Abrahamic Holy Books: Exhibit French National Library

The French National Library has a terrific online exhibition about the three holy books of the Abrahamic religions–the Torah, the Bible, and the Koran. It’s called “Books of  the Word: Torah, Koran, Bible.” It opened in 2006 but continues online.

The exhibit is well organized and very colorful with tabs for each of the three holy books. Two other tabs, one called “open books” and the other called “representations”  analyzes the relationship between the three books. We learn, for example, that “these books place words in the mouth of God,” “blend intimately accounts of reality and a symbolic approach,” and that “they were often rewritten, copied and interpreted.”

The representation tab shows how the holy books are represented in art. In Islam for example, the prohibition against representation led to the “development of calligraphy and to ornamentation based on geometry and the arabesque.” Christianity never prohibited representation “because the Word became flesh.”

The site works well for students. Limited text and terrific images make the site ideal for a webquest.