looms so large in the realm of world religions that he has remained a word of the Divine rather than a flesh-and-blood citizen of Humanity. David Rosenberg not only provides a long-overdue history of the patriarch; he also reveals that the original Abraham story embedded in the writing of the Bible is actually our oldest historical biography. We discover that the wandering ascetic of tradition cannot explain our deep-seated feelings for Abraham and his God. The road that Abraham traveled was marked by signs of civilization that we still recognize: libraries, museums, schools, hotels, and houses of worship." |
|
"Rosenberg cuts through the layers of mythology surrounding Abraham to paint a portrait of the man in his time and culture. What emerges is a deeply original understanding of Abraham as our primary representative man - a sophisticated, educated Sumerian; an artisan who became the first Jew. Moreover, through Rosenberg's audacious translation of the Abraham story from Genesis, we learn that many of the core tenets of the monotheistic tradition - such as the idea of God's covenant and the soul - are Sumerian in origin, and thus the Hebraic contribution is revealed to be one of profound transformation."--BOOK JACKET |
| Analysis |
Abraham (Biblical patriarch) |
|
Bible. Genesis XI-XXV, 11 - History of Biblical events |
|
E document (Biblical criticism) |
|
J document (Biblical criticism) |
|
Middle Eastern literature - Relation to the Old Testament |
|
Patriarchs (Bible) - Biography |
|
Sumer - Religion |
| Notes |
Formerly CIP. Uk |
|
Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Includes author's English translation of Hebrew texts from the book of Genesis about Abraham |
| Subject |
Abraham (Biblical patriarch)
|
| SUBJECT |
Bible. Genesis, XI-XXV, 11 -- History of Biblical events
|
|
Bible. Genesis XI-XXV, 11 -- History of Biblical events
|
| Subject |
E document (Biblical criticism)
|
|
J document (Biblical criticism)
|
|
Middle Eastern literature -- Relation to the Old Testament.
|
|
Middle Eastern literature.
|
|
Patriarchs (Bible) -- Biography.
|
| SUBJECT |
Sumer http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n89117459 -- Religion.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2002007663
|
| Genre/Form |
Biographies.
|
| LC no. |
2006001687 |
| ISBN |
0465070949 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
|
9780465070947 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
|
