The Good and Evil Serpent (178 page)

42
. Aristides,
Oratio
42, 1–15; Edelstein,
Aslepius
, vol. 1, pp. 156, 160.

43
. 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.

44
. See Macrobius,
Saturnalia;
I am indebted to Leisegang for this citation. See H. Leisegang,
The Mysteries: Papers of the Eranos Yearbooks
, vol. 2, ed. J. Campbell (New York, 1955) p. 200.

45
.
In Platonis Timaeum
1.49C. For the Greek and English translation, see Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, p. 151.

46
. Macrobius,
Saturnalia
1.20, 1–4; Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, pp. 148–49.

47
. Proclus,
In Platonis Timaeum
1, 49C; Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, p. 151.

48
. Leisegang,
The Mysteries
, p. 200.

49
. In the Jewish magical papyri, the gibberish often seems to derive from phonetics related to the Tetragrammaton. See the
Prayer of Jacob:
“God
Aba*th, Abrathia*th, [Sa]ba[oth, A]d*nai… Epa[g]a*l [El*]*l, Sou*l.”
Charlesworth in
OTP
2.721–23.

50
. Aristides,
Oratio
42. 1–15; Edlestein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, pp. 155–63. Translation mine.

51
. The attempt to consider
arepo
as indicating a plow is without any basis in philology.

52
. For the Greek and the translation, see Attridge and Oden,
Philo of Byblos
, pp. 52–53.

53
. Herondas,
Mimiambi
, 4.11; Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, p. 272.

54
. Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, pp. 143–44.

55
. Aristides (128–189 CE),
Oratio
48.4; Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, p. 155.

56
. Oxyrhynchus, Papyrus 11, 1381; Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, p. 175.

57
. Philostratus,
Epistulae
18; cf. Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, p. 200.

58
. Moeller argues that the cryptograph originated in Italy among worshippers of Mithra. See Moeller,
The Mithraic Origin
, pp. 21–38. Before Moeller, others judged the cryptograph to be Mithraic; see A. Omodeo, “La croce d’Ercolano e il culto precostantiniano della roce,”
La Critica
38 (1940) 45–61.

59
. J. Sundwall, “L’Enigmatica iscrizione ROTAS in Pompei,”
Acta Academiae Aboensis, Humaniora
15 (1945) 16–17.

60
. See the hypothesis of Fishwick in
HTR
57 (1964) 46–53.

61
. Julianus,
Contra Galilaeos
200 A-B; Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, p. 152.

62
. See the plates in Moeller,
The Mithraic Origin
.

63
. Orphic Hymns 67; for the Greek and translation, see Apostolos N. Athanassakis,
The Orphic Hymns: Text, Translation, and Note
(Missoula, Mont., 1977), pp. 88–89.

64
. Juvenal,
Sat
. 6.55; see also line 57;
et agello cedo paterno
.

65
. Tacitus,
Hist.
, book 3, 86.

66
. Galen,
De libris propriis
, Cp. 2; Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, p. 263. Also see Galen,
De sanitate tuenda
, 1.8, 20; ibid., vol. 1, p. 179.

67
. Fishwick,
HTR
57 (1964) 51.

68
. Baines,
NTS
33 (1987) 473.

69
. Ibid., p. 473.

70
. See H. Matthäus,
Der Arzt in römisher Zeit: Literarische Nachrichten—archäologische Denkmäler
, ed. Ph. Filtzinger (Stuttgart, 1987); see the forty-seven illustrations, many of which feature physicians and Asclepius with serpents.

71
. My translation; brackets indicate restorations. See Leisegang,
The Mysteries
, p. 201.

72
. Charlesworth in
OTP
2.720–73.

73
. Leisegang,
The Mysteries
, p. 218. For a photograph of the alabaster bowl, see p. 201.

74
. K. Preisendanz, ed.,
Papyri graecae magicae: Die griechischen Zauberpapyri
(Berlin, 1928) vol. 1, pp. 111ff. or vol. 4, pp. 1115–65.

75
. See Leisegang,
The Mysteries
, p. 211.

This bibliography on the serpent is focused first on antiquity (especially from 1000
BCE
to c. fourth cent.
CE
), and second on the symbolic meaning of the serpent. The selection has also been guided by an emphasis on the Levant.

Not included are discussions in encyclopedias that are brief and usually anonymous. Numerals are given in Arabic numbers, unless Roman numerals are in the titles. The names of cities are translated into English. Authors’ surnames that begin in van and von but are separated from the following noun, and other similar forms, are placed with the next letter in the alphabet in their names. Abbreviations are generally avoided to assist those in various disclipines; for abbreviations demanded to avoid excessive length, see the Abbrevations at the beginning of this book. Since works published outside the United States sometimes do not provide the city, publisher, or date, the following additional abbreviations have been used: n.c. (no city given), n.p. (no publisher indicated), n.d. (no date provided).

The bibliography is arranged alphabetically so as to serve the majority. For biblical historians and archaeologists who are interested in chronology, the list could have been arranged differently. They might want to organize it from the Nachash in the Eden Story, to Moses’ bronze serpent (Num 21), Hezekiah’s Nechushtan, through the Asclepian cult (which belongs to the pre and post-Christian eras), John 3:14 and other New Testament texts, the Ophites and Naassanes, and finally to the Gnostics and the early scholars of the Church. For those who are interested in the development of the symbolical meaning of the serpent, the list would have been arranged differently. It would lead from c. 40,000
BCE
and the prehistoric era to Moses and then to the present with the worshipping of snakes in India and the handling of snakes in the southern parts of the United States (according to a literal reading of Mk 16:9–20). The bibliography could also have been arranged according to topics: Ophites and Naassanes, the Asclepian cult, Asian religions, Australian mythologies, an exegesis of New Testament and Old Testament passages, archaeology, the language of art, the commonality of the human from Paleolithic times to the present, psychology, and iconography and art. Usually the titles of articles and books clarify the focus of a publication. Sometimes I supply a brief notation to assist the reader and scholar. I annotate an entry especially when it contains illustrations that are a prerequisite for comprehending the variagated meanings of serpent symbolism.

This selected bibliography reflects an interest in iconography, mythology, and theology. The list shows only a little concern for zoology and herpetology; for such work, consult the publications in the
Zeitschrift der Societas Europaea Herpeto-logica
and the works published by the Herpetofauna-Verlag. Additional publications can be found in the periodicals, series, and publications cited here. For further works see the following collections:
American Anthropologist, L’Antiquité classique, Die Aquarien—und Terrarien Zeitschrift, Bonner Zoologische Monographien, British Herpetological Society Bulletin, Corpus medicorum graecorum, Fieldiana Zoology, Herpetofauna, Herpetological Review, Israel Journal of Zoology, Journal of Experimental Zoology, Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa, Journal of Herpetology, Lexicon der christlichen Ikonographie, Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, Pharmacy in History, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, Reallexikon für ägyptische Religionsgeschichte, Revue d’égyptologie, Salamandra: Zeitschrift für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde
, and
Toxicon, Zoologische Abhandlungen Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden
.

The selected serpent bibliography is also dedicated to the most recent and important publications. This bibliography was corrected and expanded by working in numerous major libraries in which I was always treated with professional respect and courtesy. I am especially indebted to the following libraries: Speer and Luce Libraries at Princeton Theological Seminary, the libraries in the University of Tübingen, the Ecole Biblique Library, the Israel National Library and Jewish Library, and the British Library. Additional bibliographical references will be found in the notes to the preceding discussions. Katherine A. Skrebutenas, the reference librarian in Speer and Luce Libraries, Princeton Theological Seminary, helped me discover some exotic abbreviations.

Adkins, L., and R. Adkins. “Aesculapius,”
Dictionary of Roman Religions
. New York: Facts On File, 1996; p. 3.

Aharoni, Y. “Arad: Its Inscription and Temple,”
Biblical Archaeologist
31 (1968) 2–32.

______, ed.
Beer-Sheba I: Excavation at Tel Beer-Sheba, 1961–1971 Seasons
. Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology. Tel Aviv: Ramat Aviv, 1973.

______. “The Horned Altar of Beer-sheba,”
Biblical Archaeologist
37. (1974) 2–6.

Albright, W. F. “The Evolution of the West-Semitic Divinity ‘An-’Anat-’Atta,”
The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures
41 (1925) 73–101.

______. “Notes on the Goddess Anat,”
The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures
43 (1927) 233–36.

______. “Anath and the Dragon,”
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
84 (1941) 14–16.

______. “ ‘The Bronze Age,’ II of the Excavation of Tell Beit Mirsim,”
Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research
17 (1936–1937) esp. p. 43. [Albright rightly warned against interpreting the serpent as only or primarily a sexual symbol.]

______. “The Goddess of Life and Wisdom,”
American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures
36 (1919–1920) 258–94.

______. “The Excavation at Tell Beit Mirsim, Vol. II: The Bronze Age,”
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
31 (1928) 1–11. [The image of a goddess was found in an MB II stratum. Albright assumed incorrectly she was bound around the legs by a large serpent.]

______.
Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan
. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1968.

______, and G. Mendenhall. “The Creation of the Composite Bow in Canaanite Mythology,”
The Journal of Near Eastern Studies
1 (1942) 227–29.

Alexiou, S.
Minoan Civilization
, trans. C. Ridley. Heraklion, Crete: Spyros Alex-iou Sons, 1969. N.V.

______.
Minoische Kultur. Sternstunden der Archäologie
, trans. W. Liebich. Frankfurt: Musterschmidt Göttingen, 1976 [also see the Greek original of 1964 or English translation of 1969]; see esp. Fig. 12 [the snake goddess], p. 113 [gold amulet with a serpent], and p. 119 [the serpents on a vessel].

Amaducci, A. B.
Die Brancacci-Kapelle und Masaccio
. Florence: Scala, 1978. [In the Triptychon in San Giovenale Church in Cascia, Masolino, the student of Masaccio, depicted the sepent in the Garden of Eden as a female, and she has an angelic face. See Fig. 2, opposite page 16. Also see Fig. 79 in the present book.]

Amélineau, E. “Du role des serpents dans les croyances religieuses de l’Egypte,”
Revue de l’histoire des religions
51 (1905) 335–60; also see vol. 52 (1905) 1–32.

Amiet, P. “Antiquités de Serpentine,”
Iranica Antiqua
15 (1980) 155–66, Plate 2.

______.
Elam
. Auvers-sur-Oise, France: Archée, 1966.

Amiet, P., et al., eds.
La grammaire des formes et des styles: Antiquité
. Fribourg: Production Office du Livre, 1981.

Amorai-Stark, S.
Wolfe Family Collection of Near Eastern Prehistoric Stamp Seals
. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 16. Series Archaeologica. Freiburg: University Press of Freiburg and Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997. See esp. Nos. 163 [5th millen.], 256 [4th millen.], 277 [4th millen.], 352 [4/3rd millen.], and 430 [3rd millen.]. It is impossible to discern the identity of some images; serpents are possibly found on Nos. 257, 277, 314, 339, 343, 395, 414, 461, 467, and 470.

Amsler, F. “The Apostle Philip, the Viper, the Leopard, and the Kid: The Masked Actors of a Religious Conflict in Hierapolis of Phrygia,”
SBL Seminar Papers [1991]
Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996; pp. 432–37.

Anderson, B. W. “The Slaying of the Fleeing, Twisting Serpent: Isaiah 27:1 in Context,”
From Creation to New Creation
. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994; pp. 195–206.

Andreae, B.
L’Art de l’ancienne Rome:
L’Art et les grandes civilisations. Paris: Mazenrod, 1973.

Andrews, C., ed.
The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead
, trans. R. O. Faulkner. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990.