Hi, I'm Miss Minton, and welcome to this lesson on the world of Abram.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe the world of Abram before he became Abraham.
Now, some of this learning might be new to you, but don't worry because I'm here to guide you through every step of the way, and I'm confident that we will successfully achieve this outcome by the end of the lesson.
So let's start by looking at the key words for today's lesson.
We have deity, idol, monotheism, and polytheism.
Now, a deity is a supernatural being that's worshipped , like a god or a goddess.
An idol is an image or a statue that's used as an object of worship.
The word monotheism refers to the belief in and worship of only one god.
And polytheism refers to the belief in and worship of multiple gods.
Now, our lesson today will have three parts.
We will start by looking at the history of Abram.
We'll then move on to looking at polytheism in Abram's homeland.
And finally, we will be looking at Abram's rejection of idols.
So let's get started with the history of Abram.
Now, Abram was Abraham's name before he made a covenant with God.
Now I'd like us to have a think about why someone might change their name.
So pause the video and either think to yourself, talk to a partner, or talk to me.
Off you go.
So you may have recognised that someone might change their name to reflect a life event like getting married, for example, or that someone can change their name to show that they are taking on a new identity, or that maybe a change in name can mark a new beginning for that person.
Now we're going to be looking at the history of Abram before his name was changed.
Now, the Old Testament and Torah state that Abram was born in a land called Ur in Mesopotamia, which is now known as Iraq.
His father was a man named Terah.
He had two brothers, and he was married to a woman named Sarai.
So let's check your understanding so far.
True or false? Abram was born in Ur.
Fantastic.
That is true.
Abram was born in a land called Ur.
Another check.
Abram's wife was called Terah.
True or false? Well done.
That statement is false.
But why is it false? Well, it's because Abram's wife was called Sarai, and Terah was the name of Abram's father.
So well done for recognising that that statement is false, and that's the reason why.
Now, in the time and place that Abram lived, people were what we call polytheistic.
Now, the word polytheistic starts with the prefix poly.
So I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner or have a think to yourself of any words that you know that start with the prefix poly.
Off you go.
So you may have recognised words like polygon, for example, which is a shape that has multiple sides.
And you might have started to realise that words starting with the prefix poly refer to many or multiple, and that's exactly what we see here with the word polytheistic.
So the prefix poly means many, and the word theistic refers to the belief in a god or gods.
So the word polytheistic means the belief in many gods.
Now, Abraham was different because he was monotheistic.
Now, I'd like you to do the same again and pause the video to see if you can think of any words that start with the prefix mono.
So pause the video and either talk to a partner or have a think to yourself.
Off you go.
So you may have recognised words like monobrow or monotone, for example.
And you might have started to realise that these words starting with the prefix mono are referring to one.
And it's the same with the word monotheistic.
So the prefix mono means one, and as we already know, the word theistic refers to the belief in a god or gods.
So the word monotheistic refers to the belief in only one god.
And Abraham was monotheistic.
So time for a check.
Fill in the blanks.
In the time and place that Abram lived, people were blank, but Abram was blank.
Well done.
The missing words are polytheistic and monotheistic.
So in the time and place that Abram lived, people were polytheistic, but Abram was monotheistic.
Well done.
Okay, it's time to complete a task.
So Lucas is explaining what Abram's life was like before he made a covenant with God.
But Lucas has actually made some mistakes in his explanation.
I'd like you to identify what mistakes Lucas has made and rewrite his answer to correct those mistakes.
So pause the video and have a go.
Well done for your hard work during that task.
So you were asked what mistakes had Lucas made, and you were asked to rewrite his answer to correct those mistakes.
Now, your answer could include that Abram was Abraham's name before he made a covenant with God.
Abram lived in a time and place where people were polytheistic, but he was monotheistic, meaning that he believed in only one god.
So well done for your work during that task on correcting Lucas's mistakes.
So we're now moving on to the second part of our lesson, which is to look at polytheism in Abram's homeland.
The Sumerians were a polytheistic civilization of people living in Mesopotamia at the same time as Abram.
Now, they knew that people didn't control things like the wind or the sun, and they believed that there must be another explanation for the cause of these things.
They concluded that there must be deities who were responsible for things outside of human control.
Now, the Sumerians created idols to represent their deities, and they actually treated them a lot like human beings by giving them meals and washing them, for example.
The Sumerians also believed that their deities had great power and that they could keep them happy by providing offerings to the idols, like food or milk or animals.
So let's check your understanding.
True or false? The Sumerians used idols to represent their deities.
Fantastic.
That statement is true.
Well done.
In the centre of each city in Mesopotamia, there was a structure called a ziggurat.
The ziggurat was a temple for the main deity of that city, and the Sumerians believed that the deity lived in the ziggurat.
In Abram's homeland of Ur, the ziggurat was the home of Nanna, the moon god.
So let's check your understanding.
What was the ziggurat: A, a deity; B, a temple; C, a city; or D, a civilization? Fantastic.
The correct answer is B.
The ziggurat was a temple.
Okay, it's time for a task.
I would like you to have a go at writing five sentences about polytheism in Abram's homeland.
Now, I've got some words that I would like you to try and include in your sentences.
Sentence one must include the word polytheism.
Sentence two must include the word Sumerians.
Sentence three must include the word idols.
Sentence four must include the word deity.
And sentence five must include the word ziggurat.
So pause the video and have a go.
Well done for your hard work during that task.
Now, your responses might look something like this.
Number one, polytheism is the belief in multiple gods.
Number two, the Sumerians were a polytheistic civilization living in Abram's homeland.
Number three, the Sumerians used idols to represent their deities.
Number four, the main deity of Abram's homeland was Nanna, the moon god.
And number five, people of Abram's homeland built a structure called a ziggurat for the main god to live in.
So well done for your hard work during that task, particularly for including all of those words that I asked you to include.
We're now moving on to the final part of our lesson, which is looking at Abram's rejection of idols.
Jewish holy text says that Abram's father, Terah, was an idol maker.
He carved statues of deities for people to worship.
Now, Abram disagreed with his father's profession because he believed that there was only one god and that people should not be making, selling, or worshipping other deities.
So time for a check.
What was Abram's father? A, an armour bearer; B, a Sumerian priest; or C, an idol maker? Fantastic.
The correct answer is C, Abram's father was an idol maker.
So we know that Abram didn't agree with his father making idols, but one day Abram's father asked him to work in the shop and help sell the idols.
Now, this was problematic for Abram because he was monotheistic, but he decided to use this as an opportunity to try and discourage potential customers from buying the idols.
Now, when this discouragement didn't work, Abram decided to take quite drastic action against the selling of the idols.
So he took an axe and he destroyed all of the idols except for the largest one.
When he'd finished destroying the idols, he placed the axe in the hand of the largest idol.
When his father returned to the shop and saw what had happened, he asked Abram what had gone on.
And Abram said that the largest idol destroyed all of the other idols in a fight over an offering.
Now, Abram's father said that this was impossible and that the idol couldn't have done something like this.
He then very quickly realised that Abram had tricked him into admitting that the idols had no power.
So let's check your understanding.
True or false? Abram was pleased to help at his father's shop because he used the idols for worship.
Fantastic.
That statement is false.
Now, why is it false? Well, working at the shop was actually problematic for Abram because he was monotheistic, and that meant that he believed in only one god.
So he definitely would not have been pleased to help at his father's shop.
Okay, let's check your understanding again.
What did Abram trick his father into doing? A, selling all of the idols.
B, saying the idols were powerless.
C, destroying all of the idols.
Or D, making more idols.
Excellent.
The correct answer is B.
Abram tricked his father into saying that the idols were powerless.
Okay, it's time to complete a task.
So Sofia is unsure why Abram's father admitted that the idols were powerless.
I would like you to explain to Sofia what Abram did and how this made his father admit that the idols were powerless.
So pause the video and have a go.
Well done for your work during that task.
So I asked you to explain to Sofia what Abram did and how this made his father admit that the idols were powerless.
Now, your response may look something like this.
Abram disagreed with his father's idol-making so strongly that he took an axe and he smashed all but the largest idol.
When his father asked what happened, Abram claimed the largest idol destroyed all of the other idols in a fight over an offering.
Abram's father told him that this was impossible because he knew they were just statues.
He then realised that Abraham had tricked him into admitting that the idols could not do something like this because they have no power.
So again, well done for your work on that task and explaining to Sofia what Abram did and how this made his father admit that the idols were powerless.
Okay, so we've reached the end of our lesson now, but before we finish, let's just recap some of the key things that we've learned.
So Abram was Abraham's name before he made a covenant with God.
People in Abram's homeland were polytheistic and worshipped many different deities.
But Abram believed in one god and was monotheistic.
Abram's father was an idol maker, and Abram disapproved of this and smashed all of the idols.
So I'd just like to say a huge well done for all of your hard work during our lesson.
It's been a pleasure learning with you.