The Good and Evil Serpent (21 page)

Figure 24
.
Left
. The Mask of Tutankhamen, Showing the Uraeus. JHC Collection

Figure 25
.
Right
. Raised Serpent, Similar to the Egyptian Uraeus. Probably Roman Period. Provenance unknown, but perhaps Judaea. JHC Collection

Most impressively, each massive Agathadaimon on the sides of the entrance to the burial chamber holds a caduceus of Hermes Psychopompos (the god who leads the dead into the next world). Above each large serpent is a Medusa with snakes in her hair.
¹⁸³
Here in one scene we have a collage of serpent imagery, and one point is central: the serpent is chthonic and symbolizes immortality.

Some comment should be focused on Cleopatra
VII’S
association with the snake. Cleopatra usually appears in art and lore with an asp biting or about to bite her breast.
¹⁸⁴
Probably under the influence of Simonetta Vespuccis’ Cleopatra, Michelangelo drew a Cleopatra who is virtually encircled by a large snake that bites her right breast.
¹⁸⁵
Such well-known art helps explain why this Egyptian queen is celebrated for taking her own life by letting an asp bite her.
¹⁸⁶
While there is abundant evidence for this belief, it is less fact and more myth. As Dio Cassius stated in his
Roman History
(second or third cent.): “No one knew for sure how she died. They only found small pricks on her arm. Some said she brought an asp to her.”
¹⁸⁷

The myth has created history. Note this unreliable report by the Roman historian Suetonius in his
The Twelve Caesars:
“Antony sued for peace, but Augustus forced him to commit suicide—and inspected the corpse. He was so anxious to save Cleopatra as an ornament for his triumph that he actually summoned Psyllian snake-charmers to suck the poison from her self-inflicted wound, supposedly the bite of an asp.”
¹⁸⁸
As would be expected for a Roman who was politically one of the friends of the emperor
(amici principis)
, Suetonius is lauding Augustus, who forced Antony to commit suicide, and defaming Cleopatra, whom Augustus was “anxious to save.” As A. Wallace-Hadrill indicated, Suetonius belonged to the equestrian rank and served the emperor, and his report reflects “the views of the courts” at which he served.
¹⁸⁹
Such self-serving tendencies are transparent and reveal the fact that objective history was not the only goal for Suetonius’ writing. What interests us is the anguine symbology: Cleopatra and the asp.

Figure 26
. Ceramic Ophidian Object under Egyptian Influence or Maybe Egyptian. Date and provenance unknown. JHC Collection

An asp’s bite could be extremely painful, and a pin dipped with poison may have sufficed. The bite of an asp, however, provides a myth that explains how the famous queen was introduced to immortality. It is this symbolical meaning that is in focus: the asp is the purveyor of immortality. Unfortunately, many busts and sculptures of Aphrodite were altered by restorers who added a snake to make the figure the famous queen of Egypt, so one has to dismiss these as fabrications based on myth.
¹⁹⁰
So powerful were the legends of Cleopatra’s death that history blends with myth and makes her almost indistinguishable from Dido, an earlier African (Carthaginian) queen whose suicide is recounted in Virgil’s
Aeneid
.

Long before her death at thirty-nine, Cleopatra was associated with serpent symbolism. A first-century
BCE
blue glass intaglio shows her portrait with a triple uraeus as headdress. The snakes are crowned with sun discs.
¹⁹¹
The royal bearing, hairstyle, diadem, and especially the serpents clarify that this woman is Cleopatra. For most people, myth is more attractive than history, as we have been seeing; thus, Cleopatra will continue to be portrayed with an asp about to bite her naked breast. The imagery, as is now evident to the reader, is both ancient and primordially psychic. The asp in the Cleopatra saga represents not only immortality but also mortality; we are again confronted, as we saw in the introduction, by the double entendre of anguine iconography. The venom produces the anti-venom. We shall see, in a subsequent chapter, how all this plays out in the study of Numbers 21 and John 3.

Figure 27
. Serpent with Two Legs. “Papyrus.” Egyptian. Late Dynastic Period-Ptolemaic Period. H: 12.4 cm. L: 76.3 cm. Courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum of Art 47.218.136.

The ceramic ophidian object, shown in
Fig. 26
, is clearly under Egyptian influence and may be Egyptian. It was purchased from an antiquities dealer in Jerusalem
¹⁹²
who brought artifacts from Egypt to Israel. The object’s date and provenance are unknown. It is perhaps three thousand years old. The serpent appears with a bovine figure, and the piece is rather crudely fashioned. What is the symbolic meaning of this piece? It is introduced now for discussion.

Sometimes biblical and classical scholars assume that the serpent does not have legs and so some literary descriptions of fantastic animals with legs cannot be a serpent. The classical example occurs in the exegesis of Isaiah 6. Each of the Seraphim covers “his legs” (I’tOI) with wings (Isa 6:2).

We should not doubt that the Seraphim are serpents. We have seen that fossil snakes have legs. We have also perceived that modern snakes often have truncated legs. Now, it should be clarified that in antiquity snakes are often depicted with legs. In some serpent iconography and literature a serpent has five feet.
¹⁹³

One of the most stunning examples is found in a papyrus now preserved in the Brooklyn Museum. The artist depicted a serpent with two strong legs with feet and two hands. Serpents clearly were assumed to have had legs in antiquity. As we shall see, the serpent according to the Genesis myth probably had feet and could walk. Otherwise God’s curse that he will henceforth be condemned to crawl on his belly makes no sense. In legends and iconographically, the serpent tends to regain its legs sometime in the Middle Ages.
¹⁹⁴
Yet, most people—and scholars—presuppose today that the serpent is, and has always, been without legs or feet.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM CRETE: OPHIDIAN OBJECTS AND THE MINOAN SERPENT “GODDESSES”

Serpent iconography and symbology appear on Crete. One impressive example is the burnished terra-cotta snake goddess recovered from Kato Chorio, which is near Ierapetra.
¹⁹⁵
This Neolithic (6500–3500
BCE
) symbol depicts a woman seated, with her lower torso that of a snake (we announce the discovery of a ceramic Isis with an anguine body when we discuss the Greek and Roman data). Numerous jugs and vessels from Minoan culture bear serpents.
¹⁹⁶
A jug with two serpents on it was found on Cyprus in Dhenia. The serpents are not clearly depicted; there is no head or tail. Twelve circles with white paint indicate the animal’s scales. Other objects in the Pierides Museum display snakes and snake motifs.

Since this serpent vessel was recovered from a cultic area and a temple, it clearly had religious significance. What did the devotees of the serpent cult imagine the creature to symbolize? One may imagine that they assumed it was a god or had divine features, providing protection and a good life. Perhaps it was celebrated to assure the fertility of the earth, especially the gardens that were plentiful on Crete.
¹⁹⁷

As the reader might expect, we now come to the famous “serpent goddesses” of Crete.
¹⁹⁸
Fragments of at least five faience serpent goddesses (if they are not cultic priestesses) can be seen in the Herakleion Archaeological Museum.
¹⁹⁹
Two have been considerably restored and are the most famous ophidian realia from ancient Crete. One is a mother figure, and the other may be her daughter. They can be seen on public display in the Archaeological Museum in Herakleion.

The serpent goddesses date from the New Temple Period (1700–1400)
²⁰⁰
or about 1600
BCE
. This period is the pinnacle in Minoan art; the finest frescoes and elegant buildings are contemporaneous with these faience treasures.

The tall goddess with the serpent on top has two serpents that curl down each arm and are held by the goddess in her hands (No. 63 on Crete). The mouths of the snakes are turned outward. The serpent on the right arm has markings for the mouth and eyes. A serpent is laced around each breast. A bodice, or girdle, rises from the hips to the bottom of the breasts. A leather thong pulls the bodice tight, lifting the breasts and making the waist small. The breasts are exposed with pointed nipples. The interest of the artist is on the torso, which is better crafted and detailed.

Figure 28
. Two Serpent “Goddesses” from Knossos. Circa 1600 BCE. JHC Collection from professional replicas

On the back of the goddess, the hair hangs straight down and rests on her back, just below the shoulder; it is cut horizontally. The garment hangs on her shoulders, leaving the back as exposed as the front. The serpents on the arms continue to just below the lower buttock on the back. The leather strap spirals from the bodice to the back and was probably attached behind the neck and under the carefully cut hair.

She stands erect with her head titled slightly forward, balanced over her legs, which are of no interest to the artist, since he hides them behind her skirt. She looks forward and downward at about a 55-degree angle. Her eyes are wide open, her ears large, and a gentle smile graces the face. The breasts now are slightly whiter than the rest of the statuette.

The large lower garment flows downward to form a strong base similar to a pyramid. One receives a feeling of strength, firmness, and being well grounded. The light horizontal lines on the skirt modify the otherwise too forceful downward movement of the head, gaze, and slanting arms. The overall effect is a sense of grace, beauty, charm, nourishment, comfort, a mild sensual efficaciousness, and awesome femininity. The symbolic force evokes feelings of motherhood, life, and sexual energy.

The smaller goddess, or younger woman, is perhaps in her twenties (No. 65 on Crete). Her youthful face is not nearly as attractive as the older woman’s. The gentle smile of the older woman is gone in place of a mouth, with full lips, that suggests some concern. This may add to the wonder or fear instilled in the viewer, who is immediately drawn to the uplifted serpents. These are held high with arms outstretched.