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Winkley Professor of
Biblical Theology

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KERUBIM

IN

Semitic Religion and Art

BY
Rev. Frederic N. Lindsay, B. Dm M. A.

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIRE
MENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF
PHILOSOPHY IN THE FACULTY
OF PHILOSOPHY
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

1912

TO MY WIFE
Whose loye and counsel have been
among the choice blessings of my life.

Chapter I.
THE OLD TESTAMENT CONCEPTION
What were the Kerubim? This is a problem that until re
cently has been obscure owing to the want of the proper his
torical and scientific point of view. Hitherto the discussion
of the problem has been largely influenced by theological bias,
a side of the question which was reserved to itself by the
Church, but the deciphering of the cuneiform texts and our
resultant increased knowledge from them has changed the en
tire situation. Furthermore, the results of the science of Com
parative Religion, largely deduced in this instance from the
cuneiform texts, have altered our views. It is proposed in this
treatise to trace by means of the historical documents the de
velopment of the Kerubim ideas and to endeavor to discover
Exactly what concrete form the name Kerub awakened in the
Hebrew mind.
A study of the O. T. sources plainly indicates that the earli
est accounts were written at a date long subsequent to the times
represented in the sources. The oldest narrative in which is
found a reference to the Kerubim is Gen. iii :24. After having
driven the first human pair from the earthly Paradise, as a
punishment for their sin, it is written that "Yahveh Elohim
placed to the East of the Garden of Eden the Kerubim and the
flaming blade of the sword which turns, to keep the way of the
tree of life." Gen. iii :24. Probably we have here, as scholars
generally believe, two independent symbols — the fiery sword
and Kerubim — for the sword is one and the Kerubim are
many ; and the symbol of the sword is represented elsewhere,1
as an independent power, the ultimate source of which is evi
dently the fiery sword of Gen. iii :24. Budde2 finds in the
verses iii :22, 24, the story of the 'tree of life,' a secondary ver-

1 Zeph. ii :12 ; Jer. xlvi :10 ; Isa. xxxiv :5.
2 Budde, Biblische Urgeschichte, p. 55.

sion of man's expulsion, which in origin may be earlier than
the longer story of the Garden of Eden; its presence, however,
in Chapter iii seems to be due to the work of a later prophet.
According to this fragment, God sent forth man from the gar
den, i. e., commanded him to go forth (drove him forth) as
he still lingered or still stood without before the gate. That
every possibility of his wilfully returning to the Garden and to
the 'tree of life' may be cut off, he stations eastward of the
Garden of Eden the Kerubim, where as in an earthly sanctuary
the entrance was. The Kerubim were not stationed to dwell in
the Garden, instead of man, but to guard the approach.
No account is given of the appearance of the Kerubim. In
the height of the mythological period no such account was
needed. All we know from this primitive Hebrew tradition
describing the Kerubim is that they were beings of superhuman
power and devoid of human sympathies, whose office was to
drive away intruders from the abode of the gods. Originally this
abode was conceived of as a mountain, on the slopes of which
was a garden or park (Paradise) containing the sacred tree.
The Kerubim have in the Paradise story the functions of being
guards of the divine blessings and treasures. Their number is
not mentioned ; nor is it stated, as is usually supposed, that each
of the Kerubim bore in his hand a flaming sword. They were
earthly beings and not heavenly beings. While there is much
that is obscure about the form of the primitive Israelitish
Kerub, it may be safely said that in the main it was a land-
animal, monstrous and ferocious.3 From this point of view the
recognition of certain spots as haunts of the gods is the relig
ious expression of the gradual subjugation of nature by man.
It points to a time when primitive man regarded the spontan
eous life of nature as exhibiting the presence of superhuman
powers. We have here evidently the proof of the existence of
animism in the early Semitic religion.

3 It appears from several poetical passages of the O. T. that the
Northern Semites believed in demons called Se'irim( "hairy beings"),
and Lilith ("nocturnal monsters"), which haunted waste and desolate
places, in fellowship with jackals and ostriches (Isa. xiii :21 Isa
xxxiv :14. cf., Luke xi:24).

The fullest description of the Kerubim is given by Ezekiel.
In Ezek. xxviii :14-19, we have an allusion to the king of Tyre,
who 'walked amid the stones of fire in the holy, divine moun
tain' and was cast out and destroyed by a Kerub. The Hebrew
text is corrupt and an intelligent exegesis of the passage is
rarely given. Cheyne corrects the text of verses 13f and 16f
and arrives at the following sense of the passage : that we have
here a tradition of the Paradise Myth distinct from that of
Gen. ii and iii. Certain favoured men, it appeared, could be
admitted to Eden, but they were still liable to the sin of pride
and such a sin would be their ruin. Following the analogy of Isa.
xiv:13-15, where the king of Babylon is hurled from heaven
because of his pride, Ezekiel applies the same to the king of
Tyre. In the Genesis myth the Kerub is the guardian of the
'tree of life,' but in Ezekiel he becomes the guardian of the
'divine treasures'4 which are in the 'holy mount.' The latter is
evidently a faithful report of a popular tradition. We have
here a tradition distinct from that in Genesis.5 Wherever the
sacred treasures have to be guarded and hidden, the early
Semite conceived these denizens as keeping off all intruders and
driving out those who were bold enough to intrude within the
'sacred place.' A Kerub, according to this account, abides in
the sacred precincts of the Most High, and is the guardian of
Yahveh's treasures. The imagery employed by the same pro
phet in the vision6 of the Kerubim (Ezk. 10) is very obscure,
and introduces a much more complex idea. The prophet recog
nizes them as identical with 'the living creatures (hayyoth) that
he saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar' (10:20),
referring to the vision of the chariot in Ch. i. These were four
in number (10:10) ; they had each four faces, 'the face of a
Kerub, a man, a lion, and eagle' (10:14) and 'four wings'
(10:21). As one of their faces was that of 'a Kerub,' and the
prophet on seeing them 'knew that they were 'Kerubim,' the

* "Fiery Stones'' evidently must mean the sacred stones, and hence
in Ezekiel they represent the sacred treasures of the gods.
B No meaning can be attached to the phrases "Anointed Kerub" or
"Kerub with spreading wings," both of which are wanting in the LXX.
• That this vision is purely apocalyptic is recognized by all.

shape of a 'Kerub,' as of a fabulous creature, must have been
well known through popular representations.7 Unfortunately,
the prophet's description throws no further light upon their
shape. He tells us that the 'glory of the Lord' rested above 'the
Kerubim' (10:19); that their progress was straight forward
(10:22); while they moved not with wings only, but with
\. hiding wheels, and burning fire was between them (10:6-7).
This description, though much more complex and involved
than any of our previous sources, presents no sort of contra
diction. In all probability it represents an elaboration, in ac
cordance with the general style and characteristics of Ezekiel's
literary work, of the older and simpler conceptions. Some
times he speaks of them in the singular (10:24),s 'the living
creature', to indicate that, being animated by one spirit, the four
beings formed one complex phenomenon. From the description
we recognize that whereas the original abode of the Kerub was
conceived of as a mountain on the earth, here when the range
of the Supreme God's power became wider, when from the
earth-god he became also a heaven-god, the Kerub too passed
into a new phase ; he became the supporter of the divine throne.
We have a different conception of the Kerubim in Ezekiel's
vision of Ch. i. The prophet has not the old unquestioning belief
in tradition and has modified the traditional data so as to pro
duce effective symbols of religious ideas. In this description we
have four Kerubim, 9each of which has four faces,10 one look
ing each way — man, lion, ox, and eagle. Each has human hands
on his four sides. They are not, however, called Kerubim, but
faayyoth ('living creatures'). By this he implies that his own
description of them differed so widely from that received by
ti adition that he would not venture to call them Kerubim, and
did not until 'he heard them called so by God' (10:20). He
speaks of them in the singular Kerub, and calls it 'the living

7cf. I K. vii:29.
8 If the text is correct.
9cf. Rev. iv:6-8.
*° In his vision of the temple Ezekiel again modifies his picture of the
Kerubim, each Kerub there having but two faces — man and lion-
Ezek. xli :18. 6

creature.' The fourfold character of the Kerub is due to the new
function of being bearer of the 'Canopy' (firmament) under the
throne (1 :22-26). But the whole appearance was for the mo
ment bathed in luminous splendour, so that the prophet needed
reflection to realize it. The divine manifestation takes place
within a storm-cloud, and a fire, which gives out flashes
of lightning, burns brightly between the Kerubim; also
there are revolving wheels beside the Kerubim, animated by
the same 'spirit' as the living creatures, and as brilliant as the
chrysolith or topaz. When the Chariot of God, in which he
rode, descended to earth, moved from place to place, the crea
ture on either side had the appearance of an advancing man.
When in motion each creature expanded one pair of wings, and
the expanded wings of each touched and thus formed a square.
The vision of the Kerubim in Ezek. I. is evidently composite,
made up of a number of elements from several sources. There
is first the idea that Jahveh moves and descends to earth upon ^
the Kerubim. The Kerubim are thus regarded as the means
and tokens of Yahveh's manifesting himself ; wherever they are
seen Yahveh was known to be present. The Kerubim are the |
symbols of the storm-clouds on which Yahveh rides and mani- \
fests himself.
The age which produced the story of Elijah's ascent to
heaven in a fiery chariot11 may be supposed to have known of
fiery Kerubs on which Yahveh rode. At a later time, the Keru
bim, though still spoken of by certain writers, were no longer
indispensable.12 The forces of nature were alike Yahveh's
guards and ministers. Mythology became a subject of special
learning, and its details acquired new meanings, and the Kerub-
myth passed into an entirely new phase. Ezekiel probably
mingled the old Palestinian view of the Kerub with some for
eign influence. At any rate, we can affirm positively that the ,
composite form of the Kerubim as seen in Ezek. I. is not Pal
estinian in form or spirit.13 The Phoenicians, and probably the

11 II Kings ii:ll.
12 Hab. iii :8 speaks of Yahveh as riding, not upon a Kerub, but upon
horses. 13 Whether the sculptured quadruped, with a bearded human head,

Canaanites, and through them the Israelites, evidently attached
greater importance to the Palestinian form and idea of the
Kerub, and it is said that among the discoveries at Zenjirli1* in
N. Syria is a genuine representation of this mythic form of the
Kerub. Carved figures of the Kerubim were prominent in the decor
ations of the walls and the doors of the Solomonic temple.
There is no record of any myth which directly accounts for
these representations, but they probably refer to the ancient
Kerub-myih of Eden. Two colossal Kerubim stood in the 'Ady
tum,' where they 'formed a kind of dais, one wing being
stretched towards the lateral wall, whilst the other overshad
owed the ark,16 a felicitous arrangement resulting in charming
effect. Obviously they are the guards of the sacred ark and its
still more sacred contents. Unfortunately, no minute descrip
tion is given of their appearance. Two figures were placed on
the mercy-seat of the ark.16 They were composed of 'wrought
gold' and quite small.17 They are represented in a posture fac
ing one another, but looking down upon the ark.18 Figures were
also introduced into the veil or hanging screen which separated
the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.19 The thought in
tended by these representations of the Kerubim was similar to
that described above, viz. : guardians of the way of life. Solo
mon's temple contained two colossal Kerubim in its Holy of
Holies, fifteen feet high, made of wood and overlaid with gold.
The wings were spread out, and the two Kerubim touched
with their outer wings the wall on either side. In II. Chron.

discovered by M. Clermont-Ganneau in the subterranean quarries in
the north of Jerusalem is rightly called a Kerub is extremely doubtful.
(See Revue Critique, 16 Mai, 1892.)
14 Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologie, 1894. Vol. IX, p. 420f.
16 I Kings vi :23-35.
16 Ex. xxv:18-21.
" As the- mercy-seat covered by their wings was only 3 ft., 6 in. long,
the figures of the Kerubim were quite small.
18 An attitude to which we may suppose the Apostle makes reference
See I Peter i :12.
19 Ex. xxvi:36.

iii :1-17, we have the same account with this addition, that 'they
stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house,' by
which is probably meant, facing the entrance. From this de
scription we see how Hebrew art had given a wide interpreta
tion of the early Kerub-myth. It can only be the work of im
agination in which fancy had been given play. This may be
seen from the 'palm trees and open flowers' introduced along
with the Kerubim in the carved woodwork of the walls and
doors in the exterior and interior temple.20 In the description
of the 'brazen sea' it is recorded that in the ornamentation there
were figures of 'lions, oxen, and Kerubim.'21
Another group of passages22 on the Kerubim is poetic and
probably comes from a later period. In Psa. xviii :10 we read
'He bowed the heavens and came down, and thick clouds were
under his feet, he mounted the Kerub and flew ; he came swoop
ing down on the wings of the wind.' This description agrees
with that of Ezekiel. The Kerub is here the divine chariot and
has some relation to the storm-wind and storm-cloud. The
other Psalm-passages appear to give a new conception of the
Kerubim, who are neither the guards of the 'mountain of God'
nor 'the chariot of the moving deity,' but the throne on which
he is seated. In Psa. xxii:3, if the text is correct, Yahveh is
addressed as 'enthroned' not upon the Kerubim, but 'upon the
praises of Israel.' The idea is that the Kerubim have now the
new function of praising God, a very interesting development.
This agrees with later beliefs, and may be illustrated by the23
priestly direction in Ex. xxv:20 that the faces of the Kerubim
on the ark shall be 'towards the mercy-seat.' The meaning of
the priestly theorist is that the Kerubim are a kind of higher
angels who surround the throne of Yahveh and contemplate
and praise his glory. This is clearly the work of Hebrew spec-

2° I Kings vi:29, 32, 35.
21 1 Kings vii :29.
22 Psa. xviii, 10f., lxxx:l, xcix:l, xxii:3. See also I Sam. iv:4,
II Sam. vi:2, I Chron. xiii:6, II Kings xix:15 (cf. Isa. xxxvii :16).
23 Ex. xxv :20. That this is from the priestly code is recognized by
the critics. 9

ulation, and in this composite system of angelogy the Kerubim
form one of the ten highest classes; with the ophannim or
"wheels" they are specially attached to the throne of the divine
glory.

Chapter II.
THE RABBINIC CONCEPTION
Rabbinic theology regarded the Kerubim placed by God at
the entrance of Paradise as angels created on the third day,24
and that therefore they had no definite shape, appearing either
as men or women, or as spirits or angelic beings. In Jewish
angelogy the Kerubim form one of the ten highest classes of
angels, and together with the hayyoth ('living creatures') are
specially attached to the throne of the divine glory. It is also
the function of the Kerubim to be bearers of the throne on its
progress through the world. The Jewish liturgy delights to
associate the 'praises of Israel' with those offered to God by
the different classes of the angels. Such a view is suggested in
the 'Similitudes of Enoch'25 in a passage in which the Kerubim
and all the angels of power are combined under the phrase, 'the
host of God,' while in another the 'four faces on the four sides
of the Lord of Spirits' (Ezek. i :6) are identified with the arch
angels.26 Elsewhere they are the ever sleepless guardians of the
'throne of His glory.' Again, they are the 'fiery Kerubim,' and
together with the seraphim are closely connected with Para
dise, under the Archangel Gabriel.
In the passages of the Talmud that describe the inhabitants
of heaven, the Kerubim are not mentioned. The following sen
tence of the Midrash is characteristic:27 'When a man sleeps,
the body tells to the Neshamah (soul) what it has done during
the day ; the Neshamah then reports it to the Nephesh (the spir
it), the Nephesh to the Angel, the Angel to the Kerub, and the
Kerub to the Seraph, who then brings it before God.' When
Pharaoh pursued Israel at the Red Sea, God took a Kerub from

24 Quoted from article Kerubim in Jewish Encyclopedia.
25 Chapter xl.
28 Chapter lxxi :7.
27 Quoted from article Kerubim in the Jewish Encyclopedia.

11

the wheels of his throne and flew to the spot, for he inspects
the heavenly worlds while sitting on the Kerub.
Josephus,28 referring to the Kerubim of the temple, says that
none can tell or ever guess what they were like. Philo29 men
tions that in the opinion of some, the Kerubim over the ark rep
resented two hemispheres ; but his own preference was to identi
fy them with the two most ancient and supreme attributes of
the Almighty — the power of creating and the power of ruling.
30An authority at the end of the third century A. D. says that
the Kerubim which Ezekiel saw in his vision were originally
man, lion, bull, and eagle, but that Ezekiel implored God to take
a Kerub instead of a bull, which would continually remind Him
of Israel's worship of that animal. Thus it seems that the
Talmud noticed that Ezekiel's conception of the heavenly creaj
tures differed from the traditional one.
Maimonides holds that the figures of the Kerubim were
placed in the sanctuary only to preserve among the people the
belief in the angels, there being always two, in order that the
people might not be led to believe that they were the image of
God. From these passages of later Jewish writings it will be seen
that there was no uniform tradition as to the form and func
tion of the Kerubim. It is even quite uncertain whether they
regarded them as angels. The rabbinical sources evince an
archeological rather than a theological interest in the Kerubim.
The symbolical interpretation of the Alexandrians is also found
in rabbinical sources.

28 Ant. viii :3. Thus if there had been a traditional view of the
form of the Kerub doubtless Josephus would have preserved it.
29 Philo, De Kerub, vii.
30 From article "Kerubim" in Jewish Encyclopedia.

12

Chapter III.
THE ASSYRO-BABYLONIAN CONCEPTION
It has always been asserted that the Kerubs, the guardians
of the entrance to Paradise, the bearers of the divine chariot,
are identical with the Assyrian bull and lion colossi.31 The
corresponding Assyrian word has, however, never been satis
factorily established. Zimmern correctly observes that we
are to read in VR. 29, 74: ku-ru-(u)=a bodily defect, and
not with Delitzsch ku-ru-(bu) ; this stands in connection with
(~B A) -AN -ZA=pissii 'limping.' The newly discovered dupli
cate (AO. 4489, 19b) by Thureau-Dangin32 leaves no doubt
that we are to read lu-gu-ud=ku-ru-u.
In the new text of Esarhaddon, however, which Messer-
schmidt33 has published, the word ku-ru-bu does occur. This
at all events seems to be the prototype of the Kerub. In this
passage the king relates that he undertook an extensive re
building of the old temple of Ashur. In the ceiling Esar
haddon put in cedar-beams, which he had brought from his
campaigns; there were also ornamented doors of fragrant
cypress with gold knobs, and the Adytum was veneered with
gold. Then the king continues: (il) Lah-me (il) ki-ru-bi sa
sa-ri-ri ru-usf-s'u-u idi anu idi ulziz. 'A Lahmu divinity and a
Ku-ri-bu divinity I have erected of burnished brass on both
sides.' The Lahmu-divinity whose statue Agumkakrime had
erected in the temple, was one of the predecessors of the
divine triad Anu, Enlil and Ea. For this reason we are to
assume that the divine Kirubu hitherto unknown had occupied
a similar place in the Babylonian Theogony.
The discovery of the Assyrian bull and lion colossi was

31 Zimmern, KAT3, 529f, 631f, quoted from Orientalistische Literatur.
Zeitung, October, 1911, column 476.
32RT.XXX 11, page 2 (Supplement).
33 Cuneiform Texts of Assyrian History, I, page 69f.

13

first made by Botta, the French Consul at Mosul, in 1842, when
he employed his spare time in making excavations at Khorsa-
bad, the results of which were published in the Journal Asia-
tique during the years 1843-45. Botta laid bare the foundations
of an immense edifice and brought to light the first Assyrian
palace disclosed to European eyes: this was the residence of
the powerful monarch Sargon, whose name is mentioned in
the Book of Isaiah, and who was the father of Sennacherib.
The most important point for our present purpose is that a
large number of winged lions or bulls in bas-reliefs were found
before the gates, and within the walls of the palace. These
figures are of colossal proportions, as seemed fitting for gods
and heroes. Thus the winged bulls at the Louvre, which came
from Khorsabad, are from thirteen to sixteen feet high. The
Assyrians multiplied their winged bulls at the entrance of the
doors. Some of these have a relief of about eight inches and
placed at the corners of the doors to support the archivolt, they
seemed, like Atlas upholding the world, to bear upon their
heads the whole mass of the building. They were arranged in
fours, two being on the plane of the wall, facing each other
on either side of the door, and the other two facing the visitor,
as he entered, who thus saw at once the bodies of the first two
in profile and the full face of the two others. By an illusion,
he seemed to see at the same time the whole of a bearded mon
ster with his thick mane on his chest, his neck furnished with
tufts of hair, his legs, in which the muscles are powerfully
marked, his wings formed of rows of plumes, and reaching
fan-like, as high as the archivolt.
Layard34 in his excavations at Nineveh in 1845 describes the
discovery of winged human-headed lions, differing from those
previously found, the human shape being continued to the waist
and furnished with arms. They were about twelve feet in
height and the same number of feet in length. The body and
limbs were admirably portrayed; the muscles and bones, al
though strongly developed to show the strength of the animal,
showed at the same time a correct knowledge of its anatomy

34 Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, vol. I., p. 75.
14

and form. Expanded wings sprung from the shoulders and
spread over the back; a knotted girdle, ending in tassels, en
circled the loins. These sculptures, forming an entrance, were
partly in full and partly in relief.
The Assyrian texts speak of these half-human and half-beast
images as sede and lamasse. In an inscription35 preserved at
Cambridge, Nergals'arusur, one of the Babylonian successors of
Nebuchadnezzar, speaking of his restoration of the doors of the
sacred pyramid of Babylon, says that he had caused to be placed
there "light talismanic figures in solid bronze, which were to
keep all wicked and antagonistic people at a distance." In the
famous inscription of Esarhaddon we find the following prayer
offered to these human-headed bulls :
Se-du dum-ku la-mas si dum-kt
Na-sir kib-si sar-ru-ti-ia
Mu-h/a-du-u ka-bat-ti-ia
da-ris lis-tap-ru-u ai
ip-par-ku-u i-da-aSa.
"May the gracious sedu, the gracious lamassi, who protect
the footsteps of my royalty, who make my liver rejoice, always
rule (me) ; may their powers never depart from me."
What were these sede and lamasse? They were undoubtedly
originally demons who were supposed to be, in some way, the
embodiment of the life that manifested itself in such diverse
manners. Starting from that form of religious faith known as
Animism, which has been ascertained to be practically universal
in primitive society, the Babylonians, from ascribing life to the
phenomena of nature, i. e., to trees, stones, and plants as well
as to such natural phenomena as storms, rain and wind, could
be led to invoke an infinite number of spirits who were sup
posed to embody these phenomena. But, on the other hand,
there were certain phenomena which would point to well-de
fined spirits as exercising a more decisive influence upon man
than others. The result would be that a preponderance of
worship would be given to the sun, moon, and to such natural

3= See Records of the Past, vol. V., p. 138.
15

phenomena as rain, wind and storms, with their accompaniment
of thunder and lightning, as against the countless spirits be
lieved to be lurking everywhere.36 The evil spirits were called
demons and the names of many of them, as utukku, sedu, alii,
gallu, point to 'strength and greatness' as their main attribute;
other names, as lilu ('night-spirit',) and the feminine form,
lilitu, indicate the time chosen by them for their work. Again,
the names of others, as ekimmu ('the seizer',) ahhazi ('the cap-
turer,') rabisu ('the one that lies in wait,') labartu ('the op
pressor,') and labasu ('the overthrower') show the purpose of
their work. To these demons all manner of evil is ascribed.
Their presence was felt in the destructive winds that swept the
lands, while diseases bred by the summer heat were traced to
demons of the soil.37 Men and women were in constant danger
of them, and even animals were not safe from their attacks.
Thus, they could drive the birds out of their nests and strike
down lambs, bulls, etc.
The demons were always given some shape, animal or
human,38 for it was a necessary corollary to a belief in demons
that the demon must exist somewhere, although he might be
invisible to mankind. Among animals, those calculated to in
spire terror by mysterious movements were chosen, such as
serpents or scorpions, against whom it was difficult to protect
oneself, or again, the fabulous monsters with which graves and
pestiferous spots were peopled.
For protection against the demons, small images were placed
at the entrance to houses, and amulets of various kinds were
carried about the person. Tablets, too, were hung up in the
house, probably at the entrance, on which extracts from re
ligious texts were inscribed, which by virtue of their sacred
character were intended to protect it against the entrance of
demons.39 When, however, a person had once come under the

38 De La Saussaye, Science of Religion, p. 130.
37 M. Jastrow, Jr., Die Religion Babyloniens u. Assyriens, p. 278.
38 Figures of such may be seen in The Seal Cylinders of Western
Asia, by William Hayes Ward, 1910, p. 179f.
39 A collection of Sumerian liturgical hymns is published in Haupt's
Akkadische und Sumerische Keilschrifttexte. See numbers 10, 12 21.
16

baneful influence of the demons, recourse was had to a pro
fessional class of exorcists, who acted as mediators between
the victims and the gods to whom the ultimate appeal for help
was made.
Thus we see how far this belief in such animistic spirits
early influenced the ideas of the ancient Babylonians. Since
everything was endowed with life, there was not only a spirit
of the tree40 which produced the fruit, but there were spirits
in every field. To them the ground belonged, and upon their
mercy depended the success or failure of the produce. To
secure the favor of the rain and the sun was not sufficient to
the agriculturist; he was obliged to obtain the protection of
the guardian spirits of the soil in order to make certain the
reaping of his labors. And again, when through association
the group of arable lands grew into a hamlet and then into a
town, the latter, regarded as a political unit by virtue of its
organization under a chief ruler, would have some special
daimon,4,1 presiding over the destinies and rights of those who
stood under its jurisdiction. Each Babylonian city, large or
small, would in this way obtain a deity devoted to its welfare.
The uniformity of the spirit-world thus gave way to a dif
ferentiation by which the natural forces became gods and
the inferior ones were, as a general thing, relegated to a posi
tion of mere inferior influences. Taking up the gods named
in the inscriptions of the old Babylonian rulers, we find the
name42 En-lil, 'the lord of the storm demons.' Primarily the
ideogram LIL is used to designate a demon in general, and
En-lil is therefore the chief demon. As the lord of the lower
world, En-lil is contrasted with the god Anu, who presides
over the heavenly bodies; Bau43 is the 'mother' who fixes the
destinies of men and provides 'abundance' for the tillers of

40 See Frazer, The Golden Bough; vol. I, pp. 185-191.
41 McCurdy, History, Prophecy, and the Monuments, vol. I, p. 117f.
42 Brunnow 5939 C. L. C. I. En-lil-Bel and is the same as Illinois of
the Greek authors,
43 The giver of grain. A picture of Bau may be seen in The Seal
Cylinders of Western Asia, p. 142. She is seen in a boat with her
characteristic bird. 17

the soil ; En-ki or Ea, the god of that 'which is below,' meaning
the 'waters of the deep'; Nergal, 'the god of pestilence or
war' ; Shamash, 'the god of the day' ; Ishtar, 'the mistress of
countries,' who was appropriately denominated the brilliant
goddess, as her symbol was the planet Venus; and Sin, 'the
moon-god.' In this list great gods and goddesses, and all kinds of minor
deities are gathered together, and the list seems hopeless. But
these are local deities, and some are mere duplications. Nearly
every place would have a sun-god or a moon-god, or both, and
in the political development of the country the moon-god of
the conquering city displaced or absorbed the moon-god of
the conquered.44 In the case of Ea, as in that of En-lil, when
Babylon became the world-city the powers and prerogatives
of Ea were transferred to Marduk, since the latter is made
the son of Ea, who rejoiced inMarduk's honor.
Babylonia early reverenced the triad of gods — Anu, Bel
and Ea. Anu is associated with Erech in the south, and with
Durilu in the north. Bel is the god of Nippur and Ea the
god of Eridu. Through the centuries these gods are continu
ally invoked together. Behind these in very early times, as the
later creation story shows us, there was a duad, Anshar, the
god of the upper all, and Kishar, the goddess of the lower
all, and beside these another duad, Lahmu and Lahamu. But
these disappeared out of later religious ideas, save that from
Anshar came the name of Ashur, the god of the Assyrians.
Another triad of gods was built up by the side of the first
— Sin, Shamash and Ishtar. In this triad, Ishtar is often re
placed by the god Adad, called also by the Assyrians Ramman.
Adad was the god of rain and of storms, and hence also of
the mountains. Thus we see how the gods arose higher as
their worshippers increased in power, and how they sank
into weakness as their worshippers sank down in rank in other
cities. We can see how great gods absorbed gods of minor
places within themselves, and how strong a tendency there was
to diminish the number of the gods.

44 Rogers, The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 79.
18

With the process of systematization of cults and beliefs, which
was characteristic of Hammurabi, a marked tendency toward
a reduction of the pantheon is apparent, a weeding out of the
numerous local cults, their absorption by the larger ones, and
the relegation of the minor gods of only local significance to a
place among the spirits and demons of the Babylonian religion.
The names of some of these minor gods will suffice to indicate
their general character. For example, 'Zakar,' signifying prob
ably 'heroic,' appears to have been worshipped at Nippur, where
he stood in close relation to Bel and Belit of Nippur. Other
gods, such as Lugal - Gira, 'raging king,' a title of
Nergal in his character as the god of pestilence, also appear.45
That some of these minor gods are Cassite deities imported into
Babylonia, whose position in the pantheon was therefore of a
temporary character, there can be no doubt.48 Jensen has shown
that Eshara is a poetical name for earth, and the god Ninib in
his capacity as the god of agriculture, is called the 'product of
Eshara.' Hence it is quite probable from the description given
of him as the protector of the boundaries that Pap-u47 was a
god somewhat of the same nature, i. e., that he regulated the
boundaries of arable land. He is one of the numerous forms
of boundary gods that are met with among all nations. That
we do not meet with more in Babylonia is due to the tendency,
above described, of the centralization of power in a limited
number of deities. Instead of the gods of boundaries we have
numerous demons and spirits, in the case of the developed
Babylonian religion, into whose hands the care of preserving
the rights of owners to their lands is entrusted. Symbols of
these spirits — serpents, unicorns, scorpions, and the like — are
added on the monuments which were placed at the boundaries,
and on which the terms were specified that justified land ten
ure. It would seem, therefore, that we have in Pap-u a special
boundary god who has survived in that role from a more
primitive period of Babylonian culture. He occupies a place

45 Delitzsch, Koss'der, pp. 25-27.
48 Jensen, Kosmologie, pp. 48lff.
47 "Friend of vegetation."

19

usually assigned to the powerful demons who are regarded as
the real owners of the soil.48
The development of a pantheon, graded and regulated by
the Babylonian schoolmen, did not drive out old animistic
views. In the religious literature of all classes the unorgan
ized mass of spirits maintains an undisputed sway. In the
incantation texts, as well as in other sections of Babylonian
literature embodying both the primitive and the advanced
views of the Babylonians regarding the origin of the universe,
its subdivisions, and its order of development, and again, its
legends and epics, hundreds of spirits are introduced, to each
of which some definite function is assigned.
It is very important to remember that the numerous spirits,
when introduced into the religious texts, are invariably pre
ceded by a sign — technically known as a determinative — which
stamps them as divine beings. This sign being the same as
the one placed before the names of the gods, it is impossible
always to distinguish between deities and spirits. The use of
a common sign is significant as pointing to the common origin
of the two classes of superior beings that continue to exist
side by side. A god was originally a spirit or demon that in
habited the land.49 In the historical texts the gods alone,
with certain exceptions, find official recognition, and it is
largely through these texts that we are able to distinguish be
tween the two classes of powers — gods and spirits. But as
a survival of a primitive animism, the spirits, good, bad and
indifferent, retain their place in the popular form of religion.
In the history of Babylonian and Assyrian art sculptures and
facades have been discovered upon whose peculiar character
istics stress must be laid. They represent especially divine
heroes, winged genii with human bodies and eagles' claws and
beaks, etc.50 Tylor mentions the winged genii often depicted

48 This notion that the ground belonged to the gods, and that man
is only a tenant, survived to a late period of Semitic religion. See
W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites, pp. 91ff.
49 M. Jastrow, Jr., Did Religion Babyloniens u. Assyriens, ch. 17.
50 Tylor in Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology
xii. 383ff.

20

by the side of the tree of life in Babylonian art. These fig
ures are usually human in form with human heads, but some
times combine the human form with an eagle's head, and oc
casionally the human head with an animal body. They are
shown in the act of fecundating the date-palm by transferring
the pollen of the male tree to the flower of the female; and
hence it has been conjectured that they are personifications of
the winds, by whose agency the fertilization of the date-palm
is effected by nature.
Among birds we find the eagle, the vulture and the gerfal
con, the anatomical details of which are executed with skill.51
In the field, on the mountains, or on the river banks we find
palms and trees of every species.
A statuette in M. de Vogue's collection found at Van, rep
resents a sort of siren which seems to have an Oriental appear
ance as to the head, the hair being in ringlets; the eyes are
large, bracelets are upon the outstretched arms behind wings
and artistically marked feathers.52 The Louvre possesses the
figure of a monster with four wings which represents the demon
of the south-west wind, as the cuneiform inscription upon it
teaches us. Nothing can be imagined more hideous than the
head with its glaring eyes, roaring throat, horned brows,
crooked fingers and fleshless claws. A bronze plaque from
the collection of M. de Clercq, in which M. Clermont-Ganneau
has recognized a representation of the Assyrian hell, is occu
pied by a monster with four wings and eagle's claws, looking
over the top of the plaque; on the other side the monster's
head is seen, and under it are scenes representing: first, the
symbolical figures of the stars, then a procession of seven crea
tures dressed in long robes and having the heads of various
animals : these are the heavenly genii called Igigi. Below this
we witness a funeral scene: two creatures with human bodies
combined with the head and body of a fish, like the god
Oannes, stand by a bier on which a corpse is laid out; near
them stand two monsters like demons, which appear in a bat-
61 Layard, Monuments of Nineveh, vol. I, plate 26 and passim.
52 See Figs. 101 and 102 in Babelon's Manual of Oriental Antiquities,
pp. 129 and 130. 21

tie-scene belonging to the campaigns of Assur-Nasir-pal, and,
of larger size, on the walls of Assur-bani-pal's palace ; they face
one another and seem to be quarreling. The monster on the
other side is boldly designed, and his form is vigorous and
subtle. In glyptic art53 have been discovered the same images which
monumental sculpture drew upon the walls of temples and
palaces. These stones carved in intaglio were worn around
the neck, on the finger, on the wrist, or fastened to a garment.
They were at the same time prophylactic amulets against sick
ness or witchcraft. The artist, also, sought to reproduce on
cylinders human figures, then divine beings, or the heroes be
gotten of the popular fancy, whose image was intended to in
crease the talismanic virtue of the stone. There are monsters
standing on their hind legs, struggling with one another, and
giants killing lions or human-headed quadrupeds. M. Menant
has remarked that the figures of animals are always repre
sented in profile, while the human figures with long beards, are
in full face even when the body is in profile. There are also
double-faced genii, quadrupeds with a single head and two
bodies. One of the most remarkable cylinders of the primitive
epoch is one in the rich de Clercq collection. Men and various
animals are here seen : a goat with many horns browsing on the
leaf of a tree ; a rhinoceros, antelopes, bulls, fish, an eagle, and
some trees; two demons subduing fantastic animals, scorpions
and palm trees. 54The London Times of October 9, 1911,
gives an account of excavations at Carchemish by R. Campbell-
Thompson, who discovered two slabs, the first depicting a kind
of amulet-scene, such as were placed at the entrance of As
syrian palaces. Four mythological figures stand on guard, the
two outer being demons with lions' heads, while the two inner

63 J. Menant, La Glyptique Oriental, vol. I, and L. de Clercq,
Catalogue de sa Collection fasc. 1-3.
84 The discoveries reveal an early civilization. The settlers used
flint knives and hand-made pottery. The Hittites absorbed this
savage race, which took even its ornaments from them. This dis
covery points to an earlier date for the ideas of the Kerub than
even the Hittites, a claim which Cheyne has advocated.
22

ones are divinities with bulls' legs. The other figure was prob
ably made with similar intent; a winged lion with the head of
a divinity superimposed upon its head. The representation of
whole figures of Hittite divinities on the backs of lions is not
uncommon, but the head alone is strange and curious. A little
amulet was found in the diggings similar to these divinities,
rudely engraved on a small stone plaque with the linear figure
of a lion surmounted by a god, and evidently intended to be
hung against the wall. These finds reported from Carchemish
are very important, as they point to the fact that the ideas
conveyed in the Kerub were very primitive, and that the Baby
lonians and Assyrians probably adopted some portion of their
talismanic image, which they called Kerubim, from these early,
uncivilized people.
From the foregoing description of the Babylonian religious
ideas of demons, minor gods and legends about the origin of
things, it is now possible to conceive of the source whence the
Hebrews derived their mythological ideas regarding the Keru
bim. They were clearly survivals of a primitive stage of civili
zation. The greater part of the O.T. symbolism regarding these
beings can be explained from the hypothesis that the Kerubim
were originally wind-demons. The most suggestive analogy
of this is seen in the winged genii, found in early Babylonian
art, often depicted by the' tree of life. The sacred tree among
the Babylonians was the date-palm, because the date was of
great importance in Babylonia as an article of food. We ob
serve the Kerubim by the side of palm-trees in many pass
ages in the O.T. (1 Kings vi:29, 32, 35, etc. and especially
Ezek. xli :18,19). We have seen that figures of Kerubim were
also carved as ornaments, together with palm-trees and open
flowers, and also upon walls and the doors of the Temple (1
Kings vi :29 ; cf . also Ex. xxvi :31.) The idea of a garden as
a symbol of luxuriant fertility appears in several passages of
Scripture (Gen. xiii:10; Ezek. xxxi:8; Ezek. xxxi:16, 18).
Most of the allusions are based on Gen. ii. If the idea be
primitive Semitic (and the word 'gan' is common to all leading
dialects), it may have originated "in the sacred grove where
water and verdure are united, where the fruits of the sacred
23

56

trees are taboo, and the wild animals are on good terms with
man, because they are not frightened away.'55 Such sacred
groves were common in Babylonia, and idealization of them
enters largely into religious literature. According to Sayce,
the Garden of Eden is the sacred garden of Ea at Eridu.
Fried. Delitzsch57 has based the source of the whole Hebrew
account of Eden on the Babylonian stories that the country
to the north of Babylon was the original home of the gods.
Aralu (the lower world) was originally 'the mountain of
all lands,' on which the gods were supposed to dwell, the en
trance to which was strongly guarded. After Aralu came to
be regarded as the abode of the dead, it came to have a dis
tinct pantheon of its own. Nergal, who symbolized the mid
day sun and became the god of violent destruction in general,
presided over this region of horror. The attendants of Nergal
are suggested by the monsters accompanying Tiamat. The
consort of Nergal was Allatu, who is warlike and ferocious.
Her chief attendants are the terrible Namtar (fate) and a
scribe known as Belit-^eri. Tammuz, who is a god of vegeta
tion, and who was a guardian of heaven, is made a part of the
pantheon of the 'abode of the dead;' likewise Ningishzida, a
guardian of heaven originally, is now placed as an attendant
of the court of Nergal and Allatu. Besides these gods there
were the demons who were responsible for death in the world.
A text58 calls the entire group of demons 'the offspring of
Aralu — the sons and messengers of Namtar, the bearers of de
struction for Allatu.' These demons are sent out from Aralu
to plague the living. They do not trouble the dead, for the
latter stand under the direct control of the gods,
The legend of Aralu points back to a time when the land
was filled with spirits, good and evil, whom men were obliged
to propitiate in order that the land might be fertile.59 The

55 Delitzsch, Wo lag das Parodies, 303 ; Barton, Semitic Origins,
page 96.
58 Sayce, Higher Criticism and the Monuments, 95ff.
57 Delitzsch, Wo lag das Parodies, p. 378.
58 IV R 1 col. 1, 12; col. iii. 8-10.
59 W. R. Smith, The Religion of the Semites, p. 122.
24

spirits of evil whom men called 'demons,' were gradually
driven by the benevolent gods to the waste places and deserts.
During the agricultural stage when the land was settled we
have discovered that the Babylonian thought of portions of
land as protected by the 'boundary gods.' Hence doubtless
arose the idea of the 'Kerubim guarding the way of life,' or
the gates of Paradise.
60The legend of the Babylonian storm god, Zu, who was
figured as a bird-deity, largely influenced the Hebrew concep
tion of Yahveh 'riding on the storm-cloud.' Starting from this
clue, we can understand the function of the Kerub as a living
chariot of Yahveh, or bearer of the Theophany (Psa. xviii :11).
Zu at first rebels against the authority of En-lil and endeav
ors to seize 'the tablets of the gods' in his hand, establish his
throne, proclaim laws and command all the Igigi. Anu prom
ises that if Ramman, the storm -god, conquers Zu, lofty
shrines will be erected in his honor in many cities.
Ramman, however, is afraid of the contest. He furthermore
pleads that Zu, who has the tablets of fate in his hands, is
invincible. In view of this, Marduk undertakes the task and
successfully carries out the deed from which the other gods
shrink in fear. The myth appears as a pendant to the Mar-
duk-Tiamat episode. The Zu myth accounts for the position
of Marduk as the head of the pantheon, and represents the
subjection of all natural forces to the supreme will of Mar
duk. So in the Kerubim myth, Yahveh's will is supreme, and
the storms and clouds are his attendants. The supremacy of
Yahveh came about through centralization just as in the case
of Marduk.
The conception of the Kerubim in the Book of Ezekiel was
largely influenced by the human bulls or Sede, which we have
seen were placed as attendants or guards at the entrance of
Assyrian temples and palaces to prevent the approach of evil
spirits. These sede were composite in character, the man, the
bull, the lion and the eagle, which made up the proportions of
this fantastic beast, combining the various elements which the

80 Schrader's Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, vol. 6, p. 46.
25

artist borrowed from nature. The artist did this so as to cre
ate a figure of harmonious forms, in which nothing shocks the
taste, and the expression of which is noble, majestic and nat
ural. The idea expressed in these bulls and lions, these im
passive and majestic sentinels, is that of calm physical strength.
The figures are of colossal proportions, as is fitting for gods
and heroes. The man represents the highest intellectual power
in divine creation, the bull and lion the greatest physical
strength, and the eagle the greatest swiftness.61 To us, who
are of another civilization, these forms are neither grotesque
nor unnatural in their fine and vigorous creation of Assyrian
genius, which could as skilfully as the Egyptian associate the
human with the animal form in the symbolic representation of
deity and of supernatural beings. The term Sedu, Heb. sed,
was applied to them by the Assyrians because these creatures
were the symbols of divine power and majesty. Ezekiel used
this symbol to picture the attendants of Yahveh's throne. He
called them Kerubim only when Yahveh told him to do so.62
To the prophet they were IJayyoth 'living creatures,' who
were Yahveh's attendants. The conception was a fanciful one,
but we do not know how much was traditional and how much
was original in the mind of Ezekiel. The prophet doubtless
used his imagination very largely in picturing these beings
called Kerubim, but his conception is truly sublime and glori
ous. It may be assumed that in the prophet's mind each detail
of the symbolism expressed some idea, though it may not be
possible now to interpret the details with certainty. There can
be no doubt that the firmament and throne represent Yahveh
as God of heaven, God alone over all, the omnipotent.

61 Smend, Alttestamenttiche Religionsgeschichte, p. 447 f.
62 Schultz, Old Testament Theology, vol. ii, p. 233.

26

Chapter IV.
In Hittite, Persian, Egyptian and Arab Arts
The bulls and other winged monsters, placed at the entrance
of Assyrian palaces also find their parallel among the Hittites.63
There is in the Imperial Museum at Constantinople a basalt
lion, found at Marash, the head and neck of which are com
pletely disengaged from the stone block. The forepaws are
even with the front surface of the wall, and the body of the
beast is hidden from view. It is sculptured on two sides of
the gate in imitation of the Ninevite bulls. At the village of
Boghaz-Keui there has been discovered a royal palace, the
principal door of which forms an independent structure, which
is similar to that of the palace at Khorsabad. Two lion's heads,
original in style, project on each side of the aperture, above
monolithic doorposts. The palace of Euyuk presents features
that remind one also of the palaces of Nineveh. The principal
doorway is eleven feet broad, and on each side stand two
sphinxes, in place of the human-headed bulls. At Zenjirli there
was found a complete set of bas-reliefs representing a man
struggling with a fantastic genius.64 At Rum-Galah, a bas-
relief represents a bearded personage, wearing a cap and
dressed in a long tunic, drawn apart as in imitation of the
drooping wings of Assyrian genii. 65A cylinder at the
Louvre, found at Aidin in Lydia, shows a scene of presenta
tion to a deity in which is seen an Assyrian genius with two
faces, a deity sitting upon a throne. The idea represented
here has no doubt largely influenced the Hebrew conception
of the Kerubim. In Iasili-Kaia a rectangular chamber has

63 Babelon, Manual of Oriental Antiquities, p. 191.
64 Perrot and Chipiez, Histoire de I'art dans I'antiquite, iv., p. 534.
66 See Hittite cylinder Fig. 167 in Babelon, Manual of Oriental
Antiquities, p. 203.

27

been found in a rock, the walls of which are covered with bas-
reliefs among which are dog-headed monsters, standing upon
quadrupeds. One such stands upon the shoulders of two por
ters. A separate relief66 represents a giant standing on two
mountains, who holds in his right hand a shrine, and in his
left hand has a sort of long staff, the lower end of which is
curved like a crosier. The shrine which this deity holds is
provided with two columns supporting the winged disk, be
tween which is a deity, on either side of which is the figure
of a bull. At some distance a group of two figures is observed.
One of them, of colossal proportions, is found standing upon
a quadruped. The calm dignity of the figure is impressive.
Perhaps here we have the original form of the Kerubim. At
any rate it is very suggestive of the original form in which the
older Hebrews conceived them.
In Persian Art
The simplest type of Persian art is to be seen in the
interior halls of the palace of Xerxes at Persepolis.67 The col
umns are eighteen feet in diameter and the base is formed of
two tauri placed one above the other on a square pedestal. It
is developed in a succession of bells and inverted volutes, above
which are two bulls' heads. In the palaces the figure of Cyrus
is shown furnished with wings like the genii of Assyria, and
these wings, with rows of well-marked feathers, are like those
of the Ninevite monsters.
Like the porticoes of Ninevite palaces, those of Persepolis
are garnished with human-headed bulls, only, while the Assy
rian bulls are placed even with the surface of the facade and
facing one another in the doorway, the Persepolitan bulls are
always placed at right angles to the opening and facing the
terrace. But the Persian artist shows himself superior to the
Assyrian/because, while preserving the animals in some fanci
ful posture, he has had the skill to soften the modeling of the
limbs, and to give to the wings a more graceful curve. The
86 See Figs. 155 and 157 in Babelon, Manual of Oriental Antiquities.
67 Dieulafoy op. cit 11, p. 80. 28

glyptic art and jewelry of the Persians was developed along
conventional lines. As among the Assyrians, it was in the rep
resentation of animals that the Persian artist revealed his
genius. A winged and horned griffin found on an engraved gem
shows in what fashion Persian art interpreted the Assyrian
Kerubim. The monster has the body and forepaws of a lion;
his hind legs, armed with powerful claws, are those of an eagle ;
he has the ears of an ox, and the horns of a wild goat ; his eye,
face and half-open beak belong to the falcon ; a bristling mane
adorns a neck arched like that of a horse ; he has a lion's tail ;
his great wings with well-marked feathers resemble in their
development those of the Persepolitan bulls. We know noth
ing in Persian art superior to this figure,68 the symbol of
strength and power, in which so many discordant elements are
combined with so fortunate a harmony.
In Egyptian Art
The history of the religious art of Egypt furnishes examples
of how primitive people guarded the approaches of their tem
ples by fantastic figures of animals.69 Thus at Karnak, avenues
of sphinxes and series of pylons led up to the various gates,
and formed triumphal approaches. There were Andro-
sphinxes, combining the head of a man and the body of a lion,
but other sphinxes,70 which united a ram's head with a lion's
body, have also been discovered. Elsewhere, in places where
the local worship admitted of such substitution, a couchant
ram, holding a statuette of the royal founder between his bent
forelegs, takes the place of the conventional sphinx.
When we turn to the black granite sphinxes discovered by
Mariette at Tanis in 1861,71 and by him ascribed to the Hyksos
period, we see at once a great contrast to the traditional pat
tern of art. Here the idea of energy is prominent. Wiry and
compact, the lion body is shorter than in sphinxes of the usual
type. The head, instead of wearing the conventional head-

88 See De Luynes bas-relief, Fig. 148.
69 Maspero, Egyptian Archaeology, p. 84.
70 Maspero, Figs. 91 and 92.
71 Maspero, Egyptian Archaeology, fig. 191, p. 221.

29

gear of folden linen, is clothed with an ample mane, which also
surrounds the face. The eyes are small, the nose is aquiline
and depressed at the tip, and the lower lip slightly protrudes.
The general type of the face is, in short, so unlike those we
are accustomed to find in Egypt, that it has been accepted in
proof of an Asiatic origin.
During the first three dynasties of the New Empire,72
sphinxes, colossi and statues are counted in large number, in
which the modeling is finer, the figures are better grouped, and
the relief is higher. Awakening to a sense of the picturesque,
artists introduced into their figures all the details of architec
ture, which formerly they had neglected. The taste for the
colossi, which had fallen somewhat into abeyance since the
early time of the Great Sphinx, was developed anew. In
western Thebes before the temples of Luxor and Karnak,
avenues of sphinxes have been found, which reach to the gate
way of the sacred enclosure. In one avenue they have a human
head upon a lion's body, and in another, they are fashioned in
the semblance of kneeling rams.
In Arab Art
Among cylinders with Sabean inscriptions is one which has
long been known, made of bluish chalcedony, the design of
which shows in the center a god, corresponding to the Syrian
and Assyrian Adad,73 with a square hat, with a long garment,
and with bows and quivers rising from his shoulders. One
hand is raised to receive his worshipper, and the other carries a
thunderbolt. At his foot is the bull of Adad. Behind him is
the figure presumably of a corresponding goddess. Milller74
thinks that the characters are rather Lihyanian than Sabean.
The style of the figures is much like that of the age of Assur-
bani-pal, c. 625 B. C. The figure of the god shows the strong
muscles of the leg and knee. As it was found at Anah, north
of Babylon, the desert tribes may at this early period have re
ceived the Sabean writing.

72 The Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth.
73 Wm. Hayes Ward, The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, p. 351.
74 Quoted by Ward.

30

Another cylinder is broken, but fortunately the important
part is preserved.75 The design shows a god seizing a lion with
each hand, upon whose back is a magnificent bird, with the
neck of a swan, or peacock and with an exaggerated crest.
Hommel76 has recognized a Sabean inscription on a cylinder,
the central figure of which is, as he correctly explains it, a
goddess with quivers on her shoulders, corresponding to the
Assyrian representations of Ishtar, and each side of her, as if
supporting her, is a winged male figure of a subsidiary deity,
such as we find in Assyrian art about a sacred tree. Hommel
has recognized the inscription of three letters, which he reads
as Shahr, the moongod of South Arabia.
Still another cylinder77 has three long-skirted, bearded per
sonages, of whom two appear to be in adoration before some
deity. Before the deity is an inscription of five Sabean letters
above which is a rude winged disk.
Very peculiar is a cylinder78 which shows a beardless figure,
with two profile heads facing in the same direction, with wings
rising from the shoulders. Next is a similar figure, except that
instead of human heads it has two antelope or goat heads. It
seizes a lion by the tail with one hand, and with the other
hand grasps the hand of a composite figure, the lower part of
which is a lion and the upper part a beardless human
figure. Next is a third figure with the same garments as the
other two, but having two birds' heads and carrying in the
arms two lions. They are not, as might at first be supposed
from the way they are carried, goats for sacrifice.
Some scholars believe that to the Arabs was due the origin
of the prevalent winged figures that came into use later in
Assyria and Syro-Hittite regions. But we are inclined to the
belief that these early ideas were held in common by the Baby
lonians and Sabeans. The number of Sabean cylinders is so
small that it is difficult to trace any marked development in
the art of representing these fantastic beings.

75 Fig. 1208 in Cylinders of Western Asia.
78 Hommel, Die Siidarabischen Altertumer, p. 32.
77 Fig. 1211 in Seal Cylinders of Western Asia.
78 Fig. 1212 in Seal Cylinders of Western Asia.

31

Chapter V.
In Greek Art
That the idea of the gryps or griffin, partly a lion and partly
an eagle, had some connection with the Hebrew Kerub
has been mentioned by Fried. Delitzsch,79 who also traces
the word from the Assyrian kirubu. It is better, however,
to derive the Greek word gryps from the Indo-Germanic
root grabh, meaning to 'claw' (Ger. greifen). The idea of
the gryps was evidently derived from the Persian. The es
sential idea of the griffin is the union of the two most power
ful animals of the air and land — the eagle and lion. On vases
from ancient Rhodes figures of the griffin appear. Copies of
the original specimens at Berlin may be seen in Roscher's 'Lexi-
kon der Griechischen und Romischen Mythologie.' The griffin
is depicted standing between two deer, which are quietly graz
ing. The wings are not quite lifted up as in other specimens.
In one figure we see two griffins facing each other, and sitting
on their hind legs with their wings entirely raised. This is
the archaic form. Of special importance are the figures on
coins, which repeatedly show that the primitive Greek form
of the griffin had its origin in Asia Minor. In its complete
form80 of both body and head, we only possess representations
discovered on coins from Asia Minor. What is especially to
be noted are the gold coins, on which the head of the griffin
with a human breast appears. On coins of the fourth century
the griffin is represented as running. On the coins struck by
the municipal authorities of Abdera we find the form of a grif
fin. The wings which are not raised have a natural appear
ance, but on the whole the representation is not that of the

79 Parodies, p. 150f.
80 Roscher, Lexikon der Griechischen und Romischen Mythologie vol
ii, p. 1742. '

32

archaic type. For instance, we have the griffin in the act of
leaping with his fore-paws raised.
Heads of griffin were found in a grave at Samos, but un
fortunately no inscriptions are attached. In a grave at Prae-
neste there were discovered small ivory bust figures, similar
to those found in Assyria. The workmanship we can recog
nize with assurance as either Assyrian or Phoenician.
It is quite probable that in Attica the Persian winged lions
were not unknown, for specimens of vases have come down
to us on which a wild animal is represented accompanied by
a real griffin. In another specimen, a man dressed in Persian
style holds two such animals, which are standing on their
hind legs.
Thus we see that the Greek form of these animals or Keru
bim were nothing more than representations of Oriental origi
nals.

33

Chapter VI.
General Conclusions
We have thus far explained the historical development of
the Kerubim among the Semitic and Greek people.81 We have
traced the ideas of the Kerub through all the periods of Israeli
tish religion.82 It is now important that we definitely realize the
primitive view of the universe out of which grew the concep
tion of the Kerubim. 83It dates from a time when men had not
learned to draw sharp distinctions between cause and effect.
Thus we know that to-day savages are quite incapable of dis
tinguishing between phenomenal and noumenal existence. For
example, arguing altogether from analogy they almost invar
iably ascribe to all animals and even to material objects a life
analogous to their own.84 This same lack of sharp distinction
between the nature of different kinds of visible beings appears
in the oldest myths. The kinship between gods and men is
only a part of a larger kinship which embraces the lower crea
tion. Myths connecting both men and gods with animals,
plants and rocks are found all over the world and were not
lacking among the Semites.85
To the same stage of thought belong the stories of transfor
mations of men into animals, which are not infrequent in Ara
bian legend. Thus Mohammed would not eat lizards because
he fancied them to be the offspring of a metamorphosed clan
of Israelites.86 Maqrizi87 relates of the Seicar in Hadramaut
that in the time of a drought, part of the tribe changed them-

81 See chapters iii, iv, v.
82 See chapter i.
83 Leuba, The Psychological Origin and Nature of Religion, p. 21.
84 Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, vol. I, p. 94f .
85 W. R. Smith, The Religion of the Semites, p. 42ff.
88Damiri, ii :87 (cf. Doughty, i:326).
87 De Valle Hadramaut (Bonn 1866) p. 19f.
34

selves into wolves ; that they had a magical means of assuming
and casting off the wolf shape. In the same anthropomorphic
spirit is conceived the Assyrian myth which includes the lion,
eagle and war-horse among the lovers of Ishtar.
In the region of plastic art the absence of any sharp line of
distinction between gods and men and lower creation is dis
played in the marked predilection for fantastic monsters, half
human, half bestial.88 In the late discovery at Carchemish89 a
form appears of a fierce beast of prey seated in calm dignity
like an irresistible guardian of holy things. This is the same
form which was adopted by various nations, such as the Hit
tites, the Egyptians, and the Greeks. The earliest Hebrew
Kerub came nearest to this idea of the griffin.
The association of the winged figures with the Tree of life in
Babylonian art would naturally lead to the belief that the
Kerubim were denizens of Paradise. These winged genii are
usually human in form with human heads.90 They are doubt
less the personification of the winds, by whose agency the fer
tilization of the palm-tree, the most important Oriental product,
is effected by nature. Thence they came to be regarded as
guardians of sacred things and places generally.
The function of the Kerub as the living chariot of Yahveh or
bearer of the Theophany was largely influenced by the Baby
lonian myth of the storm-god Zu, who is figured as a bird
deity. From the analogy of all Semitic religious symbols the
Kerub was primarily the black thunder cloud, which served
both as a vehicle and a weapon of the tempest-god. When
the Hebrews wished to represent the presence of Yahveh as
resting at Jerusalem, they had no hesitation in frankly adopting
this well-known Semitic symbol, and making for their god
a throne over which these Kerubim spread their covering wings.
Ezekiel based his description on actually existing works of art.
His figure is complicated, prompted undoubtedly by the con
sideration that beings which must ever go forward needed

88 King, The Development of Religion, p. 247.
89 See chapter iii above.
90 Chapter iii, p. 20. 35

to have a face on every side. It seems quite clear that Eze
kiel borrowed his ideas from the winged bulls familiar to us
from Assyrian art.
We come across many representations of winged monsters
and chimaeras in the countries adjoining Palestine. "The
famous monster represented on the tomb of the Egyptian king,
Chuecu-hotep (c. 2100 B. C.) shows a leopard from whose
back issues a human head, with wings on either side of the
neck. This is an attempt to combine the attributes of strength
and swiftness in animals with the intellect of man, in repre
sentation of the daimon spirits. Ezekiel's description of
the Kerub is more detailed than anything that we possess. The
question is whether the development seen in Ezekiel was a
radical departure from the original K erub-concept of the pure
ly animal griffin. Riehm92 thinks that Ezekiel's conception of
these composite beings was in the shape of winged human
forms and in favor of this view much can be said. Kerubim
are found in the temple alternating with lions and oxen;
hence it would seem that they were conceived in a form other
than animal. In the temple and in the tabernacle they are
standing upright, with two wings and one face. It might
seem then that they were meant to be winged men. Moreover,
even in Ezekiel the principal face is that of a man. But
Riehm's view, while in many particulars reasonable, seems to
be somewhat overdrawn. The Kerub of Ezekiel was, of course,
largely a product of the Prophet's imagination combined with
the characteristics of the ancient Semitic Kerub, and it is quite
possible for Ezekiel to have made his description more com
posite than the accepted ideal, so as to suit the purpose of his
apocalyptic description. Thus he could have thought out a
figure, the body of which had the feet of an ox, the wings of an
eagle, the mane of a lion, and then have anthropomorphized it
sufficiently to give it four human faces. But it is not natural to
suppose that he made out a purely human figure, with wings, to
which he would apply the term Hayyoth. In the O.T. the Kerub

91 See Pietschmann, Gesch. der Phbnizier, pp. 176, 177.
92 See Handworterbuch des Biblischen Altertums, vol. I, p. 271.

36

is, from the first, represented as something well known — as
something that had lived on in the popular belief since the
earliest days. Absolutely nothing is said as to how the repre
sentations are to be executed. That is simply left to the artist.
This fact explains the extraordinary figures such as sphinxes,
winged bulls, etc., which could be readily made by any one
in the usual traditional form. Besides, as ornaments for the
sanctuary, and its lavers, animal figures were more in keeping
with the oxen, lions, palms and flower wreaths, than winged
men. In addition, the passage93 Ezek. x:14 can only mean
that ox and Kerub were practically identical.
At a still later time the Kerubim were spoken of by poets and
others, as symbols of natural forces. The forces of nature
were alike Yahveh's guards and ministers. Mythology became
a special study and its details acquired new meanings, and the
Kerub-myth thus passed into an entirely new phase. The gen
eral character of the Maccabean psalms agrees also with Eze
kiel's conception. Here the Kerub is the divine chariot and has
some relation to the storm-wind and storm-cloud. In two pas
sages,94 as we have seen, there appears to be a new conception
where the Kerubim are Yahveh's throne. It may be, however,
that the expression 'enthroned upon the Kerubim' is merely a
condensed phrase for 'seated on the throne guarded by Keru
bim.' In the passage Ps. xxii :3 where Yahveh is described as being
'enthroned upon the praises of Israel' the idea agrees with
later Jewish belief regarding angels and is evidently the work
of a priestly theorist.
The Israelites in the early period never doubted the actual
existence of such beings. Kerubim are imaginary beings of a
religious nature, represented, as was the custom among all an
cient peoples, in a very real way. They are not angels, but
symbolical figures of another order. They are products of re
ligious imagination, which belong to that large class of beings
with which, from of old, the religious imagination of the

93 Unless we assume that there is a textual error.
94 Psalms lxxx.i, xcix.l. 37

Semites had peopled the spiritual world. When foreign lands
were brought into connection with Israel or became politically
subject to Israel's God, these foreign deities came to be popu
larly regarded as subordinate demons, who carried out the will
of Yahveh. To Israel's prophets, however, there was only one
God — Yahveh — but when the popular religion was slow in
surrendering the early beliefs in 'demons' and local gods,
even the prophets were apt to regard these beings as subordi
nate deities.95 We have seen as regards ancient South Arabia
that the idea of human and divine kinship was so deeply rooted
that it completely dominated the practical side of religion and
that this conception was a ruling one even after men ceased to
worship deities that were not originally their own. Among the
Semites as among other people, if the tribal deity was thought
of as the parent of the stock, a goddess, not a god, would have
been the object of worship.96 So long as kinship was traced
through the mother alone, a male deity could only be the cousin
of the tribe. In the Old Testament the kingship of Yahveh is
never set forth in a way to suggest the idea that divine kingship
was peculiar to the Hebrews. On the contrary, other nations are
the kingdoms of the false gods.97 Hence at a later date, it is pos
sible to suppose that the kingship of the supreme deity means his
sovereignty over other gods, because all social fusion between
two communities tended to bring about a religious fusion also.
Sometimes two gods were themselves fused into one, as when
the Israelites in their local Yahveh-cult identified him with the
Baalim of the Canaanite high places.98 This process was great
ly facilitated by the extreme similarity in the attributes ascribed
to different local gods. The old Semites believed in the exis
tence of many gods, for they accepted as real the gods of their
enemies as well as their own. As the small groups coalesced
into larger unities, a society and kinship of many gods began

95 See Prof. C. H. Toy's article, "Polytheism in Genesis as a mark
of Date," Essays in Modern Theology and Related Subjects, pp. 1-12,
Briggs Memorial Volume.
96 See W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites, p. 52.
97 Isa. x :10.
98 See Judges, ch. i. 38

to be formed. A systematic hierarchy of local deities is due
to the Babylonian and Assyrian influences,99 the labours of
statesmen to build up a consolidated empire out of a multitude
of local communities were always seconded by the priests,
whose tendency was to give a certain unity of scheme to the
multiplicity of local worships.100 The same tendency is also
found in S. Arabia among the early Yemenites. In other
words the tendency was plainly towards a unification of a num
ber of henotheistic systems, a unification which if left untram-
meled, would have probably produced more than one mono
theism. From the earliest days the holy God — Yahveh — was pictured
by the Hebrews as descending to earth and resting in the tem
ple and they did not hesitate to use the figures of these 'mons
trous beings' or 'demi-gods' and represent them as the servants
and attendants of Yahveh. Hence when Ezekiel thinks of
Yahveh as coming in judgment, or as bestowing upon Israel a
new proof of his gracious presence, he again sees this god
seated upon his throne and borne to earth by the Kerubim. And
thus whenever Yahveh's sacred treasures had to be guarded
and hidden, the Hebrews naturally thought of these beings as
symbols of Yahveh's presence and of his unapproachable
majesty.

99 In the West, where kingship succumbed, the tendency was toward
a large pantheon.
ioo See chapter iii. 39

Life.
Born in Troy, N. Y., March 14, 1866, and prepared for col
lege at the High School of that city. Graduated from Yale in
1889 receiving the degree of B.A. Was Teacher of Classics
for three years after graduation, at the High School, Troy, N.
Y., and entered Yale Divinity School in 1892; graduated in
1894. Received M. A. from Yale University June, 1903. Was
pastor of the Presbyterian church at Charlotte, N. Y., for ten
years, of the Grace Presbyterian church, Rochester, N. Y., for
two years, and assistant pastor of the Central Presbyterian
church, Rochester, N. Y. Entered as a graduate student of
Columbia in Oct., 1909.

40

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