M
Mr.Ex_Nihilo
Guest
If we’re going to look at the cultures around the Israelites then we have to look no further than the Canaanites to see some images of how the surrounding cultures conceived of snakes – because Israel’s neighbors did associate the serpent (snake) with an Earth Mother (and the snake played a beneficial role in fertility cults). In Israel, a bronze snake, dated from the 15th Century BC has been found at Gezer, demonstrating that the ancient Canaanites worshipped snakes. An iron serpent from the Israelite period was found by archaeologists in the Ayalon Valley, suggesting another snake cult.
In ancient Egypt, RE was primary among the god-head and was identified by the snake. The Pharoah are frequently represented with this snake on their crown. For a long time the Egyptian cobra, Naja Haje, has been the stock-and-trade for the conjurer and side-show snake charmers. Cobras are well known for their ability to expand their upper neck into a disc shape by spreading its ribs. The cobra, then, symbolized immortality and was regarded as a protected deity, being frequently illustrated on ancient Egyptian monuments.
In Hindu mythology, the Nagas/Nagis were a race of serpents whose purpose was to populate the underworld, Patalas. They were the 1000 offspring of the sage, Kasyapa, and Kadru, the daughter of Daksha. They are associated with weather (especially rain) & pictures of them are worshipped during times of drought. The Nagas are only malevolent to humans when they have been mistreated, and while their venom is deadly, they also carry the elixir of life and immortality. One story mentions that when the gods were rationing out the elixir of immortality, the Nagas grabbed a cup. The gods were able to retrieve the cup, but in doing so, spilled a few drops on the ground. The Nagas quickly licked up the drops, but in doing so, cut their tongues on the grass, & since then their tongues have been forked. Sesha, whose name meaning “eternal”, is the world serpent who provides the bed for Vishnu as his heads give Vishnu shade.
A well-known Theravada sutra turning around the device of Buddha’s giving advice to Rahula his son, is called the Chapter of the Snake [Uragavagga] It is the first chapter of the Sutta-Nipata [Collection of Discourses]. Its title comes from the name of the first section, Uraga Sutta [On the Snake’s Skin] that is about the monk who discards all human passions and is then compared to a snake that has shed its skin. It is also interesting to note that Nagarjuna, in his teaching on the Prajnaparamita, refers to the dehumanizing effects of poverty. He reminds us of the three friends that lived happily together in a pool – a snake, a turtle and a frog. It is interesting to note that the snake had been Devadatta, the Buddha’s nemesis, in a former lifetime.
Coming back to the Israelites, we see that serpents (or snakes), such as the Egyptian Cobra, were also thought by many people to represent evil or Satan. The basis of the Zoroastrian purity laws, for example, is the battle between good and evil. Among living things of the good creation, it was wrong to kill any immature animal or plant, no sapling, lamb or calf may be killed. Nor might they be maltreated. A dog is clean except, of course, when dead. Any sacrificial animal remains pure once sanctified. But any animal deemed to be of the evil creation had to be killed, and magi carried a stick with a leather loop for catching and killing flies, scorpions and especially snakes.
Vendidad 18.61-62 actually addresses prostitution and declares that, because she grieves Ahuramazda most, the courtesan has less right to live than a snake. More specifically, Azi Dahaka (the ‘fiendish snake’) is conceived of as partly demonic and partly human. He was probably originally the ‘snake’ of the storm-cloud who was a counterpart of the Vedic Ahi or Vrita. In the Yasht, he is described as struggling for the Hvareno, or Kingly Glory, against Atar (Fire). In the Shah Namah, he appears as a man with two snakes springing from his shoulders. These snakes were have said to have grown from a kiss bestowed by Ahriman. At the renovation, Azi Dahaka will be put in chains on Mount Demavand; but in the end, he will break loose from the bonds and return to disturb creation.
It seems unfair to overlook the context from which Judaism emerged from in order to read the Scriptural accounts of the snake as being only a “talking snake”. In fact, I think it’s basically impossible to divorce the earliest parts of the Genesis account from the cultures that the Israelites emerged from – especially when many religions which pre-dated Judaism either venerated the snake as a sign of divine wisdom or else a source of demonic inspiration (with some religions actually concluding that snakes were demons in disguise well before Judaism emerged from their own culture).
In ancient Egypt, RE was primary among the god-head and was identified by the snake. The Pharoah are frequently represented with this snake on their crown. For a long time the Egyptian cobra, Naja Haje, has been the stock-and-trade for the conjurer and side-show snake charmers. Cobras are well known for their ability to expand their upper neck into a disc shape by spreading its ribs. The cobra, then, symbolized immortality and was regarded as a protected deity, being frequently illustrated on ancient Egyptian monuments.
In Hindu mythology, the Nagas/Nagis were a race of serpents whose purpose was to populate the underworld, Patalas. They were the 1000 offspring of the sage, Kasyapa, and Kadru, the daughter of Daksha. They are associated with weather (especially rain) & pictures of them are worshipped during times of drought. The Nagas are only malevolent to humans when they have been mistreated, and while their venom is deadly, they also carry the elixir of life and immortality. One story mentions that when the gods were rationing out the elixir of immortality, the Nagas grabbed a cup. The gods were able to retrieve the cup, but in doing so, spilled a few drops on the ground. The Nagas quickly licked up the drops, but in doing so, cut their tongues on the grass, & since then their tongues have been forked. Sesha, whose name meaning “eternal”, is the world serpent who provides the bed for Vishnu as his heads give Vishnu shade.
A well-known Theravada sutra turning around the device of Buddha’s giving advice to Rahula his son, is called the Chapter of the Snake [Uragavagga] It is the first chapter of the Sutta-Nipata [Collection of Discourses]. Its title comes from the name of the first section, Uraga Sutta [On the Snake’s Skin] that is about the monk who discards all human passions and is then compared to a snake that has shed its skin. It is also interesting to note that Nagarjuna, in his teaching on the Prajnaparamita, refers to the dehumanizing effects of poverty. He reminds us of the three friends that lived happily together in a pool – a snake, a turtle and a frog. It is interesting to note that the snake had been Devadatta, the Buddha’s nemesis, in a former lifetime.
Coming back to the Israelites, we see that serpents (or snakes), such as the Egyptian Cobra, were also thought by many people to represent evil or Satan. The basis of the Zoroastrian purity laws, for example, is the battle between good and evil. Among living things of the good creation, it was wrong to kill any immature animal or plant, no sapling, lamb or calf may be killed. Nor might they be maltreated. A dog is clean except, of course, when dead. Any sacrificial animal remains pure once sanctified. But any animal deemed to be of the evil creation had to be killed, and magi carried a stick with a leather loop for catching and killing flies, scorpions and especially snakes.
Vendidad 18.61-62 actually addresses prostitution and declares that, because she grieves Ahuramazda most, the courtesan has less right to live than a snake. More specifically, Azi Dahaka (the ‘fiendish snake’) is conceived of as partly demonic and partly human. He was probably originally the ‘snake’ of the storm-cloud who was a counterpart of the Vedic Ahi or Vrita. In the Yasht, he is described as struggling for the Hvareno, or Kingly Glory, against Atar (Fire). In the Shah Namah, he appears as a man with two snakes springing from his shoulders. These snakes were have said to have grown from a kiss bestowed by Ahriman. At the renovation, Azi Dahaka will be put in chains on Mount Demavand; but in the end, he will break loose from the bonds and return to disturb creation.
It seems unfair to overlook the context from which Judaism emerged from in order to read the Scriptural accounts of the snake as being only a “talking snake”. In fact, I think it’s basically impossible to divorce the earliest parts of the Genesis account from the cultures that the Israelites emerged from – especially when many religions which pre-dated Judaism either venerated the snake as a sign of divine wisdom or else a source of demonic inspiration (with some religions actually concluding that snakes were demons in disguise well before Judaism emerged from their own culture).
Can you please clarify Semper Fi? thx.