• Memories of Eden
    Awake!—1970 | March 22

    • The author of Halley’s Bible Handbook writes: “These old records, carved on stone and clay, at the very dawn of history, in the original home of man . . . are evidence that the main features of the Biblical story of Adam became deeply fixed in the thought of primitive man.”

      Pertinent to this are the remarks of archaeologist Sir Charles Marston in his book The Bible Comes Alive:

      “As one goes over the ancient cuneiform writings, some before Abraham, and the engraved seals and stone carvings from Babylonia, Assyria, and other early civilizations, a remarkable trend of evidence is revealed to us. Even from the comparatively small proportion of these relics of a remote past that come to our notice, we derive the impression that the stories of the Creation, the Temptation and Fall of Man . . . as described in Genesis, were then matters of current knowledge. And that perhaps under a polytheistic setting, they were taught in the schools of Ur of the Chaldees.”

      Reflections in Babylonia and Assyria

      What exactly were these matters that were perhaps taught under a polytheistic setting? Note, for example, the belief expressed in certain Babylonian inscriptions. Halley reports that these ancient religious writings claim that “near Eridu was a garden, in which was a mysterious Sacred Tree, a Tree of Life, planted by the gods, whose roots were deep, while its branches reached to heaven, protected by guardian spirits, and no man enters.” It is seen from this that some memorable features of Eden’s events apparently still lingered in Babylonian minds.

      The foregoing belief seems to indicate that the tree of life was something that the ancients could not quite forget about Eden. John Elder in his book Prophets, Idols and Diggers observes: “In old Babylonian literature there are frequent references to a Tree of Life, such as is mentioned in Genesis 2:9. Representations of the tree are frequent in alabaster reliefs and seals. Its fruits were supposed to confer eternal life on those who ate of them. One cylinder seal impression among those found seems to be a depiction of the temptation and Tree of Life.”

      The cylinder seal to which Mr. Elder refers is evidently the one housed in the British Museum, in London, England. It is sometimes referred to as the “Temptation Seal.” The impression or picture it leaves when it is rolled on soft clay reflects Edenic happenings. A tree is shown in the center with a man seated on the right and a woman seated on the left. Behind the woman a serpent is seen standing erect as if it is speaking to her. Though the full meaning behind the symbolisms of this Babylonian seal is not known, the resemblances in it justify mention.

      Assyrian memories of Eden were not unlike those of Babylon. This is because Assyria’s religious ideas were almost the same as those held by the Babylonians. In fact, generally speaking, the Assyrian gods and goddesses are identical with the Babylonian deities except for one named Asshur.

      Prominent among the Assyrian memories of Eden is their sacred tree or “tree of life.” The motif of a sacred tree being guarded by two winged creatures appears often in the sculpture found in their palaces. In some cases the winged creatures are half animal and half human. These distorted mythical representations are perhaps recollections of the posting of cherubs “to guard the way to the tree of life.”​—Gen. 3:24.

      In 1932 a stone seal was found twelve miles north of Nineveh. This seal, now located in the University Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, appears to reflect another ancient memory of Eden. It shows a man and a woman naked and walking bent down as if brokenhearted and downcast. Also a serpent is shown following them. Dr. E. A. Speiser, who found the seal, said it was “strongly suggestive of the Adam and Eve story.”