They were regarded as heretics by the proto-orthodox Early Church Fathers.” ref Gnostic Christians considered the Hebrew God of the Old Testament as the evil, false god and creator of the material universe, and the Unknown God of the Gospel, the father of Jesus Christ and creator of the spiritual world, as the true, good God. Gnostic Christian doctrines rely on a dualistic cosmology that implies the eternal conflict between good and evil, and a conception of the serpent as the liberating savior and bestower of knowledge to humankind as opposed to the Demiurge or creator god, identified with the Hebrew God of the Old Testament. “In Gnosticism, the biblical serpent in the Garden of Eden was praised and thanked for bringing knowledge ( gnosis) to Adam and Eve and thereby freeing them from the malevolent Demiurge‘s control. Although the widespread depiction of snakes in sites across the UAE is thought by archaeologists to have a religious purpose, this remains conjecture.” refįurther information: Nehushtan, Brazen Serpent, Staff of Moses, and Serpents in the Bibleįurther information: Gnostic texts, Naassenes, and Ophites Most of the depictions of snakes are similar, with a consistent dotted decoration applied to them. The Bronze Age and Iron Age metallurgical center of Saruq Al Hadid has yielded probably the richest trove of such objects, although finds have been made bearing snake symbols in Bronze Age sites at Rumailah, Bithnah, and Masafi. “Significant finds of pottery, bronze-ware, and even gold depictions of snakes have been made throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE). At the tell of Tepe Gawra, at least seventeen Early Bronze Age Assyrian bronze serpents were recovered.” ref At the Babylonian New Year’s festival, the priest was to commission from a woodworker, a metalworker, and a goldsmith two images, one of which “shall hold in its left hand a snake of cedar, raising its right to the god Nabu“. In sixth-century Babylon a pair of bronze serpents flanked each of the four doorways of the temple of Esagila. A late Bronze Age Hittite shrine in northern Syria contained a bronze statue of a god holding a serpent in one hand and a staff in the other. “In the surrounding region, serpent cult objects figured in other cultures. Before the arrival of the Israelites, snake cults were well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age, for archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo, one at Gezer, one in the sanctum sanctorum of the Area H temple at Hazor, and two at Shechem.” ref The Sumerians worshipped a serpent god named Ningishzida. “Ancient Mesopotamians and Semites believed that snakes were immortal because they could infinitely shed their skin and appear forever youthful, appearing in a fresh guise every time. The tradition is present in several ancient cultures, particularly in religion and mythology, where snakes were seen as entities of strength and renewal.” ref Snake worship is devotion to serpent deities. “Snake worship is seen in several ancient cultures, particularly, snake as renewal. Sacred Snakes or Dragons and Rivers? To me, it’s snakes/dragons in one theme express as rivers thus developed on animism to gods or totem and other believed sacred beings Ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref
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