Thirteen years later, when Abram was 99 years of age, God declared Abram's new name: "Abraham" – "a father of many nations". Abraham then received the instructions for the covenant of the pieces, of which circumcision was to be the sign. Abraham circumcises himself, and this act symbolizes the covenant between God and all his descendants. Under this covenant, God promises to make Abraham the father of a great nation, and to give his descendants the land that later becomes Israel. This is the basis for male circumcision in the Jewish faith.