The Good and Evil Serpent (146 page)

122
. Oren, ibid., Fig. 51:9; see the description on p. 97. For a photograph of Tomb 27, see Plate 2:3 (the plates are not numbered and no page numbers are provided).

123
. Oren, ibid., Fig. 51:25; see the description on p. 127, no. 17. For a photograph of the tomb see Plate 3:1 (see preceding note).

124
. Rowe wrote, “our excavations have shown that the site was the centre of a serpent cult in Palestine.” Rowe,
Topography and History of Beth-shan
, p. 1, n.5.

125
. N. H. Snaith, ed.,
Leviticus and Numbers
(London and Edinburgh, 1967) p. 279.

126
. See Rowe,
The Four Canaanite Temples at Beth-shan
, Part I, p. 45.

127
. See the similar comments by G. M. Fitzgerald in D. W. Thomas, ed.,
Archaeology and Old Testament Study
(Oxford, 1967) p. 196.

128
. See the photograph in Charlesworth,
Millennium Guide
, p. 79.

129
. A good popular synthesis, with color photographs, is found in J. C. H. Laugh-lin, “The Remarkable Discoveries at Tel Dan,”
BAR
7 (1981) 20–37.

130
. A. Biran,
Biblical Dan
(Jerusalem, 1994) p. 165; see the photograph of the “snake” pithos
in situ
in Fig. 125, and assembled in Fig. 126, and the drawing in Fig. 128.

131
. Biran, “Dan,”
NEAEHL
1.323–32; see esp. pp. 327–29.

132
. Biran,
Biblical Dan
, p. 165.

133
. Recall the Phoenician silver bowl from Palestrina in Italy. It shows a large serpent surrounding and on the circumference of a scene. The serpent is like Ouroboros. See the drawing in R. D. Barnett, “Ezekiel and Tyre,”
Eretz-Israel [Albright Volume]
9 (1969) 6–13; p. 12, Fig. 1.

134
. See the photograph of one in Biran,
NEAEHL
1.327, and the photographs of another in Biran,
Biblical Dan
, Fig. 126. For a drawing of two of them, see ibid., Fig. 128.

135
. Biran,
Biblical Dan
, p. 153.

136
. See the drawing in Fig. 79 and the photography on Plate 30 in C.F.-A. Schaeffer,
Ugaritica II
.

137
. I have checked all of the following books: C. Warren,
The Recovery of Jerusalem
(London, 1871); F. J. Bliss and A. C. Dickie,
Excavations at Jerusalem, 18941897
(London, 1889); S. Merrill,
Ancient Jerusalem
(New York, London, 1908); G. Dalman,
Jerusalem und sein Gelände
(Gütersloh, 1930); J. Simons,
Jerusalem in the Old Testament
(Leiden, 1952); P. L.-H. Vincent and P. M.-A. Steve,
Jérusalem de l’Ancien Testament
, 2 vols. (Paris, 1954); K. M. Kenyon,
Digging Up Jerusalem
(London, 1974); B. Mazar, G. Cornfeld, and D. N. Freedman,
The Mountain of the Lord
(Garden City, N.Y., 1975); W. H. Mare,
The Archaeology of the Jerusalem Area
(Grand Rapids, 1987); H. Geva, ed.,
Ancient Jerusalem Revealed
(Jerusalem, 1994); F. E. Peters,
Jerusalem
(Princeton, 1997).

138
. Vincent’s words, “serait pour le moment prématurée,” concerned the Jebusite city and not serpent symbolism. See Vincent,
Jérusalem: Recherches de topographie, d’archéologie et d’histoire
(Paris, 1912) vol. 1, p. 161.

139
. Mazar, Cornfeld, and Freedman,
The Mountain of the Lord
, p. 159.

140
. In Hebrew, the Serpents’ Pool was most likely
, but the Aramaic is not so clear. See G. Dalman,
Jerusalem und sein Gelände
(Gütersloh, 1930) p. 201.

141
. C. Schick, “Recent Discoveries at the ‘Nicophorieh,’ “
Palestine Exploration Fund: Quarterly Statement
(1892) 115–19 (he announces the discovery of Herod’s Monument); and Schick, “Birket es Sultan, Jerusalem,”
PEFQS
(1898) 224–29 (Nehe-miah’s Dragon Well was at Birket es Sultan and the latter is Josephus’ Pool of the Serpents). Also see Schick, “The Dragon Well,”
PEFQS
(1898) 230–32 (the Dragon Pool of Nehemiah is not the Birket Mamilla but its lower pool, the Birket es Sultan).

142
. D. Bahat,
The Illustrated Atlas of Jerusalem
(Jerusalem, 1996) pp. 35, 38, 39, and esp. p. 49.

143
. E. Netzer and S. Ben Arieh, “Opus Reticulatum Building in Jerusalem,”
IEJ
33 (1983) 163–71; also see E. Netzer, “Herod’s Family Tomb in Jerusalem,”
BAR
9 (1983) 52–59.

144
. M. Broshi, “The Serpents’ Pool and Herod’s Monument—A Reconsideration,”
MAARAV
8 (1992) 213–22.

145
. D. Bahat, “The Hasmonean Aqueduct Near the Temple Mount,”
Ariel
57–58 (1988) 132–42 (in Hebrew).

146
. G. Bresc-Bautier,
Le Cartulaire du chapitre du Saint-Sépulcre de Jérusalem
(Documents relatifs à l’histoire des croisades 15; Paris, 1984) 314–15. I am grateful to Broshi for this reference.

147
. For a drawing of the monument, in a reconstructed state, see Bahat,
The Illustrated Atlas of Jerusalem
, p. 50.

148
. I am grateful to Broshi for discussing the Pool of the Serpents with me.

149
. For succinct accounts, see T. Dothan and S. Gitin, “Miqne, Tel (Ekron),”
NEAEHL
3.1051–59; T. Dothan and S. Gitin, “Miqne, Tel,”
OEANE
4.30–35.

150
. I express appreciation to Noel Freedman for conversations on this point.

151
. S. Gitin, T. Dothan, and J. Naveh, “A Royal Dedication Inscription from Tel Miqneh/Ekron,”
Qadmoniot
3 (1997) 38–43 (in Hebrew).

152
. For a photograph of the altar, in its reconstructed stage but without the serpent image visible, see Z. Herzog, “Tel Beersheba,”
NEAEHL
1.167–73; see photograph on p. 171. No comment is made in this article about ophidian iconography.

153
. Z. Herzog, “Beersheba,”
OEANE
1.287–91; Herzog discusses the horned altar at length but does not mention a serpent (p. 290).

154
. Pritchard,
ANEP
, p. 107.

155
. For photographs of the horned altar with the engraved ophidian iconography, see Y. Aharoni, “The Horned Altar of Beer-sheba,”
Biblical Archaeologist
37.1 (1974) 2–6, Fig. 2 (a good close-up) and H. Shanks, “Horned Altar for Sacrifice Unearthed at Beer-Sheva,”
BAR
1.1. (1975) 1, 8–9, 15; see p. 8 (a photograph of the altar reassembled). For a photograph of the altar in secondary use in a wall of a storehouse, see Aharoni, Fig. 3. It is clear that the serpent image is to be dated to the time of the construction of the altar and not to some decoration applied later in the storehouse. I cannot see the image of the serpent in the walls of the house; perhaps the image was turned inward from the eyes of those working in the storehouse.

156
. Aharoni, “The Horned Altar of Beer-sheba,” 4.

157
. Keel,
Das Recht der Bilder
, p. 198.

158
. Aharoni, “The Horned Altar of Beer-sheba,” 6.

159
. See A. Kloner,
Mareshah
(Jerusalem, 1996 [in Hebrew]); the centerfold has the photograph.

160
. See the photograph in
EAA
5 (1965) 674.

161
. See O. Bar-Yosef, “Carmel Caves,”
OEANE
1.424–28. See E. C. M. Van den Brink, “An Index to Chalcolithic Mortuary Caves in Israel,”
IE]
48 (1998) 164–73.

162
. Tacitus,
Histories
2.78. An inscription found on Mount Carmel proves that there was a cult of Zeus Heliopolitanus there.

163
. See “Venere di Milo,”
EDAA, Supplemento
, 1970, pp. 895–98.

164
. Aphrodite appeared clothed in a clinging gown on the Parthenon; see L. Kreuz,
Begegnungen mit Aphrodite: Eine psychologische Studie zur Genetik des Schönen
(Stuttgart, 1966); see esp. the photographs of Aphrodite and Peitho (p. 259) and also of Aphrodite and Eros (p. 260) who were on the Parthenon. Aphrodite is shown in a clinging gown with right breast exposed on a statue in the Louvre (see p. 270).

165
. See the photographs in L. Kreuz,
Begegnungen mit Aphrodite
, p. 275. In this statue Aphrodite has her weight on her right foot, and her right hand is shown above her privates. For other depictions of Aphrodite nude, see Aphrodite Crouching (p. 296), Aphrodite Bathing and in a Crouch (p. 297), Aphrodite of Kyrene (p. 301), and Aphrodite of Delos (p. 302). The depiction of Aphrodite with a garment only over her lower body, that is, Venus de Milo, is shown in the photograph on p. 299. Nike of Samothrace is shown in a full flowing garment (see p. 308).

166
. Iliffe, “A Nude Terra-cotta Statuette of Aphrodite,”
The Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine
3 (1934) 106.

167
. We cannot be certain of the dates of Praxiteles’ life. For a learned discussion, see R. Stupperich, “Praxiteles,” in
Grosse Gestalten der Griechischen Antike
(Munich, 1999) pp. 287–95.

168
. I. Pomerantz, ed.,
Highlights of Archaeology: The Israel Museum,]erusalem
(Jerusalem, 1984) p. 94; also see the color photograph on p. 95. A beautiful color photograph is also found in Avi-Yonah and Yadin, eds.,
6000 Years of Art in the Holy Land
, p. 180. I am grateful to the Israel Museum for permission to publish the present photograph.

169
. J. H. Iliffe, “A Nude Terra-cotta Statuette of Aphrodite,” pp. 106–11, with Plates 32 and 33 (the photographs show the many joins of the fragments).

170
. P. Diel,
Symbolism in Greek Mythology: Human Desire and Its Transformations
(Boulder, London, 1980); Diel,
Symbolism in the Bible: The Universality of Symbolic Language and Its Psychological Significance
, trans. N. Marans (San Francisco, 1986).

171
. Long ago W. F. Albright rightly warned against such anachronistic interpretations. See his “The Bronze Age,’ II of the Excavations of Tell Beit Mirsim,”
Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research
17 (1936–37) 43.

172
. See esp. E. Ghazal,
Schlangenkult und Tempelliebe: Sakrale Erotik in archaischen Gesellschaften
(Berlin, 1995). The illustrations are enlightening.

173
. The Carmel Aphrodite is also similar to the Aphrodite with Eros found in Egypt and dated to the first century BCE or first century CE. See the color photograph in J. M. Eisenberg,
Art of the Ancient World
(New York, 1985) vol. 4, p. 100, no. 282 (cf. the Roman Aphrodite in no. 281—but neither of these bronze statuettes is accompanied by serpents).

174
. See N. Asgari et al.,
The Anatolian Civilisations II
(Istanbul, 1983) B187 (color photograph), p. 89 (photograph with description).

175
. This Aphrodite belonged to Dr. Elie Borowski and was part of the Athos Moretti Collection. It was offered for sale in 2000. For a photograph, see
Christie’s New York
(Tuesday 13 June 2000) pp. 58–59. She is also featured on the front and back covers.

176
. See Kreuz,
Begegnungen mit Aphrodite
. The focus is on the depiction of Aphrodite in Greek art from circa 660 BCE to 335 BCE. The aesthetic and beautiful are contemplated. Kreuz’s approach is via psychology.

177
. See esp. A. Gardiner,
Egyptian Grammar
(Oxford, London, 1957 [3rd ed.], reprinted many times) p. 27.

178
. See the beautiful color photographs in K. Michalowski,
L’Art de l’ancien Egypte
(Paris, 1968) esp. Illus. 14, 42, 106, 107, 385, 386, 391, 392, 504, and 581.

179
. E. A. W. Budge, “Snake-worship,” in
Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection
, 2 vols. (London, New York, n.d. [1911]) vol. 2, pp. 236–38; the quotation is on p. 236. Budge points out that in the Book of the Dead, chap. 108, the serpent Ami-hemf was 30 cubits long and that the Papyrus Golénischeff refers to a serpent that was not only 30 feet long but had a beard 2 cubits long.

180
. The two images are taken from a painting on papyrus by the Egyptian artist Monsef and an iron serpent.

181
. See the Egyptian cobra (S. 408) with the “crown” (Vitrine 6, no. 6) and consult A. Schweitzer and C. Traunecher,
Strasbourg: Musée archéologique
(Paris, 1998) p. 27 (no. 6).

182
. J. Y. Empereur,
Alexandria Rediscovered
(London, New York, 1998) p. 156. The work was translated from the French by M. Maehler.

183
. See the close-up photograph in Empereur,
Alexandria Rediscovered
, p. 160.