Cylinder Seals and the Garden of Eden.
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Cylinder Seals and the Garden of Eden. Cylinder Seals and the Garden of Eden. Cylinder seals are small, round seal stamps that are designed to be rolled across a piece of clay in order to produce a rectangular image. They are slightly different from the more standard seal stamps, which are simply pressed down over a piece of clay. Cylinder seals are often very detailed, made of semi-precious stones, and contain a small story. They are among the earliest seals, dating back as far as 3500 b.c.e., and have their genesis in ancient Mesopotamia. The Temptation Seal This greenstone seal dates to around 2250 b.c.e. Since its discovery (at least, over the past 150 years), it has been related to the “fall of man” in the Garden of Eden—for good reason. The seal depicts a fruit tree, along with a female figure seated to the left of the tree and a male to the right. Both figures are reaching for a piece of fruit. A snake is angled toward the woman, its head close to hers. This brings to mind Genesis 3. God had instructed Adam and Eve about the two trees in the Garden of Eden: The tree of life symbolized the way of God; the other, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, symbolized the way of Satan the devil. God warned Adam and Eve against eating from the wrong tree, and encouraged them to eat from the tree of life. In Genesis 3, Satan, manifested as a serpent, talked to Eve, persuading her to take of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve was convinced, contrary to God’s instructions, that this was the right decision, and she (and her husband, who was with her) took of the fruit of the tree. This foundational moment, commonly referred to as the “fall of man,” laid the foundation for future civilization—a world cut off from God (Genesis 3:22-24). For more information on this subject, read our free reprint This imagery has been reproduced in various forms throughout history (such as in the image to the right, c. 320 c.e.)—whether in the more literal form of Adam and Eve or embellished for added ritual significance (such as seems to have been the case with the above We know well that in these early sculptures none of these figures were chance devices, but all represented events or supposed events, and figures in their legends; thus it is evident that a form of the story of the fall, similar to that of Genesis, was known in early times in Babylonia. Exert from the article click the link for the full article : https://watchjerusalem.co.il/437-early-cylinder-seals-and-the-garden-of-eden |