Biblijny kult węży — próba interpretacji
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Date
2004
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Uniwersytet Warszawski
Abstract
The Author attempts to establish who was supposed to be symbolized by the bronze snakes mentioned in the Bible (Lb 21,4-9; Krl 18,4). As the context suggests healing functions, one can assume that the snakes represented a god (or deities) governing an illness, particularly a disorder resultant from snakebite. Both passages mentioned above stem from old, pre-exodus traditions, from times when the Hebrew monotheism was not yet fully developed. During that period, it is more appropriate to talk of the dominating position of Yahweh in the national pantheon of Israel (although some scholars disagree, and point, for instance, to the cult of Baal), or of monolatry. It seems then, that originally the snakes did not symbolize Yahweh. Unfortunately, because the texts in question were reedited to conform with monotheistic requirements, it is not possible, without additional data, to establish with whom were the bronze snakes to be associated with originally. Here, archaeology comes to our aid. Statuettes of such snakes are relatively common findings in the Canaan. They were found in Megiddo, Tel Mevorakh, Hazor, Shechem, Timna’ and Gezer. Their dating stretches from the break of the seventeenth and sixteenth to the beginning of the tenth century B.C. Nearly all the findings of this sort clearly point to the religious character of the bronze snakes. Obviously, the Canaan snakes were not related to the cult of Yahweh, but unfortunately, there is no written source which would allow us to link them with a specific deity. The ambiguity of the snake symbolism in the ancient Middle East only aggravates the problem. The snakes are normally related to fertility deities (both male and female), with the forces of the mythical aquatic primeval chaos, or with demons. Snakes appear also as guardians of water sources, as the symbol of infinity, or wisdom. But it seems that both in the case of the Canaan and Biblical bronze effigies of snakes one deals with a healing deity. The Phoenician-Punic god Eshmun, the chief deity of Sidon identified by the Greeks with Asklepios, seems to be the most appropriate determination. But Eshmun only very rarely appears in sources from the second millennium B.C., and has not been associated with snakes. Hence, the conjecture that Biblical and Canaan snakes symbolize another god, namely Horon, seems more plausible. Horon was a minor, chthonic deity of the Syro-Canaan region, ruling various evil forces, such as demons and snakes. In Ugaritic texts he appears in incantations, or in pleadings for healing in cases such as snakebite. His name can also be found on amulets. In mythological texts Horon is rarely to be found, and if so, usually as a dangerous and unsafe god. The attitude towards Horon and the cult of bronze snakes changed in ancient Israel in accord with the transformation of its religion. Initially, there was room in the Hebrew pantheon, headed by Yahweh, for Horon and his snakes. Perhaps the snake cult in pre-Davidic Jebusitic Jerusalem was related to Horon? This would also explain the presence of Nechushtan in the Yahweh temple of Jerusalem. But, with the development of monolatry in Israel, the cult of snakes was disposed of, together with the cults of Asherah and Baal. From the times of King Hezekiah the Jerusalem temple was to be devoted exclusively to Yahweh. Finally, after the return of the Israelites from the captivity, monotheism ruled out the existence of other deities completely, thus also their cults. Nevertheless, the remnants of the ancient tradition of the snake cult were so deeply rooted that during the reediting of the individual books of the Bible equivocal references to bronze snakes were not removed. It was only assumed in the monotheistic interpretation that the snakes represented the healing power of Yahweh himself.
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"Przegląd Historyczny", 2004, T. 95, z. 2, s. 153-167