SNAKES

Waipa Post, Volume 45, Issue 3252, 8 November 1932, Page 2

SNAKES

The story of Adam and Eve and the serpent—on which is based man's unreasoning hatred of the snake throughout Christendom—has been traced back to prehistoric times by new discoveries just made in Mesopotamia, says the American Weekly. It was a familiar story 6000 years ago, centuries before the Bible was written, according to these finds, and scientists are pleased in having discovered at last the original source of all the slander against man's lowly friend, the snake. At Tepe Gawra, in the highlands- of Northern Mesopotamia, a joint expedition of the University of Pennsylvania and the American School of Oriental Research has unearthed remnants of a civilisation that flourished four thousand years before Christ. Among the objects of great scientific interest found was a clay seal, on which an artist of this remote period had depicted the flight of man and woman before the menace of a serpent. The man and woman were pictured, dejected and perhaps penitent, retreating before the darting tongue of the snake. This seal was made long before the Bible was written, and is thought to be the earliest pictured version of the Garden of Eden legend.

It is a curious fact that Christian peoples, almost alone among 1 the population of the earth, have a horro'r and loathing of snakes; whereas nearly all non-Christian tribes and races, in antiquity and modern times as well, have befriended, loved and even worshipped the snake. Science teaches that he is not an enemy of man unless first attacked. He is useful in detroying millions of rodents that eat up the crop's of farmers. He is an intelligent pet, and can be trained to dance and do other tricks. No child has an "instinctive " dread of a snake, scientific experiment has proved, and children have to be taught by their nervous parents that snakes are " dangerous." Why, then, do we recoil with horror when a snake approaches ? Why do we insist on killing it instantly, without mercy, whether it is a poisonous snake or not? Because, say modern scientists, we blame the snake, whether we are fundamentalists or not, for the fall of man and all his woes; we associate the snake with the devil of the Garden of Eden, who tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, and in her turn to tempt Adam to eat lit. Whether we take th e story literally or nofy we have been prejudiced against the snake by the beliefs of our ancestors.

In virtually all other religions the snake has been given a place of dignity and respect, if not of actual veneration. He was not associated with the devil, but was regarded as having the attributes of a god. His remarkable trick of moving with lightning swiftness, though he has no hands or legs, gave him the reputation of moving by his spirit alone, and therefore being godlike. His gift of shedding his skin so often, and crawling out of it with a brand new coat, was looked upon as a symbol of immortality. He was worshipped by the Egyptians, and Greeks and Romans, the Druids, and Norseand virtually every uncivilised tribe of ancient times, and he is venerated to-day by the Chinese, the. Japanese, the Hindus, most all Afri-' cans and many other racial divisions.