Prophet Abraham by Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: Book Review

Prophet Abraham by Muazzez İlmiye Çığ: Book Review

I have just finished reading my first book of 2026, and I must say, it was a great start to the year. The book is “Prophet Abraham” by the late, expert Sumerologist Muazzez İlmiye Çığ. In this research work, she compiles existing knowledge and legends about Abraham, tracing their origins from ancient Sumerian tablets all the way to the holy books of today.

I had previously read her other seminal work, “The Sumerian Origins of the Quran, the Bible, and the Torah.” Although quite some time has passed since I read that one, I felt a strong pull to begin this new year with the wisdom of “Muazzez Hoca” to refresh my perspective on history.

Reading Çığ’s work is like being a detective in history. It forces you to look at familiar religious narratives through the lens of archaeology. In this blog, I want to share how the cuneiform scripts of the Sumerians might actually be the ancestors of the stories we know about Prophet Abraham today.

However, I must note that the book is not entirely objective. Rather than presenting a neutral historical account, Çığ interprets the archaeological findings through a very specific lens. She is fiercely dedicated to proving the Sumerian influence on monotheism, and at times, this passion overshadows a purely academic neutrality. Readers should approach it as a bold thesis rather than a definitive textbook.

While the book emphasizes Abraham's importance for every religion, the author herself struggles to remain impartial. I was expecting a detailed historical analysis rooted in research. Instead, I found the book heavily saturated with chapters and citations from the Torah (Old Testament) regarding Abraham and other prophets. Surprisingly, the narrative even carries strong "breezes" of Zecharia Sitchin leaning at times towards speculative alternative history rather than strict academic archaeology.

The Theological Disconnect: Monotheism vs. Polytheism

The book’s primary thesis rests on the idea that the holy books (The Torah, The Bible, and The Quran) are essentially derivations of Sumerian tablets. However, this leads to a significant logical contradiction regarding the timeline of faith.

In the Abrahamic tradition, the lineage of prophets starting from Adam and Noah represents a strictly monotheistic message. Historically, the Sumerians appear after these early figures but before the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). Yet, the Sumerian culture was abruptly and vividly polytheistic.

If the holy books were simply "copy-pasted" from Sumerian texts as the author suggests, why do they vehemently reject polytheism?

It feels as though Çığ is attempting to sever the link between the ancient monotheistic tradition (Adam/Noah) and the later Abrahamic faiths by inserting Sumerian writings as the sole origin. To me, finding a similar story in a Sumerian tablet does not prove that a holy book is a fabrication. It simply shows that narratives, like people, travel across geographies and generations.

Conclusion

To sum up, "Prophet Abraham" by Muazzez İlmiye Çığ is a book that provokes thought, but it failed to alter my fundamental convictions.

While I respect the author’s vast knowledge of Sumerian cuneiform, her conclusion that the holy books are essentially Sumerian folklore felt like a forced theory rather than a natural historical progression.

The book attempts to bridge the gap between mythology and theology, but for me, the bridge collapsed under the weight of its own ideological bias. It did not convince me that monotheism is merely a rebranded polytheism. Read it to understand the richness of Sumerian culture, but take its theological claims with a grain of salt.