The Good and Evil Serpent (159 page)

263
. S. Muratore has been focusing on the modern advances in cosmology and their impact on theology. See his
L’Evoluzione cosmologica e il problema di Dio
(Rome, 1993).

264
. M. Lurker in
ER
13. 372.

265
. Translated by R. K. Ritner in
Context
1. 32.

266
. See L. Kâkosy, “The Astral Snakes of the Nile,”
MDAI
37 (1981) 255–60. I am grateful to Professor David Aune for this reference.

267
. Keel,
The Symbolism of the Biblical World
, pp. 26–27.

268
. R. S. Hendel, in
DDD
²
745.

269
. See, e.g., E. Hornung,
Idea into Image: Essays on Ancient Egyptian Thought
, trans. E. Bredeck (Princeton, 1992) pp. 49–67.

270
. A. H. Krappe,
La genèse des mythes
(Paris, 1952) p. 18.

271
. See e.g., J. Bailey, K. McLeish, and D. Spearman, eds., “The Rainbow Snake,”
Gods and Men: Myths and Legends from the World’s Religions
(Oxford, New York, 1981) pp. 12–15.

272
. For sources and discussions, see MacCulloch in
ERE
11.408.

273
. LSJM, p. 448; Lane,
An Arabic-English Lexicon
Book I, Part 1 (1863) p. 681; R. Payne Smith,
Thesaurus Syriacus
(Oxford, 1879) vol. 1, col. 1210; Glare,
Oxford Latin Dictionary
(1982, 1988) 1744–45.

274
.
Commentary
on Virgil’s
Georgics
1.205. I am indebted to G. St. Clair for this citation. See his “The Subtle Serpent,”
JTS
7 (1906) 40–50.

275
. Vatican Museum, Rome; for a color photograph, see J. Martin,
Das alte Rom
(Munich, 1994) pp. 390–91.

276
. See U. Holmberg,
Der Baum des Lebens
(Bern, 1996) p. 82, Abb. 34.

277
. Epiphanius,
Pan
. 26.40.

278
. H. Jonas,
Gnosis und spätantiker Geist
(Göttingen, 1934) pp. 221–62. Also see Jonas,
The Gnostic Religion
(Boston, 1963 [rev. ed.]) pp. 91–97.

279
. See the picture in Charlesworth, “Jewish Interest in Astrology During the Hellenistic and Roman Period,”
ANRW
II 20.2 (1987) 926–50.

280
. See Plutarch,
De Iside et Osiride
74; also see A. Dieterich,
Eine Mithraslitur-gie
, p. 71.

281
. See the sculpture in the Capitoline museums; see the picture in
The Capitoline Museums
, p. 58.

282
. My italics; as quoted by Wittkower,
JWI
2 (1938–1939) p. 325.

283
. For this and the preceding quotation respectively see L. E. Stager, “Jerusalem and the Garden of Eden,” pp. 183 and 188–189.

284
. About 1,500 figurines have been found in Jerusalem, dating from the eighth century BCE. Images of a hyena, gazelle, ibex, hippopotamus, sheep, and cow have been discovered. Most images are horses. No snake has been recovered from controlled excavations, according to my knowledge.

285
. See the reflections by J. E. Saraceni and the report from the Archaeological Institute of America in
http://www.archaeology.org/9611/newsbriefs/serpentmound.html
.

286
. British Museum 128887. See E. Strommenger, with photographs by M. Hirmer,
The Art of Mesopotamia
(London, 1964); for a photography see plate 38, and for the discussion p. 388.

287
. Paris, Louvre AO 190. Strommenger and Hirmer,
The Art of Mesopotamia
, see the photograph in Plate 144, and discussion on p. 414.

288
. See esp. Pseudo-Apollodorus,
Library
3.177.

289
. Halliday,
Greek Divination
, p. 87.

290
. Wellhausen,
Prolegomena
(1905 [4th ed.]) p. 313.

291
. J. Ph. Vogel pointed out that “genuine ophiolatry” is still preserved in southern India. See his “Serpent Worship in Ancient and Modern India,”
AcOr
(1924) 279312.

292
. J. Coppens, “La dame-serpent du Sinai,”
ETL
24 (1948) 409–12.

293
. H. Frankfort, “Gods and Myths on Sargonid Seals,”
Iraq
1 (1934) 2–29.

294
. PrJac 8; translated by Charlesworth in
OTP
2.721.

295
. Eusebius,
PG
I.10 (40a); the translation is by Gifford in
Preparation for the Gospel
, p. 46.

296
. Eusebius
PG
40c; ibid.

297
. Consult A. Gardiner, “Sect. I. Amphibious Animals, Reptites, etc.,” in
Egyptian Grammar
(London, 1927, 1964) pp. 475–76.

298
. See A. Erman and H. Grapow, eds.,
Wörterbuch der Aegyptischen Sprache
(Leipzig, 1926) vol. 1, p. 576. Also see esp. S. Schoske and D. Wildung, “112 Nechbet” in
Gott und Götter im alten Ägypten
(Mainz am Rhein, 1992) p. 165.

299
. See, in addition to the many works already cited, P. F. Houlihan, “Serpents, Scorpions, and Scarabs,”
The Animal World of the Pharaohs
(London, 1996) pp. 16894; esp. the picture on p. 170.

300
. See the large depictions of Zeus with the body of a serpent in Cook,
Zeus, God of the Bright Sky
, vol. 1, p. 359.

301
. For the Greek and English see H. W. Attridge and R. A. Oden,
Philo of Byblos: The Phoenician History
(Washington, D.C., 1981) pp. 66–67.

302
. Eusebius,
PG
1.10.49.

303
. E. Amiet, “Glyptique elamite ä propos de documents nouveaux,”
Arts Asiatiques
26 (1973).

304
. See Ridgway, “The Plataian Tripod and the Serpent Columns,” and R. D. Barnett, “The Serpent-Headed Tripod Base,”
ErIsr
19 (1987).

305
. See the similar insights of M.-L.Henry in “Schlange,”
BHH
(1966) vol. 3, cols. 1699–1701; esp. see col. 1701.

306
. See Buchhotz,
UF
32 (2000) 81.

307
.
ERE
11.399.

308
. See Küster’s collection of ancient sources and reflections on “die Schlange als Seelentier” in his
Die Schlange in der griechischen Kunst und Religion
, p. 64.

309
. W. Burkert,
Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical
, trans. J. Raffan (Oxford, 1985) p. 195.

310
. Plutarch,
Cleomenes
39; Ovid,
Metam
. 15.389; Pliny,
Nat
. 10.84 [64].

311
. For a color photograph of Hydra from a Greek urn from the sixth century BCE, see J. Boardman et al.,
Die Griechische Kunst
(Munich, 1992) Plate 13. The book is full of images of serpents. For an appreciably different understanding of Hydra’s appearance, see the catacomb on the Via Latina, Rome; for a photograph, see J. Gray,
Near Eastern Mythology
(London, New York, 1969) p. 11.

312
. Küster,
Die Schlange in der griechischen Kunst und Religion
, pp. 85–100.

313
. For the Greek and English translation, see W. Scott,
Hermitica
(Oxford, 1924) vol. 1, pp. 504–7.

314
. According to Sozomen, two serpents can be seen below ground in Palestine beside two coffins
(EcclesiasticalHistory
9.17).

315
. See also Halliday,
Greek Divination
, pp. 84–85.

316
. See E. Porada,
Man and Images in the Ancient Near East
(Wakefield, R.I., London, 1995) pp. 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, and 63. For the Coffin Texts, see Clark,
Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt
, p. 51.

317
. A. Niwinski, “The 21st Dynasty Religious Iconography Project Exemplified by the Scene with Three Deities Standing on a Serpent,”
Akten des Vierten Internationalen Ägyptologen Kongresses München 1985
, ed. S. Schoske (Hamburg, 1989) pp. 305–14.

318
. Egli,
Das Schlangensymbol
, pp. 72–118.

319
. S. N. Kramer, ed.,
Mythologies of the Ancient World
(Garden City, N.Y., 1961) p. 30.

320
. I am indebted here to many specialists, esp. Kramer,
Mythologies of the Ancient World
, p. 150.

321
. Corn was not known to the Egyptians. It was introduced into Western culture by the Native Americans. In British English, “corn” means “wheat” or “grain.”

322
. M. Lurker,
The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt
(London, 1980) p. 108.

323
. See esp. K. Sethe,
Amun und die Acht Urgötter von Hermopolis
(Berlin, 1929) p. 26.

324
. Evans,
The Palace of Minos
, vol. 1, 3, p. 500.

325
. A. Golan,
Myth and Symbol
, p. 106.

326
. Küster,
Die Schlange in der griechischen Kunst und Religion
, p. 62.

327
. When fishing with my son on the Potomac River, I saw a large water snake swim past our boat and crawl up onto land. After sunning itself on a branch, it moved through the grass. The other fishermen nearby were excited because they assumed it was a moccasin.

328
. Consult S. W. Greaves, “Wordplay and Associative Magic in the Ugaritic Snake-bite Incantation RS 24.244,”
UF
26 (1994) 165–67.

329
.
ERE
11.400.

330
. See the picture in H. Koester,
History, Culture, and Religion of the Hellenistic Age
(New York, Berlin, 1982) p. 204.

331
. Halliday,
Greek Divination
, p. 86.

332
. F. Majdalawi, ed.,
The Noble Qur’an
, p. 368.

333
. See the new insights from herpetologists in Angier’s “Venomous and Sublime: The Viper Tells Its Tale,”
New York Times
10 December 2002.

334
. See especially Johnson,
Lady
, p. 122.

335
. Keimer,
Histoires de serpents dans l’Egypte ancienne et moderne
, pp. 26–36.

336
. See J. Cooper’s brief note in
Revue dAssyriologie et d’Archéologie Orientale
4 (1898) 94.

337
. Lichtheim in
Context
1.83–84.

338
. Fragment 1.25. For the Greek, see F. Jacoby,
Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker
(Leiden, 1958) third part, p. 371.

339
. For the translation, see E. R. Hodges,
Cory’s Ancient Fragments
(London, 1876) p. 58.

340
. H. Leisegang, “Das Mysterium der Schlange,” in
Eranos-Jahrbuch 1939
, pp. 151–252.

341
. Halliday,
Greek Divination
, p. 84.

342
. Note: the owl-eyed symbols for Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who is shown with snakes; cf. II.4.

343
.
TDNT
5 (1967) 567.

344
. I wish to note that the serpent does not appear in the Song of Solomon and the eyes mentioned are “dove’s eyes” (1:15, 4:1, 5:12). In 7:4 we find a comparison between the lover’s eyes and “the pools in Heshbon.”

345
. See Lane,
Arabic-English Lexicon
, Book I, Part 1 (1863) p. 681.

346
. See
http://www.nvva.nl/swertz
, though the name Cobra does not appear.

347
. On the Ophites, see Appendix IV and Chapter 7.

348
. See Philo,
Leg
. 2.71–74. For the Greek and English translation, see F. H. Colson and G. H. Whitaker,
Philo
(LCL; Cambridge, Mass., London, 1991) vol. 1, pp. 268–69. Also see P. Cazier, “Du serpent et de l’arbre de la connaissance: Lectures patristiques (Philon, Grégoire de Nysse, Jean Chrysostome, Augustin),”
Graphe
4 (1995) 73–103; esp. pp. 84–87.

349
.
ApMos
16–17; trans. M. D. Johnson in
OTP
2.277–78.

350
. See J. Tabick, “The Snake in the Grass: The Problems of Interpreting a Symbol in the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic Writings,”
Religion
16 (1986) 155–67.

351
. Le Grande Davies, “Serpent Imagery in Ancient Israel: The Relationship Between the Literature and the Physical Remains” (PhD diss., Utah, 1986) p. 31.

352
. Ibid. pp. 25–26.

353
. L. H. Silberman, “Paul’s Viper,”
Foundations and Facets Forum
8 (1992) 24753; the quotation is on p. 252. Silberman was commenting on Acts 28:3–6.

354
. See P. Grimal,
Dictionnaire de la mythologie grecque et romaine
(Paris, 1963 [3rd ed.]) p. 80.

355
.
The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols
(London, New York, 1996) p. 851.

356
. The Hebrew is from A. Z. Steinberg et al., eds.,
Midrash Rabbah: Sepher Br’shyt
(Jerusalem, 1984) vol. 1, p.
qmw
.

357
. H. Freedman, trans.,
Midrash Rabbah
(London, 1951) p. 76. Also, see the collection of snake stories chosen to prove that even snakes are included in God’s creation and carry out God’s purpose.

358
. I am grateful to Chevalier and Gheerbrant for this citation; see their
The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols
, p. 857.

359
.
ERE
11.399.

360
. Also see M. Ullmann, ed.,
Das Schlangenbuch des Hermes Trismegistos
(Wiesbaden, 1994).