Abram and the Idol Riot

CHARACTERS: NARRATOR, ABRAM, TERAH (ABRAM'S FATHER)
PROPS: Idols made of papier mache or some such material that can be destroyed. Miniature chisel and hammer for puppet.

The NARRATOR presents him or herself to the audience. The NARRATOR can be any puppet -- one used regularly for shows, or one used just for this tale.

NARRATOR: Come with me, children. We are going to a place that is very far away, and a time that is very long ago. We are going to a land called Mesopotamia, an ancient civilization in a far-off desert. This story takes place in a time before your grandfather's grandfather was born, when Mesopotamia was a great empire, and civilization was just being born. In this land there lived a man named TERAH.

TERAH appears. He is an old man, and he has a chisel and a hammer in his hands.

TERAH: My name is TERAH, and I come from Ur of the Chaldees!

NARRATOR: For some reason, TERAH was very proud of the fact that he came from Ur of the Chaldees. He was also proud of his job, even though it was a strange one.

TERAH: I make idols!

TERAH sets about making idols, pounding his chisel and setting up stone images of strange gods.

NARRATOR: Now, what is an idol, you ask? Well, TERAH lived in a time when people worshipped many gods. There were gods for harvest, and gods for planting. There were gods for war, and there were gods for peace. Each of them had a face, and a body, and a name, and TERAH made statues that looked like these gods, and sold them.

TERAH: Here is a statue of An, who is the god of heaven. And this is a statue of Enlil, who is the god of air. These should fetch a pretty penny.

NARRATOR: In these days, if you wanted something, you had to know which god to ask. And, when you knew, you went to a statue of the god, and gave it gifts. People kept statues of the gods in their back yard, or their living room, or their bedroom. There were statues of gods everywhere, and, if your business was making statues of gods, well ...

TERAH: Business is good.

NARRATOR: But TERAH had a little problem.

ABRAM appears. He is a little boy.

ABRAM: I am Abram!

TERAH: Yes. You are my son Abram. I recognize you. You don't need to say that when you come into the room.

ABRAM: I am from Ur of the Chaldees!

TERAH: Yes, yes. We are both from Ur of the Chaldees. I don't know why you always say that.

ABRAM: You say it.

TERAH: What? I do not.

ABRAM: Yes you do. Every time you come into a room.

TERAH: You are a contrary boy.

ABRAM: What are you doing?

TERAH: I don't want to tell you. You'll just make a fuss.

NARRATOR: Unlike his father, Abram didn't believe in idols. Abram had thought about it, and he had decided that there is only one God.

ABRAM: You know, I've decided there is only one God.

TERAH: Yes. You've also told me that already.

ABRAM: I like to say it. Are you making idols?

TERAH: If I say yes, will you promise not to make a fuss?

ABRAM: Yes.

TERAH: Then, yes, I am making idols.

ABRAM: What are you going to do with them?

TERAH: I'm going to sell them.

ABRAM: And what are the people who buy them going to do?

TERAH: They will petition the idols.

ABRAM: And how do you petition the idols?

TERAH: You bring them gifts. Like money.

ABRAM: Do they spend the money?

TERAH: I guess they must.

ABRAM: What else do you do when you petition an idol?

TERAH: Oh, bring it food. Grapes. Bread. That sort of thing.

ABRAM: And do they eat the grapes and bread?

TERAH: I don't know. I suppose they do. You said you weren't going to make a fuss.

ABRAM: I'm just curious. What idol are you working on there?

TERAH: (Turns to look) That's Ashur, the sky god.

As TERAH looks away, Abram knocks over one of the idols. It smashes. TERAH turns back, alarmed.

TERAH: What was that? Abram? Did you just smash one of the idols?

ABRAM: What if I told you Ashur, the sky god, did it.

TERAH: Ashur? But I was just looking at him.

TERAH turns back to look at the idol. Abram smashes another idol. TERAH turns back, alarmed.

TERAH: What was that?

ABRAM: I think it was Ki, the earth god.

TERAH: But that's a very expensive idol! Why did you smash it?

ABRAM: What if I told you it was Ashur again? I think he's jealous of the other idols.

TERAH: Asher? But I never took my eyes off him.

TERAH turns back to the idol. Abram smashes another. Terah turns back, upset.

TERAH: Tell me that wasn't another idol.

ABRAM: It was another idol.

TERAH: Which one?

ABRAM: Enki, the god of water.

TERAH: One of my favorites. And I suppose you are going to say that it was Ashur who did this.

ABRAM: What if I do?

TERAH: I will have to punish you for lying.

ABRAM: Why? Couldn't it have been Ashur?

TERAH: Of course not.

ABRAM: Why not?

TERAH: Because he's just a statue! I carved him out of stone! He can't do anything!

TERAH claps his hands over his mouth.

TERAH: Whoops!

ABRAM: So Ashur can't get jealous and smash another idol, but he can rule over the skies and the sun?

TERAH: You are a very contrary boy.

NARRATOR: But Terah thought about what the boy had done.

TERAH: You have taught me an important lesson today. These idols are just stone, and they have no power at all. Perhaps we should smash them. Perhaps we should smash them all.

ABRAM: Really?

TERAH: Yes. Let's do it.

They set about smashing all the idols.

NARRATOR: And that's how people stopped worshipping idols, and came to believe that there is only one God. In fact, you already know Abram. He grew up to be Abraham, from the Old Testament. And all of Abraham's children worshipped one God, and all his children's children, and down through the ages, to this day and this place, here and now.