"A new analysis of a 4,300-year-old silver goblet has identified the earliest known visual depiction of creation, showing themes that closely align with the Bible's Book of Genesis. The artifact, known as the Ain Samiya goblet, stands just three inches tall and is decorated with intricate images of snakes, chimeras, gods, celestial bodies and a mysterious 'boat' of light. Discovered in 1970 in the Judean Mountains of the West Bank,"
"A recent study has revealed that the goblet's scenes depict the cosmos before its formation, representing chaos, and the cosmos after order was established. Dr Eberhard Zangger, president of the Luwian Studies Foundation and one of the study's authors, explained that the story illustrated on the goblet evolved into different versions over time, including the Babylonian Enuma Elish and the biblical Genesis creation narrative."
"'This artifact gives us an incredibly detailed picture of how people in 2300 BC imagined the cosmos before creation.' The parallels to the Bible are striking, as Genesis 1:1-4 reads: 'When God began to create heaven and earth, the earth being unformed and void... God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.' Zangger noted that while written references to these creation concepts are ancient,"
The Ain Samiya goblet is a 4,300-year-old silver cup about three inches tall decorated with snakes, chimeras, gods, celestial bodies and a 'boat' of light. The cup was found in 1970 in a burial pit near the Palestinian village of Ain Samiya and has been displayed at the Israel Museum. Scenes on the goblet depict the cosmos before formation, representing chaos, and the cosmos after order was established. The imagery traces a narrative that later appears in the Babylonian Enuma Elish and the biblical Genesis creation narrative. Visual depictions of these creation concepts from this period are extremely rare, making the goblet a unique window into ancient cosmology.
Read at Mail Online
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