Eridu Wall Carving

[Bill Hamblin]

I thought it was a ficus or fig tree.

If you follow the central shaft of the tree to the top you can see what look like palm branches. Hence some think it's a date palm. But it is so stylized that it is impossible to tell for sure, hence the disagreement among scholars.

[Ron Beron]

If you follow the central shaft of the tree to the top you can see what look like palm branches. Hence some think it's a date palm. But it is so stylized that it is impossible to tell for sure, hence the disagreement among scholars.

I am not at all familiar with trees, but apparently the date tree is the ficus sycamorus which some have suggested is the tree found in the garden of Eden and was not only the fruit from which Adam and Eve had eaten, but also formed the leaves from which they used as coverings.

[maklelan]

Are you sure it is a date palm? I thought it was a ficus or fig tree.

First, I read Parpola's article a long time ago and thought it was pretty cool, until I read several reviews that heavily criticized it. That's when I decided not to be an Assyriologist.

As for the tree, you might check out Mariana Giovino's The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History of Interpretations (OBO 230; G

[Bill Hamblin]

Menahem Haran argues that one Gilgal is in the hill country of Ephraim, citing 2 Kings 2:2, where Elisha and Elijah go from Gilgal down to Bethel, and from there to Jericho and then to the Jordan (Menahem, Temples and Temple-Service in Ancient Israel, 31, 32).

It is possible there were two Gilgals. But it is probably more possible that there were two Bethels, since beth-el is simply "house of El/God." At any rate, I prefer the assumption that there is one place per name unless we have strong evidence to think otherwise. But, who knows?

[Ron Beron]

First, I read Parpola's article a long time ago and thought it was pretty cool, until I read several reviews that heavily criticized it. That's when I decided not to be an Assyriologist.

As for the tree, you might check out Mariana Giovino's The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History of Interpretations (OBO 230; G

[Flyonthewall]

I can't speak towards any of the meanings of the scene depicted, but it got me thinking....If we, in this day, were to select one scenario from the temple ceremony, hopefully one that portrayed the purpose of the ceremony, what would it be? and how would someone 5,000 years in the future interpret it?

[katherine the great]

I am not at all familiar with trees, but apparently the date tree is the ficus sycamorus which some have suggested is the tree found in the garden of Eden and was not only the fruit from which Adam and Eve had eaten, but also formed the leaves from which they used as coverings.

I always assumed it was a fig tree. Is "fig leaves" a mistranslation?

[maklelan]

I always assumed it was a fig tree. Is "fig leaves" a mistranslation?

No, the text says fig leaves.

[mfbukowski]

I can't speak towards any of the meanings of the scene depicted, but it got me thinking....If we, in this day, were to select one scenario from the temple ceremony, hopefully one that portrayed the purpose of the ceremony, what would it be? and how would someone 5,000 years in the future interpret it?

I would pick one not unlike this one - two figures in mirror image doing something ritualistic with their hands on either side of an object representing God and life.

It may be all over the internet, but I will let you decide how that fits with our ceremony.