古代近东及临近文明之蛇观及蛇神崇拜的传播

The View of Snake and the Spread of Snake God Worship in Ancient Near Eastern and Nearby Civilizations

古代近东及临近文明中有很多关于蛇的传说,传说中蛇的形象有蛇、半人半蛇、半兽半蛇、龙、飞蛇等。《希伯来圣经·创世记》第三章中有关于蛇和生命树、永生的记载,《吉尔伽美什史诗》中也讲到蛇偷走吉尔伽美什找到的仙草,使之失去再返年轻的机会。这两处的蛇似乎都与永生、生命有关,而且蛇在古代近东及临近文化中的确可象征生命、繁殖、医治、复活等,也因此不少文化中有蛇神崇拜,其缘起和流传也很复杂,比如拿着双蛇杖的希腊的赫尔墨斯神的原型可能是古代巴比伦的蛇神,经过从巴比伦、赫梯—叙利亚、伊特鲁里亚到希腊—罗马的传播才成了赫尔墨斯。但在一般文化寓意上,大部分古代近东及临近文明中蛇和龙也有负面意象,很多屠龙传说也间接说明了这点。

There are many legends about snakes in ancient Near East and nearby civilizations,and their images are described as snakes,half-human and half-snake,half-beast and half-snake,dragon,flying snake,etc.In Hebrew Bible Genesis"chapter 3,there are records about snakes,tree of life and eternal life,and the Epic of Gilgamesh also tells it was a snake that stole the magic plant that Gilgamesh had found,thus caused him to lose the opportunity to return to youth.In these two classics,the snakes are both connected with immortality and life.Snakes in ancient near eastern and nearby civilizations can indeed symbolize life,fertility,healing and resurrection,therefore,snake worship exists in many cultures and its origin and spread is complex,for example,the prototype of the Greek medical god Hermes with a double snake stick may be the snake god of ancient Babylon,which became Hermes after spreading from Babylon,Hittite,Syria,Etrusca,Greece to Rome.However,in terms of general cultural implication,ancient Near Eastern and most nearby civilizations also had negative images of snakes and dragons,which is indirectly explained by many legends of dragon slaughter.