Religion and circumcision
Religious circumcision is generally performed shortly after birth, during childhood, or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision for religious reasons is most frequently practiced in Judaism and Islam.
Abraham circumcises his own penis - Circumcision of Abraham, from the Bible of Jean de Sy, ca. 1355-1357
"Scène de la circoncision de Jésus", a sculpture in the Cathedral of Chartres.
Ethiopian Orthodox children wearing traditional circumcision costumes
Rembrandt: The Apostle Paul, circa 1657 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
Abraham is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews and God; in Christianity, he is the spiritual progenitor of all believers, whether Jewish or non-Jewish; and in Islam, he is a link in the chain of Islamic prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad.
Abraham Casting out Hagar and Ishmael (1657) by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri
Abraham and the Angels, by Aert de Gelder, c. 1680–85 (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam)
Abraham's Counsel to Sarai, watercolor by James Tissot, c. 1900 (Jewish Museum, New York)
Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, canvas by Dieric Bouts the Elder, c. 1464–1467
