Assyrian Tree of Life

The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the Origins of Jewish Monotheism and Greek
Philosophy
Author(s): Simo Parpola
Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 52, No. 3 (Jul., 1993), pp. 161-208
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/545436
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THE ASSYRIAN TREE OF LIFE: TRACING THE ORIGINS OF JEWISH
MONOTHEISM AND GREEK PHILOSOPHY*
SIMO PARPOLA, University of Helsinki
I. INTRODUCTION
A stylized tree with obvious religious significance already occurs as an art motif
in fourth-millennium Mesopotamia, and, by the second millennium B.C., it is found
everywhere within the orbit of the ancient Near Eastern oikumene, including Egypt,
Greece, and the Indus civilization.' The meaning of the motif is not clear,2 but its over-
all composition strikingly recalls the Tree of Life of later Christian, Jewish, Muslim,
and Buddhist art.3 The question of whether the concept of the Tree of Life actually ex-
isted in ancient Mesopotamia has been debated, however,4 and thus many scholars today
prefer the more neutral term "sacred tree" when referring to the Mesopotamian Tree.5
* The substance of this paper was presented at theL'Arbre stylisd, vol. 3, nos. 924-36); they appear to
XXXIX Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale inrepresent an import from the Levant connected with
Heidelberg, 8 July 1992. The present version hasthe Hyksos invasion and Egypt's expansion under
benefited from oral comments received later from Tuthmosis I, as also indicated by the Osiris myth
T. Abusch, Farouk al-Rawi, J. C. Greenfield, W. G. explicitly associating the Tree with the city of Byblos.
Lambert, J. Reade, M. Weinfeld, and D. Weisberg;
The earliest Greek examples (ibid., nos. 891-94), from
the responsibility for all the interpretations and errors
the fifteenth century, are even more pronouncedly
remains, however, entirely mine. I apologize for theBabylonian.
massive footnote apparatus, which was unavoidable 2 See n. 26 below.
in order to provide the necessary documentation and 3 For examples, see Roger Cook, The Tree of Life:
background information; those who find it disturbing Image for the Cosmos (London, 1978), passim (for
are advised to skip the notes and to read the text first.example, pl. 46, The Great Cross of the Lateran,
Most abbreviations are those of the Chicago Assyr- early Christian, with confronted animals; pl. 49,
ian Dictionary and R. Borger's Handbuch der Christ on the Tree of Life, by Pacino da Bonaguido,
Keilschriftliteratur (Berlin and New York, 1975). early fourteenth century; pl. 47, Tree of Life with
1 For a general survey of the distribution of the confronted centaurs, Saracen Mosaic at Palermo,
motif see the typological study of H. York, "Heiliger twelfth century; pl. 52, Menorah as Tree of Life, He-
Baum," in RIA, vol. 4, pp. 269-80, with the bibliogra- brew Bible, Perpignan, 1299; pl. 19, Tree of Life and
phy of earlier studies, ibid., pp. 280 ff.; see also Knowledge
C. flanked by two bulls, India, Vigayanagar
Kepinski, L'Arbre stylise en Asie occidentale au 2e period, 1336-1546). See also H. Schm6kel, "Ziegen
millinaire avant J.-C. (Paris, 1982). The Harappan am Lebensbaum," AfO 18 (1957-58): 373 ff.
forms of the Tree, attested in pottery, glyptic, and 4 See most recently A. Sjiberg, "Eve and the Cha-
script since 2400 B.C., display Proto-Elamite and meleon," in W. Boyd Barrick and John R. Spencer,
Akkadian influence. The earliest Egyptian examples eds., In the Shelter of Elyon: Essays on Ancient Pales-
date from the sixteenth century and reveal an affinity
tinian Life and Literature in Honor of G. W. Ahlstriim,
with contemporary Babylonian forms (see Kepinski, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supple-
ment Series 31 (Sheffield, 1984), pp. 219 ff.
[JNES 52 no. 3 (1993)] 5 Cf. H. Danthine, Le Palmier-dattier et les arbres
@ 1993 by The University of Chicago. sacres dans l'iconographie de l'Asie occidentale an-
All rights reserved. cienne (Paris, 1937), p. 212; J. Reade, Assyrian
0022-2968/93/5203-0001$1.00 Sculpture (London, 1983), p. 27.
161
162 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES
volute
inged disk
flankin figure tai treamer
co e
pomegranate rown
runk
palmett ruit
-node
bucket
garland
base
FIG. 1.-Structural elements of the Assyrian Tree Motif
0 0
o)Y.IIIIIo
FIG. 2.-Triadic configuratio
THE ASSYRIAN TREE OF LIFE 163
About the middle of the second millennium, a new

the Tree becomes noticeable leading to the emer
Tree under Tukulti-Ninurta I.6 With the rise of the
the Tree spreads throughout the entire Near East7
end of the first millennium.8 Its importance for im
pearance on royal garments9 and jewelry,10 officia
sculptures of royal palaces, as in the throneroom of
is the central motif.'3
The hundreds of available specimens of the Late Assyrian Tree exhibit a great deal of
individual variation (see Appendix A, pp. 200-201 below) reflecting the fact that the
motif and most of its iconography were inherited from earlier periods.14 Nevertheless,
6 This form of the Tree is principally character- Its Remains, vol. 1 [London, 1966], fig. 58) and the
ized by the "garland" of cones, pomegranates, or pal- ivory handle of a fly wisk from the Northwest Palace
mettes surrounding its crown and/or trunk. Its formal at Nimrud (ibid., fig. 85).
development through the Middle Assyrian period can 1 For example, the seal of Minu-epus-ana-ili, the
be traced from dated seal impressions and datable chief of granaries (D. Collon, First Impressions [Lon-
seals; see the studies of Moortgat and Beran in ZA 47 don, 1988], fig. 345).
(1941), 48 (1944), and 52 (1957). The earliest exam- 12 Note, in addition to the wall paintings of Kar
ples which can be dated with certainty are a seal im- Tukulti-Ninurta (see n. 6 above), the glazed-brick
pression in a text (KAJ 144) dated in the eponymy of panel of Shalmaneser III from Nimrud restored by
Tukulti-Ninurta (1243 B.c.; for the impression, see Reade, "A Glazed-Brick Panel from Nimrud," Iraq
ZA 47, p. 77), two ivories from this king's palace at 25 (1963): 38-47 and pl. 9 (also Mallowan, Nimrud,
Assur (Kepinski, L'Arbre stylise, vol. 3, nos. 414 f.), vol. 2, fig. 373; color photograph in W. Orthmann,
and the wall paintings of Kar Tukulti-Ninurta (ibid., Der alte Orient, Propylaen Kunstgeschichte, vol. 18
nos. 448 f.; see W. Andrae, Farbige Keramik aus [Frankfurt, 1988], pl. 19).
Assur [Berlin, 1923], pls. 2 f.). An uninscribed seal 13 See J. Meuszyriski, Die Rekonstruktion der Re-
of unknown provenance (Collection de Clercq, liefdarstellungen und ihrer Anordnung im Nordwest-
342bis) containing a precursor of the Assyrian Tree palast von Kalhu (Nimrud), Baghdader Forschungen
is usually dated to the late fourteenth century on sty- 2 (Mainz am Rhein, 1981), and Irene J. Winter, "The
listic grounds (see Beran, ZA 52, p. 160, fig. 31); Program of the Throneroom of Ashurnasirpal II," in
note also the seal impression in KAJ 247 (ibid., fig. Prudence O. Harper and Holly Pittman, eds., Essays
30, from a fourteenth-century archive). on Near Eastern Art and Archaeology in Honor of
7 See, for example, Danthine, Palmier-dattier, Charles Kyrle Wilkinson (New York, 1983), pp. 15-
figs. 373 (Cyprus), 472 (Byblos), 487 (Nerab near 32. For the Tree of Sargon II's palace at Khorsabad,
Aleppo), 499 (Susa), 802 (Gezer), 927 (Naukratis), see P. E. Botta and E. Flandin, Monument de Ninive
930 (Egypt); F. Hangar, "Das urartiische Lebens- (Paris, 1849-50), vol. 1, pl. 80, and vol. 2, pls. 116,
baummotiv," Iranica Antiqua 6 (1966): pl. 22:1 119, 139, and 144.
(Adilcevaz, north of Lake Van). 14 The pre-Assyrian Tree already was a complex
8 See, for example, Danthine, Palmier-dattier, motif subject to considerable detail variation in its
figs. 807 (Neo-Babylonian), 188, 459, 466, 473, 496 component elements; by mixing the traditional ele-
(Achaemenid), 186 (Parthian), 302 (Sasanian). ments with Assyrian innovations, one could, in prin-
9 See A. H. Layard, Monuments of Nineveh ciple, produce an unlimited number of tree variants.
(London, 1849), pls. 5 and 6b (garment of Ashurna- Nevertheless, considering the predominantly sche-
sirpal II; see also J. V. Canby, "Decorated Garments matic nature of most Neo-Assyrian representations,
in Ashurnasirpal's Sculpture," Iraq 33 [1971]: 31 ff., the extent of attested variation is surprising. As ob-
pls. XVIII f.); E. Strommenger and M. Hirmer, The served by Reade, Iraq 27 (1965): 126 f., "so far as
Art of Mesopotamia (London, 1964), pls. 251 and can be ascertained, no two full-size trees [in the pal-
254; see also SAA 7 pl. 27 (garment of Assurbanipal). ace of Ashurnasirpal II] were identical"; the same
Note also the Assyrianizing trees in the garments of applies to the hundreds of examples on seals, disre-
Marduk-nadin-ahhe (1099-1082) and NabOi-mukin- garding obviously mass-produced items. Thus it does
apli (978-943), BBSt., pls. 54 and 74 (cf. Danthine, seem that there was a conscious effort to make every
Palmier-dattier, figs. 417, 462, and 511). representation of the Tree look different. See also
10 For example, the "Nimrud jewel" found in the n. 63 below.
grave of a princess (M. E. L. Mallowan, Nimrud and
its characteristic features" stand out even in the crudest examples

easy to distinguish it from its predecessors. Essentially,16 it consi
palmette crown'" standing on the stone base'9 and surrounded by a
or intersecting lines20 fringed with palmettes, pinecones, or pom
more elaborate renditions, the trunk regularly has joints or nodes
base22 and a corresponding number of small circles to the righ
(fig. 2).23 Antithetically posed animal, human, or supernatural fig
(Amsterdam,
15 Apart from the surrounding network 1974),re-
already p. 371 ("unity in multiplicity;
ferred to in n. 6 (see further n. 20 concord; below),fertility-growth
these in- and resurrection"). The
clude the winged disk hovering above fringethe
wouldTree (see
thus have served to stress the underly-
n. 25) and significant changes in the ing unity of the of
inventory design
the enclosed by it. It may, how-
flanking figures (n. 24) and in the iconography ever, have had other connotations as well. This is
of the
winged disk and the trunk (n. 22). The suggested by the fact
systematic in-that the position of the cones
troduction of these features is clearly andnot
pomegranates
a matter in of
the fringe could be taken by
style but, rather, indicates a profound change
palmettes, in the
a universal symbol of regeneration, self-
symbolism of the Tree (see also n. renewal, and victory over death (see Baldock, Ele-
66 below).
16 In view of the great number of variants,
ments, it is
p. 105, and de Vries, Dictionary, pp. 356 f.).
impossible to give a universally valid, compact
Note that de-
both pomegranate and pinecone carry simi-
scription of the Tree; the one given here is
lar symbolic an ab-see above and, for the latter,
meanings;
straction combining the most typical de features of the
Vries, Dictionary, p. 367, s.v. pine ("immortality,
Neo-Assyrian representations of thelon Tree.
evity; victory").
17 In elaborate renderings, the trunk 2 The standard number of nodes is three per
is occasion-
ally divided by vertical striae into three parallel
trunk. They col- depicted as three superim-
are usually
umns. This tripartite trunk may correspond posed horizontal tobands
theholding together the three-
three-stemmed tree of some representations columned trunk(see (see
Ap- n. 17 above); they could be
pendix A). reduced to mere lines, and, in some variants, the en-
18 Occasionally the palmette crown can take the tire trunk could consist of three superimposed nodes
form of a flower, a disk, or a wheel; see Appendix A, only. In trees with an elaborate crown and base the
and cf. fig. 6 with n. 63 on the significance of these top and bottom nodes could be omitted as superflu-
variants. ous, while the middle node was more consistently
19 The base is usually represented as a mountain, retained. For the four-noded trunk occurring as a
rock, or stone block. It can also be omitted alto- variant of the standard three-noded trunk in the re-
gether, but its place is then taken by the lowermost liefs of Ashurnasirpal II, see n. 52 and pp. 188-89
joint of the trunk. On the symbolic meaning of the below; note that trees flanked by the king never have
base (material world, netherworld), see pp. 180, four 187 nodes and that the extra node may lack the cus-
with n. 98, 192-93, and 198 below. tomary volutes (see, for example, Paley, King of the
20 The number, direction, patterning, and rendi- World, p. 96, fig. 12b, second node from top).
tion of the lines can vary considerably. In the reliefs 23 In the sculptures of Ashurnasirpal II, these cir-
of Ashurnasirpal II, they resemble streams of water,cles are embedded in the loops of the volutes emerg-
while in the reliefs of Sargon II and contemporarying from the nodes and thus are clearly associated
seals they resemble interlacing cords in a net; else-with the latter in a triadic arrangement. There are
where, they recall rungs in a ladder (see n. 98). Innormally two circles per node, one on each side of
each case, they effectively reduce the tree to an inte-the tree (see J. Stearns, Reliefs from the Palace of
gral part of a larger whole. On the symbolism of theAshurnasirpal II, AfO Beiheft 15 [Graz, 1961], pls.
line network, see n. 55 below. 40, 69, 70, 73, 78, 81, and 84 [three nodes, six cir-
21 Hitherto commonly taken as fertility symbols cles]; pls. 11, 17, 18, 26, 31, 34, 75, and 80 [four
(cf. RIA, vol. 3, p. 626), but as Farouk al-Rawi in- nodes, eight circles]). In some representations, addi-
forms me (oral communication), in Iraq pinecones tional volute pairs appear in the empty spaces be-
and pomegranates are traditionally symbols of unity. tween the nodes (ibid., pls. 7, 9, 13, 28, 33, 57, 59,
In Christian symbolism, the pomegranate represents and 65, and see also fig. 2). These additional ele-
"multiplicity in unity as the Church, with the seeds ments must not be confused with the volutes emerg-
as its many members" and, secondarily, "regenera- ing from the nodes; note the different vertical
tion and resurrection" (J. Baldock, The Elements ofalignment of their loops in Stearns, Reliefs, pls. 13
Christian Symbolism [London, 1990], p. 108); see and 59. On the meaning of the circles and volutes,
also A. de Vries, Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery see n. 25 below.
tree,24 while a winged disk hovers over the whole.25

tations are executed with meticulous attention to over
II. THE TREE: ITS SYMBOLISM AND CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURE
THE BASIC SYMBOLISM OF THE TREE
What did this Tree stand for, and why was it chosen as an imperial symb
considerable literature on this question, but despite the most painstaking an
iconographic evidence, on the whole, little has been explained.26 This is
the almost total lack of relevant textual evidence. The symbolism of the Tr
cussed in cuneiform sources, and the few references to sacred trees or p
potamian literature have proved too vague or obscure to be productive.27
early ibexes,
24 The flanking animals consist of goats, Christian iconography; see also de Vries, Dic-
gazelles, and stags, all associated withtionary,
sexualp.po-
235; Baldock, Elements p. 98; and n. 93
below.
tency and animal instincts, but also with regeneration
(the ibex specifically with Ea, the god ofItWisdom should be noted that the triad of gods and the
and Life). While extremely common in earliervolute on top of the disk are in complementary dis-
peri-
tribution: whenever the former appears, the latter is
ods, they are rare in Late Assyrian representations,
lacking.
where their place is largely taken by various Hence
kinds of the volute with its loops seems to
beoften
protective genies and/or the king, the latter an icon for the gods accompanying the central
por-
trayed in a mirror image on both sides figure. of theOn some seals, the place of the accompany-
Tree
(on private seals, the royal figure could ing be gods is taken by two juxtaposed circles; on oth-
replaced
by that of the private individual). The genies, ers, the whole trinity, including the central god, is
mostly
depicted in the act of sprinkling the king replaced by three juxtaposed circles (see Appendix
and/or
the Tree with holy water, largely consistB,of pp.mythi-
201-2 below). This strongly suggests that the
cal sages (apkallu) serving the god Ea (see triadic
F. A. arrangements
M. of circles, volutes, and nodes
Wiggermann, Mesopotamian Protective on Spirits
the trunk (see n. 23 above) also stand for trinities
[Groningen, 1992], especially pp. 65 ff.). of Neither
gods. the
mirror-imaged king nor the mythical sages 6Revealingly,
are at- apodictic statements about the
tested as flanking figures before the emergence meaningof of the
theTree are carefully avoided in recent
Lake Assyrian Tree, so they certainly represent studies, though
gen-there appears to be a general consen-
uine Assyrian innovations. sus among experts that it was related to fertility. Cf.
25 The association of disk and tree already Reade, occurs
Assyrian Sculpture, p. 27: "Its exact meaning
in Mitannian art, but the Assyrian representations escapes us, but it could be taken as representing in
differ significantly from their Mitannian counterparts some way the fertility of the earth, more especially
both regarding the position of the disk the and landits
of Ashur";
ico- similarly York, RIA, vol. 4,
nography; see W. G. Lambert, "Trees, p. 279; Paley,
Snakes andKing of the World, pp. 234 f.;
Gods in Ancient Syria and Anatolia," BSOAS H. W. F. 48 Saggs, The Might That Was Assyria (Lon-
(1985): 438 f. Iconographical innovationsdon, not1984),
found pp. 234 f.; Lambert, "Trees, Snakes and
in the Mitannian disk include streamersGods," hanging p. 438. Steams (Reliefs, p. 71) suggests that
from the disk, often extended to enclose the tree; a "the meaning of the tree was as changed as its form
feathered tail; a god riding in the disk; and a volute and that its precise intent.. . had become, like other
on its top, resembling those emerging from the mystic symbols of all ages, obscured under the accu-
nodes of the trunk (see Appendix B pp. 201-2 be- mulation of religious experience." M. Roaf, Cultural
low). The streamers may terminate in forked light- Atlas of Mesopotamia (Oxford, 1990), p. 226, tersely
ning bolts, circles, or palmettes. The god in the disk states "the significance of the motif is not clear."
regularly raises his right hand in benediction and Kepinski's voluminous study of second-millennium
may hold a bow in his left hand; in some representa- iconography of the Tree, L'Arbre stylise, does not
tions, he is accompanied by two smaller gods riding deal with the meaning of the motif.
on the wings of the disk. As pointed out by G. Con- 27 A case in point is G. Widengren's important
tenau, "Note d'iconographie religieuse assyrienne," study The King and the Tree of Life in Ancient Near
RA 37 (1940-41): 160, the blessing gesture recalls Eastern Religion (Uppsala, 1951). Widengren's con-
the symbolic representation of God the Father in clusions have not been accepted by Assyriologists
:1~::::-:-::
::
;::I::
6~1
~ii-ii--
_ ::: :i
:-i-i-i~
:i::-
:-:-.i-
i
::-:-::-
Piiii~iii-~
FIG. 3.-Slab B-23 of the throneroom of Ashurnasirpal II. Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum
e1-- ~1 -1---J-l--r~Rm~iD;---
: i z
it I
1~
FIG. 4.-The Ki
Two fundamentally important points have neve

the function of the Tree in the throneroom of Ash
Irene Winter has convincingly demonstrated tha
flanking the Tree under the winged disk (Slab B-
"vice-regent of ASSur" in the accompanying inscrip
sents the divine world order29 maintained by the k
AS'ur, embodied in the winged disk hovering above
Secondly, it was observed some time ago that in so
of the Tree between the winged genies (fig. 4).31
this fact, it is evident that in such scenes the king
tion of the Tree.32 Thus if the Tree symbolized t
because part of the textual there, then, as one may

evidence he suggest them to be on
quotes isslabnot
23
of Assurnasirpal." The overwhelming
pertinent and none of it demonstrably pertains "sacramental"
to a
"Tree of Life." See, however, n.of 128
aspect below.
the throneroom reliefs is also stressed by
28 Winter, "Program" Sa (n. 13,
Vs, The pp.
Might That 26 ff.).
Was Assyria, p. 234. As
pointed out by M. T. Larsen, The York, RIA,Old
vol. 4, p.Assyrian City
278, referring to J. Eng-
State and Its Colonies (Copenhagen, 1976),
nell, Studies in Divine Kingship p. 119,
in the Ancient Near
"vice-regent (is's'akku) of East (Uppsala, 1943),
A''ur" was pp. 26
a f.; A. Moortgat, Tam-
traditional
epithet specifically referringmuz
to (Berlin,
the 1949);
kingand Widengren, The King and
as "interme-
diary between the god and the community."
the Tree of Onbe the
Life, pp. 43 ff. Conversely, it could ar-
gued that
spelling of the epithet with the the Tree takes the
SANGA place of see
sign, the kingM.-J.
in the
Seux, "Remarques sur le titre royal
scenes where it is beingassyrien i''akki
purified by the apkallu ge-
AS'ur," RA 59 (1965): 103-4.nies. The apkallus were the mythical equivalent of
29 Cf. me-gal-gal an-ki-a court scholars (ummanu),
= usurdt gamewhose primary function
u erseti
(GI.HUR.ME9 AN-e U KI-tim), was tolit. "the
protect the king anddesigns (Sum.
attend to his moral integ-
"the great offices") of heaven
rity, i.e.,
and "purify"
earth,"
his soul. See myACh
remarks in Sin
LAS, 1:
2 and 6, and Tablet V of Enfima elis, where the vol. 2, pp. xx f., xxiv f., 40 ff., and 335, and, in more
detail, my article "Mesopotamian Astrology and As-
words
to usurdtu, "designs,"
the organization and parsi.,
of the divine "offices,"
and the material refer tronomy as Domains of the Mesopotamian 'Wis-
world by Marduk (lines 1-5 and 65-67); note also dom'," in H. Galter and B. Scholz, eds., Die Rolle
the mystical work I.NAM GI.HUR AN.KI.A (see nn. 66, der Astronomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens: Bei-
87, 89, and 100 below) explaining the "designs" of triige zum 3. Grazer Morgenlaindischen Symposium
the world by gematric techniques (see n. 66 below). 23.-27.9.1991 (Graz, 1993).
30 Winter, "Program," pp. 16 f. In discussing the 32 The king is portrayed as a flourishing tree offer-
composition of Slab B-23 and its crucial position being shelter to his subjects in a Neo-Assyrian letter
hind the royal throne, Winter makes a telling compar- written by a prominent court scholar (LAS 122:14;
ison to the Gothic tympanum: "Compositionally, the for many other examples of the verb gamahu refer-
organizing principles are clear: axial symmetry gov- ring to the growth of trees, see CAD, s.v., pp. 289
erns the placement of the tree at the center; the repe- ff.). As pointed out in LAS, vol. 2, p. 108, this pas-
tition of figures on either side maintains the axial and sage resembles Daniel 4, where the tree allegory is
absolute balance. The priority of figures moves into explicitly related to the moral conduct of the king:
the center and then up: from the "genii" at the far
In the Book of Daniel (ch. 4), King Nebuchadnezzar dreams
sides, to the king in his role as maintainer, to the cen-
of a great tree "in the midst of the earth" around which all
tral tree, and then to the god in the winged disk, set the "beasts of the field" [see n. 24 above] and "birds of
precisely on the axis. It is no different from the orga- heaven" congregate. Then he sees "a watcher and an holy
nization apparent on the faqade of a Gothic cathedral, one" come down from heaven crying: "Hew down the tree,
for example, as a key to the theological structure of cut off his branches, shake off his leaves and scatter his
medieval Christianity (italics mine): basal quatre- fruit... and let his portions be with the grass in the earth.
foils, as at Amiens, containing earthly and didactic Let his heart be changed from a man's and let a beast's heart
themes; apostles flanking the central door, as the be given unto him." Daniel interpreted this tree as represent-
ing the King himself who, in modemrn psychological terms,
aspiration of men; the figure of Christ on the trumeau
had identified his limited and personal self with the divine
at the middle of the central portal as the highest Selfhood which his kingship symbolized.
achievement of man; then, directly above all, the
scene of the Last Judgment on the tympanum, leading (Cook, Tree of Life, p. 109; note the illustration
ultimately to an elevating visual as well as religious from the Bible of Rodan [sixth century] reproduced
experience. The theological priorities are as clear ibid., closely resembling the Assyrian Tree). For
himself represented the realization of that order in man, in othe

God,33 the Perfect Man.34
If this reasoning is correct, it follows that the Tree had a du
imperial art. Basically, it symbolized the divine world order main
king, but inversely it could also be projected upon the king to po
Man. This interpretation accounts for the prominence of the T
bol35 because it not only provided a legitimation for Assyria's ru
it also justified the king's position as the absolute ruler of the em
The complete lack of references to such an important symbol in
sources can only mean that the doctrines relating to the Tree wer
writing by the scholarly elite who forged the imperial ideolo
orally.38 The nature of the matter further implies that only the
36 Verbal
further references to the King as Tree justification of this claim is a regular
in Mesopota-
feature of
mian sources, see Widengren, The King andAssyrian
the royal inscriptions since the early
Tree
of Life, pp. 42 ff.; cf. also pp. 195 thirteenth century B.C.
ff. below. NoteSee, for example, RIM 1,
also the famous anthropomorphic p.tree 233 ("Tukulti-Ninurta,
from Assur king of the universe...
(A. Parrot, Nineveh and Babylon [London, 1961], whose name ASSur and the great gods faithfully
fig. 9). called, the one to whom they gave the four quarters
33 References to the king as the image (salmu) of to administer and the one to whom they entrusted
God abound in the Neo-Assyrian royal correspon- their dominion"); for further examples, see CAD, s.v.
dence; see, for example, "the father of the king my b~li~tu, p. 203.
lord was the very image of Bel, and the king my lord 37 Note that piety and blameless moral conduct
is likewise the very image of Bel," LAS 125:18 f.; are the most prominent qualities justifying the king's
"You, O king of the world, are an image of Marduk," rule in Assyrian royal inscriptions; see Seux, Epi-
RMA 170 = SAA 8 no. 333 r. 2. Note especially LAS thetes, pp. 20 f. Cf., for example, the continuation of
145: "The king, my lord, is the chosen of the great the inscription cited in the preceding footnote
gods; the shadow of the king, my lord, is beneficial ("Tukulti-Ninurta ... the attentive one, appointee of
to all . . . The king, my lord, is the perfect likeness the gods, the one who gladdens the heart of Aslur,
of the god." For the king as the image of ?amal, see the one whose conduct is pleasing to the gods of
LAS 143:17 ff. and the passages cited in the relevant heaven and earth").
commentary (LAS, vol. 2, p. 130). The concept is 38 That is to say, primarily the chief scribe (also
first attested in the Tukulti-Ninurta Epic (AfO 18, called "the king's scholar") and his "department." On
p. 50, late second millennium B.C.). this important state official, see O. Schroeder, "um-
34 "Perfect Man" (eflu gitmalu is well attested as manu = Chef der Staatskanzlei?," OLZ, 1920,
an Assyrian royal epithet; see Seux, Epithetes royales pp. 204-7; H. Tadmor in F. M. Fales, ed., Assyrian
akkadiens et sumeriens (Paris, 1967), p. 92 and also Royal Inscriptions: New Horizons (Rome, 1981), pp.
30 ff.; see also my article "The Forlorn Scholar," in
p. 231 (qarratdu gitmalu, "perfect hero"); note SAA 3
no. 25 ii 16 (sarru gitmalu, "perfect king"), and F. Rochberg-Halton, ed., Language, Literature, and
cf. LAS 144 r. 4 f.: "What the king said is as perfect History: Studies Presented to Erica Reiner (New
as the word of god," and ABL 1221 r. 12: "The word Haven, 1987), p. 257; S. J. Lieberman, "A Meso-
of the king is as [perfect] as that of the gods." The potamian Background for the So-called Aggadic
concept of "perfect king" goes back to the early sec- 'Measures' of Biblical Hermeneutics," HUCA 58
ond millennium (the time of Hammurabi); see Seux, (1987): 212 ff., and idem, in T. Abusch et al., eds.,
Epithetes, pp. 97 and 331; see also n. 138 below. Lingering Over Words: Studies in Honor of W. L.
35 The need of visual symbols to epitomize com- Moran (Atlanta, 1990), pp. 313 ff. While the duties
plex ideologies is too obvious for elaboration here; of the chief scribe are not specified in Assyrian
cf. the role of the cross as a symbol of Christianity or sources, it is extremely likely that they included the
that of the sickle and hammer as the symbol of com- drafting and production of royal inscriptions; note the
munism. A stylized rendition of the Tree of Life, the colophon of the Sargon's letter to A''ur (TCL 3), in-
Menorah, was the symbol of Judaism in the first cen- dicating that it was composed by the chief scribe
tury A.D. and still functions (on, for example, the ros- himself, and see the note on LAS 7 r. 10 in LAS, vol.
trum of the Knesset) as a state symbol in modern 2, p. 11. On the other hand, there is evidence that
Israel. On the Menorah, see L. Yarden, The Tree of other prominent scholars too were involved in the
Light: A Study of the Menorah, the Seven-branched composition of royal inscriptions and, more gener-
Lampstead (Uppsala, 1972). ally, in the formulation of the imperial policies; see
Tree was common knowledge, while the more sophisti

were accessible to a few select initiates only. The exist
in first- and second-millennium Mesopotamia is am
tant written specimens of such lore40 prove that my
ism played a prominent part in it.41
THE SEFIROTIC TREE
Mesopotamian esoteric lore has a remarkable parallel in Jewish Kabbala

importantly from the standpoint of the present topic, so does the
H. Tadmor, B. Landsberger, and S. Parpola, scholars;"The Sin

I ponder with expert diviners the liver, the
of Sargon and Sennacherib's Last Will,"image SAA of heaven . . " (Streck, Asb., p. 252 i 13 ff.).
Bulletin
3 (1989): 3-51, especially pp. 50 f.; Fales, For the"L'Ideol-
second millennium, note Gilg. XI 9 and 266:
ogo Adad-'umu-usur," Atti della Accademia Nazion-
"I will disclose to you, Gilgames, things that are hid-
ale dei Lincei, Rendiconti della Classe di Scienze den, and I will relate to you the secrets of the gods."
morali, storiche efilologiche, Serie 8, vol. 29 (Rome, 40 See the list in RIA, vol. 3, pp. 189 ff. (with ad-
1974): 453-96. ditions in HKL 3, p. 119, and ZA 82, p. 110) and A.
39 See Borger, "Geheimwissen," RIA, vol. 3, pp. Livingstone, Mystical and Mythological Explanatory
188-91; J. Elman, "Authoritative Oral Tradition in Works of Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars (Oxford,
Neo-Assyrian Scribal Circles," JANES 7 (1975): 19- 1986). The esoteric nature of these texts is made ex-
32; J. Tigay, "An Early Technique of Aggadic Exe- plicit by their colophons, for example, "Secret lore
gesis," in H. Tadmor and M. Weinfeld, eds., History, of the great gods/heaven and earth/sages/scholars; an
Historiography and Interpretation: Studies in Bibli- initiate may show it to another initiate, the uniniti-
cal and Cuneiform Literatures (Jerusalem, 1983), ated may not see it; taboo of the great gods"; see also
pp. 169-89; P.-A. Beaulieu, "New Light on Secret n. 42 below. Additional glimpses into the lore are
Knowledge in Late Babylonian Culture," ZA 82 provided by a multitude of random passages in schol-
(1992): 98-111; see also n. 66 below. Elman (p. 22) arly texts, primarily commentaries and letters.
compares the Mesopotamian scholarly oral tradition 41 See, for example, Livingstone, Mystical Works,
(s'a p ummdni) to the Jewish Oral Law (Torah ge-be- pp. 116 ff. (= SAA 3, nos. 37-39), and the commentary
al-peh); Tigay ("Early Technique," p. 171, n. 4); and, on Sakikku I recently edited by George in "Babylo-
earlier, Lambert ("An Address of Marduk to the nian Texts," pp. 146-63. Calling the kind of herme-
Demons," AfO 17 [1954-56]: 311) draw a parallel neutics exemplified by these texts "mystical" is
between Mesopotamian commentaries and the Mid- justified inasmuch as extracting "hidden" meanings
rashim; thus also, in more detail, A. Cavigneaux, from the literal wording of religious texts appears to
"Aux sources du Midrash: L'Hermeneutique babylo-have been its primary goal. The hermeneutic methods
nienne," Aula Orientalis 5 (1987): 243-55. On the used in this process were virtually identical with those
transmission of esoteric lore (from teacher to discipleused in rabbinical exegesis, including mashal, "alle-
or from father to son), see Lieberman, "A Mesopota- gory"; remez, "paronomasia"; naad, "homonymy";
mian Background," p. 217, and A. R. George, "Baby-and, above all, gematria and notarikon, on which, see
lonian Texts from the Folios of Sydney Smith, pt. 2"n. 66 below. It may not be merely a coincidence that
RA 85 (1991): 139; in this context, note remarks in the rules of Talmudic hermeneutics were laid down by
the scholarly correspondence such as "I have learnedRabbi Hillel, a first-century (ca. A.D. 30) immigrant
it from my father" (LAS 370 r. 23, see LAS, vol. 2, from Babylonia.
p. 373) or "I have heard it from the mouth of my 42 See again, provisionally, my article "Mesopota-
father" (RMA 218 = SAA 8 no. 454 r. 6). mian Astrology and Astronomy." The strictly eso-
The evidence discussed in the above articles could teric nature of Kabbalah and the fact that its secret
be multiplied by including all the references todoctrines secret were for centuries, and still are, transmitted
lore in second- and first-millennium texts (seealmost CAD exclusively orally are the principal reasons
and AHw. s.vv. katimtu, nisirtu, piristu, and ikkibu). why next to nothing was known about it until the late
For the first millennium, note, above all, Assurban- Middle Ages (see below). The esotericism of Kab-
ipal's famous self-description of his education: "I balah and its fundamentally oral nature are stressed
learnt the craft of the sage Adapa, the esoteric secrets in every Kabbalistic work, ancient and modern. See
of the entire scribal tradition; I observed celestial and M. Idel, Kabbalah: New Perspectives (New Haven,
terrestrial signs and discussed them in the meetings of 1988), p. 109; see also ibid., p. 21:
PILLAR OF EOUILIBRIUM
KETER
PILLAR OF JUDGMENT Crown PILLAR OF MERCY
3 2
Understanding Wisdom
BI
DAAT
SKnowledge
%
5 4
DIN HESED
Judgment Mercy
6
TIFERET
Beauty
8 7
HOD NEZAH
Glory Victory
9
YESOD
Foundation
10
MA LKHUT
Kingdom
FIG. 5.-The Sefirotic Tree
schematic design known as the Sefirotic Tree of Li

tical and theoretical Kabbalah.44 In fact, it can be s
of Kabbalah revolves around this diagram (fig. 5),45
the Assyrian Tree.46
The Sefirotic Tree derives its name from elements
or "numbers,'"47 represented in the diagram by cir
are defined as divine powers or attributes49 thro
This Kabbalistic technique has without

passed unnoticed
reason." by mod-
On the function of the diagram as a
ern scholarship .... This situation is in
mandala not a matter
Kabbalistic of mere
meditation, see ibid., pp. 90
chance but rather a result of the technique's highly esoteric
and 112, and Ponc6, Kabbalah, p. 142.
nature .... Underneath the diagram we read: "All these al-
46 Cf. fig. 2. The Sefirotic Tree, like the Assyrian
lusions must be transmitted orally" . . . Even more impres-
one,
sive are the statements of the is attested in several
anonymous variant forms
author reflecting the
of the
Kabbalistic responsum: "Know thatvariousthissymbolic
is ameanings
Kabbalisticof the diagram
tra- (see fig. 6
dition which was handed down to withyou,
n. 63);and
the diagram
we are reproduced
writing hereitrepresents
the most common
down, [but] it is forbidden to disclose it or form
toofpass
the Tree
itin down
current Kab-
to
balisticfear
everyone, but [only] to 'those who literature
theand is attested inname
divine this form since
and
take heed of his name', blessed be he, 'who tremble at his the seventeenth century.
name'."
47 The normal meaning of the word in rabbinical
Compare this with the Mesopotamian colophons Hebrew is "counting" (see Jastrow, Dictionary,
cited in n. 40, and note that the Kabbalistic lore is p. 1014a, s.v. sefirah), but in Sefer Yezirah and the
often referred to as hokhmah ntstarah (or hokhmah writings of Abraham Abulafia it clearly has the tech-
ha-nistar), "the Hidden Wisdom," recalling variousnical meaning "(primordial/ideal) number"; see G.
designations of the Mesopotamian esoteric lore (see Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah (Princeton, 1987),
n. 39 above and CAD, s.v. nimequ, "wisdom"). pp. 26 f., and Idel, Kabbalah, p. 349, n. 323, refer-
43 Also known as the Tree of Knowledge, with ex-ring to a passage in Abulafia's Mafteah ha-Sefirot,
where the source of the Sefirot, En Sof, is called "the
plicit reference to Gen. 2:9 and 3:3-5; see C. Ponc6,
Kabbalah (San Francisco, 1973), pp. 145 ff., and seeOne who Counts" (sofer). In Kabbalistic speculation,
nn. 54 and 124 below. the Sefirot are also commonly associated, through
44 Kabbalistic thought is traditionally dividedhomophony,
into with the words sappir, "sapphire," and
two branches, practical and speculative (see Scho- sferah, "sphere" (cf. Scholem, Origins, p. 81). These
lem, "Kabbalah," Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. associations
10, are consonant with ideas about the na-
pp. 632 ff.). The former, rooted in post-exilic Merka-
ture of the Sefirot but have nothing to do with ety-
bah mysticism (speculation on the throne-chariot of or the original meaning of the word.
mology
God, Ezek. 1) and represented by such Kabbalists 48asThe numbers correspond to the order of ema-
Abraham Abulafia and Isaac Luria, has strongnation links (cf. n. 55) of the Sefirot from the En Sof; in
with ecstatic prophecy; the latter, rooted in Bereshit
Kabbalistic literature, they are referred to by ordinal
numbers
mysticism (speculation on the creation, Gen. 1-3), is and associated with the first ten letters
of the Hebrew alphabet. See Ponc6, Kabbalah,
predominantly theosophical in character. This bipar-
tite division of Kabbalah (see also n. 51 below) has
pp. a108 ff., and cf. the Abulafia passage referred to
in n. 47 above: "The influx expanding from the one
parallel in the ecstatic prophecy and scholarly mysti-
cism of first-millennium Assyria; see my Assyrian who counts is comprised in and passes through
Prophecies, SAA 9 (Helsinki, 1993), introduction. a[leph] to y[od], from the first Sefirot to the tenth"
5 Cf. Z. Halevi, Kabbalah: Tradition of Hidden(Idel, Kabbalah, p. 148).
Knowledge (London, 1979), p. 50: "The first step49 inSee Halevi, Kabbalah, pp. 5 f.; Scholem, Ori-
Kabbalah is to become familiar with the Sefirotic gins, p. 82; and Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 113 f. As noted
by Scholem, an enumeration of ten divine attributes
Tree. Without this key, little can be comprehended";
idem, The Way of Kabbalah (Bath, 1991), pp.closely 88 f.: resembling the Kabbalistic one already oc-
"The Tree of Life is a diagrammatic scheme curs of thein a Talmudic passage from ca. 230, attributed
Sefirot or Divine Principles that govern Manifest to the
Ex- Babylonian scholar Rav (BT Hagigah 12a):
istence. It contains, and this is constantly repeated
"By ten things [lit. 'words'] was the world created:
till learned, the concept of Unity and Duality, the
by wisdom (hokhmah), by understanding (tevunah),
idea of creative trinity, the Four Worlds, and theby reason
un- (daat), by strength (kah), by rebuke
folding of the octave Lightning Flash between One by might (gevurah), by righteousness
(gaarah),
and All, and back again .... In short, it is a key to by judgment (mishpat), by compassion
(zedek),
comprehending the laws of the World .... In the and by loving kindness (rahamim)." Idel
(hesed),
Tradition it is called the Key of Solomon, and not
(Kabbalah, pp. 113 f.) adduces further passages in
shown in the diagram,50 manifests Himself. Each has a nam

ber.51 The Tree has a central trunk and horizontal branches sp
left on which the Sefirot are arranged in the symmetrical fash
on the trunk,52 and three to the right. The vertical alignments
and left represent the polar opposites of masculine and femini
active and passive, dark and light, etc.53 The balance of the
trunk, also called the Pillar of Equilibrium.54
Like the Assyrian Tree, the Sefirotic Tree has a dual function
a picture of the macrocosm. It gives an account of the creation
nied in three successive stages by the Sefirot emanating from
also charts the cosmic harmony of the universe upheld by
early Jewish and Gnostic sources, referring

In this to.the
configuration.., tenSefiroth contained within each
pillar or unit are connected only to the others contained
creative logoi in the context of Creation.
50 In some Sefirotic diagrams,within
En theSof same
ispillar.
repre-The theme of polarity, the distinction
sented by a circle hovering over ofthethe opposites as male/female, positive/negative and dark/
Tree (see, for
light is here emphasized.
example, Ponce, Kabbalah, pp. 92, 101, and 102), re-
54 Halevi, Kabbalah, p. 7; cf. Ponce, Kabbalah,
calling the winged disk hovering over the Assyrian
pp. 144 and 148:
Tree (see n. 25 above) as well as the image of the
glorified Christ shown above the TheTree of Life
Zohar refers in pillar as the perfect pillar. It
to this middle
Christian art (see Cook, Tree of Life,
serves pls. 43, 46,
as a mediating and
factor between the pillars of the right
49). Cf. pp. 184 ff. below, and nn. and
93thef. left .... There is also some Kabbalistic specula-
51 The origin of these names, some tion . .of which
. that have
the center pillar is the Tree of Life, and the re-
alternatives, is obscure; cf. Abulafia's remarks in his maining pillars the Tree of Good and Evil .... When man
Imrey Shefer (ca. 1270), cited in Idel, Kabbalah, ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil he did not
draw any sustenance from the Tree of Life, which mediates
p. 202:
between the opposites.
[The theosophists] claim that they received from the proph-

See further Scholem, "Kabbalah," p. 575. In this con-
ets and the sages that there are ten Sefirot ... and they desig-
text, note that some Assyrian seals combine two trees
nated each and every Sefirah by names, some of them being
homonyms, others proper names. And when they were asked
in the same scene, viz., one with the characteristic
garland network and one generally consisting of trunk
[to explain them], those who know them were unable to say
and crown only (see, for example, Danthine, Palmier-
what these Sefirot are, and to what entity these names re-
dattier, nos. 371, 379, 424, 479, 509, and 521; note es-
fer ... and their names are well known from their books, but
they are very perplexed concerning them. pecially no. 479 with an empty garland arch beside a
palm tree ridden by a monkey and an eagle, and no.
See further pp. 176 f. and nn. 70-73 below. 509 showing a phoenix rising from a burning(?) tree
52 A fifth "invisible" Sefirah, Daat (Knowledge or beside a tree with a nine-petalled fruit crown).
Reason), is sometimes inserted in the middle column 55 The creation of the world is envisaged as a
between Keter and Tiferet. This "non-Sefirah" repre- threefold process taking place in the Divine Mind be-
sents an interval or void separating the first three fore the materialization of the physical world. It in-
Sefirot ("the Supernals" or "the Upper Face") from volves the expression of the idea by the Divine Will,
the following six ("the Lower Face"). See n. 22 its elaboration by the Divine Intellect, and its actual
above on Assyrian Tree variants with four nodes in- implementation by the Divine Emotion. The first
stead of the standard three, and see nn. 104, 110, and phase is referred to as the World of Emanation and
124 below. Note that Daat is included in Rav's list of associated with the first Sefirah, Keter; the next two
ten creative "words" (see n. 49), while the Sefirahare ofreferred to as the Worlds of Formation and Cre-
Malkhut (not forming part of the Lower Face) is respectively and associated with the "Upper"
ation
lacking from it, and cf. n. 85. and "Lower Faces" (see n. 52 above). In an alterna-
tive scheme, the Sefirot are distributed in the differ-
53 The right-hand alignment of the Sefirot is com-
monly referred to as the Pillar of Mercy and thatentonworlds in a triadic arrangement, the first three in
the World of Emanation, 4 to 6 in the World of For-
the left as the Pillar of Judgment or Severity. These
two "pillars" (also known as Male and Female Col- mation, and 7 to 9 in the World of Creation, while
umns, or the Good and Evil Sides) are conceived theas last, Malkhut, is located in the material world,
manifestations of two hidden divine principles con-
"the World of Making" (Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 67 f.;
straining the flow of emanation, the active, expansive
cf. Halevi, Way of Kabbalah, pp. 27 ff.). Compare
one of Mercy and the passive, restrictive one of Jus-
this with the three-layered triadic structure of the As-
tice (or Rigor). See Halevi, Kabbalah, pp. 5 f., and
syrian Tree discussed in n. 22 above.
also Ponce, Kabbalah, p. 142 ff.: The emanation of the Sefirot is conceived of as a
straining influence of the polar system of opposites. I

world order, and in manifesting the invisible God thr
way, an image of God.56
On the other hand, the Sefirotic Tree, like the Assyr
crocosm, the ideal man created in the image of God. In
a way of salvation for the mystic seeking deliverance
the soul's union with God.57 The arrangement of the S
of the diagram marks the path which he has to fol
goal, the crown of heaven represented by the Sefirah
Tradition has it that the doctrines about the Tree we
arch Abraham, who transmitted them orally to his so
viving Kabbalistic manuscripts date from the tenth ce
lightning flash issuing from godthe

as "the voice" of
ocean of the"Endless
god A''ur (KAR 128 r.
Light," En Sof Or (see n. 94 below); the energy 12 f.). The idea of the cosmic anthropos is attested
drawn from this source filters through the Sefirot, in KAR 102, a Neo-Assyrian hymn to Ninurta, where
who emanate it further throughout the world. The the various parts of this god's body are systemati-
unity of the En Sof and the Sefirot is fundamental to cally identified with specific deities of the Mesopota-
Kabbalah. "The En-Sof and its emanations are insep- mian pantheon.
arable .... What flows through the Sefiroth is the 57 See also P. Epstein, Kabbalah: The Way of the
light of the En-Sof which they need for their exist- Jewish Mystic (Garden City, New York, 1978), pp. 4
ence" (Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 101 and 130). The flow and 15 f.:
between the individual Sefirot and the En Sof has
"The cosmic tree of life conveniently epitomized the emana-
been likened to streams of water poured intotions colored
of God's "qualities" into the visible world of men. And
bottles (ibd., p. 103), a zigzagging lightning flash re-
since imitating God eventually led a man to direct knowl-
turning to its origin, and the flow of an electric cur-
edge of God, the Kabbalist exerted himself to perfect each
rent through a system of functions in a circuitquality on the tree . . . Since he believes that man is liter-
ally created
(Halevi, Tree of Life, p. 32). Compare this with the in the image of God, the mystic works to polish
himself
streamlike lattice network (see n. 20 above) and theuntil he becomes so brilliantly clear that he reflects
nothing but god. "Union with the absolute" in this case is a
pomegranate or cone garland surrounding the Assyr-
matter of "like attracting like."
ian Tree (n. 21), and note the lightning streamers
Cf. also
emanating from the winged disk above the Tree dis-Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 57, citing Rabbi Vital's
Sha'ar
cussed in n. 25 above; note also the Assyrian Treeha-Mizvot: "When studying Torah man must
intend
scenes with water-receiving or water-emitting to link his soul and to unite her and make her
bot-
cleave
tles. See, for example, H. Frankfort, Cylinder to her source above.., .and he must intend
Seals
(London, 1939), fig. 65; Danthine, Palmier-dattier,
thereby to perfect the supernal tree [of Sefirot] and the
holy anthropos."
figs. 588 and 843 f. (with a human figure replacing
the tree; see also n. 56 below). On unio mystica in Jewish mysticism, described
56 See Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 136 ff. The Book with theof metaphor of the drop of water and the sea, see
ibid.,
Bahir (twelfth century) refers to the Tree as an pp. 59-73. Idel stresses (p. 67) that the aim of
image
of God by the term ha-males, "fullness," athe mystic was to achieve the state of union without
direct
equivalent of Gnostic pleroma, "(divine) fullness";
being totally absorbed and lost in the divine abyss. On
on this concept, also referred to as "the All" the practical goals of the mystical union (encounter
(to pan,
to holon), see Scholem, Origins, pp. 68 ff., with souls of the dead and acquisition of supernal se-
quoting
the Gospel of Thomas, where Jesus says of himself:
crets from ancient pious men), see ibid., pp. 91 ff.
"I am the All and the All proceeds from me"; cf.Ponce, Kabbalah, p. 39 (referring to Sefer
58 See
Paul's Letter to the Colossians, 1:15-19. In the Yezirah and a Talmudic legend); Scholem, Die
openly anthropomorphic theosophy of ecstatic Kab- jiidische Mystik in ihren Hauptstromungen (Frank-
balah and Merkavah mysticism, the Sefirot are asso-
furt, 1957), p. 74; and Halevi, Tree of Life, pp. 17 f.
ciated with the cosmic body of Adam Kadmon, (namingthe Melchizedek as the revealer of the doctrines
archetypal or perfect man, or God himself; see about the Tree). Whatever these traditions are worth,
Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 134 ff.; Scholem, Origins, if taken seriously, they imply that Jewish Kabbalah
pp. 20 ff.; J. Dan, Three Types of Ancient Jewish (lit., "tradition") was based on a previous model and,
Mysticism (Cincinnati, 1984), pp. 12 ff. in view of Abraham's prominent association with "Ur
of the Chaldees" (Gen. 11:28-31), strongly point to
An early Assyrian (thirteenth century B.C.) precur-
sor of the idea of the Sefirot as the Divine pleroma
Mesopotamia as the place of origin of that model.
occurs in a prayer of Tukulti-Ninurta I, where the 59 See Scholem, "Yezirah," Encyclopaedia Juda-
sungod is invoked as "the radiance" and the storm-ica, vol. 16, p. 786 (commentary on Sefer Yezirah
however, that the "foundation stone" of Kabbalism, the Sefer

sometime between the third and sixth centuries,60 and the eme
doctrinal structure can now be reliably traced to the first century
rabbinical schools of Babylonia were the major centers from which
trines spread to Europe during the high Middle Ages.62
Altogether, the Sefirotic Tree displays a remarkable similarity to
both its symbolic content and external appearance (see fig. 6).63
fact that it seems to have originated on Babylonian soil, the likelih
a Mesopotamian model appears considerable.64 As a matter of fact,
from the Cairo Genizah, dated 955-56; the earliest University Program in Judaic Studies, Occasional
extant manuscript of the book itself is from the elev-Papers, no. 2 (Providence, 1992), pp. 30 f.
enth(?) century; see ibid., p. 782). 62 The literature of practical Kabbalah was intro-
60 Scholem, "Yezirah," pp. 785 f. Cf. idem, Ori- duced to Italy in 870 by a Babylonian scholar, Aaron
gins, p. 25: ben Samuel (alias Abu Aharon); see Scholem, Jiid-
ische Mystik, p. 44; see idem, "Kabbalah," p. 510; cf.
the various estimates of the date of its composi-
tion ... fluctuate between the second and the sixth centuries.
Ponc6, Kabbalah, p. 60. Several leading gaonic
scholars (for example, Saadiah, Sherira b. Hanina,
This slender work is also designated in the oldest manu-
and Hai) are known to have occupied themselves
scripts as a collection of "halakhoth on the Creation" and it
is not at all impossible that it is referred to by this name with
in Sefer Yezirah in the following century; see
the Talmud (BT Sanhedrin 65b, fourth century), Scholem, "Kabbalah," pp. 511 f.
63 The multiplicity of attested Tree variants is re-
and Dan, Three Types of Ancient Jewish Mysticism, lated to the Kabbalistic view of the Sefirotic pleroma
p. 21 (ca. fourth century). as a dynamic, constantly changing living organism,
61 The connections of Kabbalah with Jewish apoc- which could be contemplated upon but not properly
alyptic esotericism and mysticism of the post-exilic captured in words or writing; this idea is expressed
period have never been questioned, and its affinitieswith metaphors such as light reflected by moving
with Platonism, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, and water (Idel, Kabbalah, p. 140), the movement of the
Sufism were noted long ago and stressed by many planets and stars (ibid., p. 248), or flames emerging
scholars; the crucial question of the evolution of Kab-
from a burning coal (ibid., p. 137). The different
balistic doctrines, specifically their dependance on variants illustrate the dynamics of the Tree by stress-
external influence(s), however, has remained a mattering different aspects of its interpretation, such as the
of controversy. While Kabbalists themselves havevarious interrelationships of the Sefirot (cf. Halevi,
consistently stressed the antiquity of their tradition
Way of Kabbalah, p. 142).
and vehemently denied the existence of any kind of 64As uncontestable examples of Jewish cultural
historical development in Kabbalah (see Scholem,borrowings from Mesopotamia during and after the
"Kabbalah," p. 493; Halevi, Way of Kabbalah, exile, note the Jewish calendar still based on the
pp. 16 ff.), modern scholarship has tended to see the Neo-Babylonian intercalation system (R. Parker and
emergence of historical Kabbalah as a gradual pro- W. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.-
cess heavily influenced by Neoplatonic and especially A.D. 75 [Providence, 1956]); the incantation bowls
Gnostic thought. of Babylonian rabbis (J. Montgomery, Aramaic In-
Recent research has significantly altered this pic-cantation Texts from Nippur [Philadelphia, 1914]);
ture, however. It is now generally recognized that the medical passages in the Babylonian Talmud dis-
there is considerable Jewish influence on the emerg- cussed by M. Geller in his review of P. Herrero, La
ing Gnostic literature, not the other way around; and Therapeutique misopotamienne (Paris, 1984), in
that several doctrinal features of Kabbalah previouslyBiOr 43 (1986): 738-43; and the astrological omen
attributed to Gnosticism in fact belong to a genuine text recently published by J. C. Greenfield and M.
Jewish tradition reaching, through Hekhalot and Mer-Sokoloff, "Astrological and Related Omen Texts in
kavah mysticism, down to the first century A.D., if not
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic," JNES 48 (1989): 201-
earlier; see Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 30 ff. for details. For
14; the list could easily be made ten times longer. In
an unmistakable reference to the Tree of Life diagram this connection, it is good to remember that the mys-
in Hekhalot Rabbati (third century A.D.?), see Dan, tic form of Islam, Sufism, emerged in Babylonia im-
The Revelation of the Secret of the World: The Begin- mediately after the Muslim conquest.
ning of Jewish Mysticism in Late Antiquity, Brown
i;i%
?i i .f
4 i- u~t ~
.Li?-( I.?..I.??~
~r~. ??;:~ ?s. i,..?/
Y r
~? i"'
~?
-; ????-
~Ch-
~.-?
~c,,,
~L=
-r0--~5~3~
?.? ; . ~ B ;ir.
?i?`- _^cr~ ;`;'~rrrFs-r
(C.
~7 'EIr'?
C trl PC.
~?-s~
?r-- .-"r;' .?L~L`~ F icc?
?- ?- '
?-F, ~L; tt-;
~3~
~L~;C---\z~
tr
~i:?~, I;
i'
:? r
\j;
.i
-,?
i )
~LI
I:I
a. The Tree as Sunflower, with b. Tree in the form of a c. The Inverted Tree.
the 72 names of God inscribed on Menorah. From Or Nerot ha- From Robert Fludd, Philos-
ophia Sacra (1627; Cook,
its petals. From Athanasius Kircher, Menorah (Venice, 1548; Halevi,
Oedipus Aegypticus (Rome, 1652; Kabbalah, p. 78). Tree of Life, pl. 38).
Ponc6, Kabbalah, p. 177).
'"ro
,to~n -r; ;r= IM.4 1U n ra
=46=3
d. e. f. Treeas
Tree
Beauty of Eternal
of Lifethe
M
All the central
Powers colu
(Ponc6, ibid., pp. 105 and 148).
p. 153).
balah, p. 104).
I
v :ir: ,.-r , "
All
7- V/
S7!
...--'a
"I. 6
i0
g. The Sefirotic Tree h. The

ofexpansion
Pau- of the i. The Sefirotic Tree
lus Ricius, Porta Lucis (Augs- Shekhinah, the Tree of Perfec- with En Sof hovering over
burg, 1516; Ponc6, Kabbalah, tion (Ponc6, ibid., p. 152). it (Ponc6, ibid., p. 152).
p. 110).
FIG. 6.-Sefirotic and Assyrian Tree variants
Kabbalistic doctrines, such as the location of the Throne of God in

are explicitly attested in Mesopotamian esoteric texts.66
The crucial question, however, is how the existence of the hy
mian model can be proven, given the lack of directly relevant text
be admitted that a priori it is possible that the observed similar
dental and due to a common cultural heritage rather than to a dire
THE ASSYRIAN TREE DIAGRAM
For the above reasons, I had for years considered the identity of the A
rotic Trees an attractive but probably unprovable hypothesis, until it fi
me that there is a way of proving or rejecting it. For if the Sefirotic T
adaptation of a Mesopotamian model, the adaptation process should b
is, it should be possible to reconstruct the original model without diffic
65 See KAR 307:31 ff. = Livingstone, SAA

pp. 55 ff.; 3, VI 1-35; Gilg. I ii 33 ff.; note the
En. el.
p. 100; cf. Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 64 ff. useThe
of word zikru, "utterance," in the sense of logos,
Kabbal-
istic association of the throne-chariot of "idea," in the
glory last passage).
with
Enoch/Metatron (ibid., p. 66; cf. Idel, Kabbalah, 66 Note also the prominent role of interpretive
pp. 124 f., and Scholem, Origins, pp. 18 ff.) finds a techniques such as gematria (use of the numerical
parallel in the association of Marduk's chariot with value of the letters of a word) and notarikon (taking
the list of antediluvian kings and sages in the Neo- certain words as abbreviations for complete phrases
Assyrian canon of religious texts; see, provisionally, or letters or syllables as abbreviations for words) in
Lambert, "A New Fragment from a List of Antedilu- both Kabbalah and Mesopotamian scholarly texts;
vian Kings and Marduk's Chariot," in M. A. Beek see Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 168 ff. and Lieberman, "A
et al., eds., Symbolae Biblicae et Mesopotamicae Mesopotamian Background," pp. 157-225; Tigay,
Francisco Mario Theodoro de Liagre B6hl Dedica- "Early Technique," pp. 176-81, adduces numerous
tae (Leiden, 1973), pp. 271-80; for the implicationsexamples of the two techniques from the Babylonian
of this association as well as the role of the Chariot Talmud. As noted by Tigay (ibid., pp. 187 f.), the in-
in Mesopotamian mystical thought, see Excursus 2,
troduction of such interpretative techniques generally
pp. 204-5 below. indicates a growing mismatch between the wording
The Kabbalistic association of heaven with fire of traditional scripture and the prevailing world
(Ponce, Kabbalah, pp. 41 f.) is attested in the view. From this point of view, it seems significant
above-
mentioned (see n. 56) prayer of Tukulti-Ninurta, that the emergence of these techniques in Mesopota-
KAR 128 r. 32 ("fire of Anu"); see also RA 62, mia neatly correlates with the rise of the Assyrian
p. 54:17. The doctrine associating the creation ofEmpirethe and the appearance of the Assyrian Tree.
cosmos with the creation of language, the alphabet Note that the esoteric text I.NAM GI9.HUR AN.KI.A (Liv-
functioning as the instrument of creation itselfingstone,
(see Mystical Works, pp. 22 ff.), using these
Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 27 and 41; cf. Scholem, very techniques, associates different lunar phases
"Yezirah," p. 784, and the illustration in D. Mac- with different gods and thus manages to explain all
lagan, Creation Myths [London, 1977], p. 30) has major
a gods of the pantheon as aspects of the moon
counterpart in the Middle Assyrian "Silbenalphabet," god; see further n. 89 below.
KAR 4, where mumbo-jumbo combinations of sylla- 67 The case of Christian Kabbalah, represented by
bles are associated with the creation story culminat- outstanding scholars, philosophers, and theologians,
ing in the creation of man; this text is defined such
as as Pico della Mirandola, Johannes Reuchlin,
"secret" in its colophon. Similarly, the creation of da Viterbo, and Jacob Boehme, is instructive.
Egidio
the "golem" by the recitation of incantations (Scho- This form of Kabbalah was demonstrably taken over
lem, "Yezirah," p. 785) finds an exact parallel in fromthe a pre-existing (Jewish) model with only mini-
creation of the primeval man in the Atrahasis myth mal adjustments, such as the translation of the names
(see W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard, Atra-Hasis: of the Sefirot, the identification of Adam Kadmon
The Babylonian Story of the Flood [Oxford, 1969], and En Sof with Christ, or the reinterpretation of the
p. 61). In general, the Kabbalistic notion of the cre-
three world ages as reigns of the Father, the Son, and
ation process (see n. 55 above) closely resembles the
the Holy Ghost; the essence of the system, including
Mesopotamian one, which involved a decision by a tree diagram and other central Kabbalistic axi-
the
deity (Anu or Enlil) and its elaboration and imple-oms, was not affected at all. This was possible be-
mentation by the God of Wisdom and/or a birthcause Christianity is rooted in both Judaism and
goddess (see Lambert and Millard, Atra-Hasis, Classical philosophy; the Christian Kabbalists "be-
elements of the Tree, the Sefirot, are crucial in thi

strongly recall the attributes and symbols of Mesop
sociation with numbers calls to mind the mystic
They are, in fact, represented as angelic beings in s
sistent with their definition as divine powers.68 Ac
potamian model they would have been gods, with fu
those of the Sefirot.
Consequently, I replaced the Sefirot with Mesopotamian gods sharing their functions
and/or attributes (see fig. 7). Most gods fell into their place immediately and unequivo-
cally. Assyriologists will need no justification for associating Ea with Wisdom,69 Sin with
Understanding,70 Marduk with Mercy,71 Sama' with Judgment,72 Igtar with Beauty,73 and
lieved that they had discovered in the Kabbalah an Sumerian me/garza and Akkadian parsu, "divine
original divine revelation to mankind ... with the aid
power of function"!
of which it was possible not only to understand the 69 Cf. Ea's epithets "sage of the gods/universe, sage/
teachings of Pythagoras, Plato, and the Orphics . . king
. of wisdom, lord of wisdom/secrets, wise, surpass-
but also the secrets of the Catholic faith" (Scholem,ingly/exceedingly wise, omniscient, knower of inge-
Kabbalah, pp. 643 f.). Another conservative factor nious things"; for references, see H. Galter, Der Gott
Ea/Enki in der akkadischen Oberlieferung (Graz,
certainly was that the doctrines of Kabbalah, crystal-
lized in the tree diagram, represent a highly inte- 1983), pp. 34 ff. Wisdom is the theme of one-third of
grated system of thought which by its very nature all attested epithets of Ea; a further 25 percent define
works against radical changes in it. him as the creator god or the lord of Apsu and the wa-
68 See the diagram in Halevi, Kabbalah, p. 74, with
ters of life; the rest are general epithets stressing the
Sefirah I appearing as Metatron, 2 as Raziel, 3 asgreatness of the god.
Zaphkiel, 4 as Zadkiel, 5 as Samael, 6 as Michael, 7 as In a commentary recently edited by George (RA 85
Haniel, 8 as Raphael, and 9 as Gabriel. A Hebrew mag- [1992]: 152), Ea is referred to as "Great light of Apsu,"
ical-astrological text from Nisibis entitled "Wisdom an
of allusion consonant with the Kabbalistic notion of
the Chaldeans," published by M. Gaster, Proceedings Hokhmah as a hidden luminary directly in contact with
of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 22 (1900): En Sof, the Endless Light (cf. Halevi, Tree of Life,
329 ff., explicitly equates angels with planets: Raphael
p. 74, and Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 66 and 101). Con-
= Sun, Gabriel = Moon, Samael = Mars, Michael = versely, Kether is referred to in the Zohar (see Ponc6,
Mercury, Zadkiel = Jupiter, Anael = Venus, and Qaph- Kabbalah, p. 118) as "The Wisdom-Gushing Foun-
siel = Saturn. Transferring these equations to the dia-
tain" flowing into a large vessel in the earth called
gram just mentioned, one obtains a tree stated in terms
"Sea," an allusion consonant with the Mesopotamian
of planet(ary god)s, to be compared with Halevi, Treenotion of Apsu (cf. Galter, Enki/Ea, pp. 80 ff.). For the
of Life, p. 51 (tree composed of Greco-Roman gods andKabbalistic notion of Hokhma as "the father of all cre-
their planets). On a passage in Bahir merging the Sefi-
ated things" and the archetype of fatherhood, "father of
rot with angelic beings, see Scholem, Origins, p. 148.
fathers" (Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 119 ff.), cf. Ea's epi-
The Hekhalot texts contain long lists of angels with
thets "father of the (great) gods" and "creator of every-
names ending in el, "to which the title YHWH is added,
thing/all mankind/created things" (Galter, pp. 34 f. ).
7oBinah, "Understanding" or "Intelligence," also
making them a group of divine beings, a system of pler-
omatic powers" (Dan, "Revelation," p. 17); cf. idem, rendered Prudentia (Robert Fludd, Philosophia
Three Types, p. 17: Sacra [1626]), is defined as "intellect in its passive,
receptive and reflective capacity, deep pondering"
It should be emphasized that the term "angels" is an inaccu-
(Halevi, Kabbalah, p. 6), "reflective thinking, to
rate and confusing one in this context .... Medieval defini-
back up inspiration" (idem, Tree of Life, p. 38) and
tions gave this term the meaning of a created, subordinated
messenger of God, which cannot be an independent divine "profound intellect act[ing] as a counterbalance to
power. In the Hekhalot literature.., .the powers are called
Wisdom" (idem, Way of Kabbalah, p. 55). Compare
by names like 'Akhatriel Yah Adonai Zevaoth,' which cannot
this with references to the moon god Sin as "Anu of
be interpreted as other than an appellation of a divine power.
the sky whose counsel nobody perceives" (Perry,
According to a legend quoted by Halevi, Kabbalah, Sin, no. 2:9), "whose profound heart no god can
p. 13, "the Divine Name EL [was attached] to thefathom" (ibid., no. 1:37), "whose mind no god
functional name of each angelic being, so that it
knows" (ibid., no. 5:5), and note Sin's epithets "wise,
could never exert more of its power than God knower of secrets, sage of gods" (Tallqvist, G6tter-
wished. Thus each celestial being was confined to epitheta,
its p. 446) and mutadlu, "judicious, thought-
task, like the angel Shalgiel who only dealt with ful, circumspect, deliberate," attested in Perry, Sin,
snow." One could not hope for a better etiologyno. of 5:10, and personal names (CAD, s.v., p. 284).
Nabfi and Ninurta with Victory (Nezah).74 Crown (Keter) w

and Enlil,5 but since in the first millennium Enlil was commo
s.v.) and
"Understanding, Intelligence" (Nahi, anquradu,
exact"hero" (CAD, s.v.); note that the
seman-
corresponding
tic equivalent of Binah), is explicitly Hebrew as
attested words
a (gever, "man," and
name of the moon god in Thamudic gibbor, "hero") are derived
inscriptions; see from the same root as
D. Nielsen, "Uber die nordarabischen
Gevurah,G6tter," Mit-
and that Akkadian qurdu, "heroism, valor;
mighty deeds" (CAD,
teilungen der Vorderasiatisch-Aegyptischen s.v.) is an exact semantic
Gesell-
schaft 21 (1917): 254 f. In Rav's equivalent
list of of ten creative
Hebrew gevurah, which in the Psalms
powers (see n. 49 above), Binah is (71:16, 106:2, 145:2,by
represented andits150:2) refers to the
synonym Tevunah. "mighty deeds (or acts, works)" of God.
Another frequent epithet, "maker In of
Rav's list of ten creative powers (see n. 49),
decision(s),"
refers to Sin as the Supreme Divine Arbiter;
Din is replaced by itsseesynonym Mishpat, "decision,
judgment,"
Tallqvist, G6tterepitheta, p. 447. This role while agrees
Gevurah there corresponds to
with the position of Binah on top
Nezah of the
(see n. 74). Pillar of
Judgment (see n. 53 above); cf. 73Ponc6,
Note simplyKabbalah,
Igtar's well-known identification
p. 144: "The Pillar of Judgmentwith
receives
Aphrodite anditsVenus
name and the epithet "lady/god-
from the center Sefirah, Gevurahdess. . of
. beauty
the two [other]
and love," which she shares with Nan-
Sefirot [above and below it] are integral
aya/Ta'metu components
(Tallqvist, Gitterepitheta, pp. 16 and 60;
of the middle value." Note that forinNanaya
Bahir, the
= Istar; angel
see ibid., p. 385). In the Etana myth
"presiding over all the holy forms(seeon the
pp. 195 ff. left
below), side
IStar isofportrayed as a beautiful
God" is identified with Gabriel, i.e.,
virgin;Moon
see J. V.(see
KinnierScho-
Wilson, The Legend of Etana
(Warminster,
lem, Origins, pp. 147 f., and n. 68 above). In 1985), p. 110:10; cf. W. G. Lambert
another
section of Bahir, Binah is explained
"The as "superior
Problem of the Lovejus-Lyrics," in H. Goedicke and
tice" (Scholem, Origins, p. 136). J. J. M. Roberts, eds,. Unity and Diversity (Baltimore,
Binah is "the Supernal Mother, within
1975), pp. 123, whose
18 ff.: "You are the mother, IStar of
womb all that was contained in Wisdom finally
Babylon, the beautiful one,be-
the queen of the Babylo-
comes differentiated [and out of nians.
whom] You arethe remain-
the mother, a palm of carnelian, the
beautiful one, who
ing sefiroth proceed" (Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp.is beautiful
122); to a superlative
degree."
compare this with Sin's epithets "birth-giving (dlidu)
The alternative name
father," "father of the great gods," "procreator of of this Sefirah, Rahamim
all"
(Tallqvist, Gitterepitheta, pp. 446); on the
(Compassion epithet
or Love), corresponds to Igtar's epithets
"lady(ibid.,
"fruit (enbu) giving birth to itself" of love, pp.
the loving
24), one,
see the one who loves all
also nn. 66 and 89. mankind," etc. (cf. above and Tallqvist, Gitterepi-
71 Cf. Marduk's epithets "merciful god/father/ theta, s.vv. bilet ru'dmi and rdnimtu). In her capacity
lord, merciful and forgiving, the merciful oneaswith the goddess of love, IStar had a special relationship
forgiving heart, merciful to mankind"; for attesta- to the Assyrian king, who is repeatedly portrayed as
tions, see Tallqvist, Gitterepitheta, p. 371, and herthe
baby (see my discussion in the introduction of As-
dictionaries s.vv. remena and tajjaru, and see alsoProphecies and cf. ibid., no. I iv 24, "I [I'tar]
syrian
Enuma eliK VI 137 and VII 27 ff. While "merciful" have loved you [the king] very much"; see also n. 84
occasionally occurs as an epithet of other gods, too,
below). This correlates nicely with the primary conno-
its prominence as an epithet of Marduk in first-tation of the word rahamim ("motherly feeling, com-
millennium texts, as well as the fact that it is fre- passion"). Note, finally, that in contrast to the other
quently applied to the king as the image of Marduk Sefirot, the Sefirah of Tiferet was pictured as female;
(see the discussion in LAS, vol. 2, p. 58), confirmssee n. 97 below, and cf. Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 127 f.
that it represented a central characteristic of this god. 74 Cf. Ninurta's epithets "the warrior, the mighty
The other name of the Sefirah, Gedullah (Great- son of Enlil, the victor who threshes the foe but
ness), corresponds to Marduk's ubiquitous epithet makes the righteous stand, who achieved victory for
blu raba, "great lord" (Tallqvist, Gitterepitheta, Enlil, whose strength is exalted, [possess]or of
p. 52). Note the co-occurence of both "great lord" might, killer of Anz^" in Lambert, "The Gula Hymn
and "merciful god" in the incipits of prayers to Mar-of Bullutsa-rabi," Or. n.s. 36 (1967): 116 ff., lines 9-
duk (W. Mayer, Untersuchungen zur Formensprache 13; for Ninurta as the Mesopotamian victory god par
der babylonischen " Gebetsbeschwdrungen" [Rome,excellence, see J. S. Cooper, The Return of Ninurta
1976], p. 397, nos. 18 and 23). to Nippur (Rome, 1978), pp. 2 ff., and B. Hrugka,
72 ?amag was the divine judge par excellence: the Der Mythenadler Anzu (Budapest, 1975), pp. 116 ff.
name Din exactly corresponds to ?amag's primaryIn the first millennium, Ninurta largely merged with
epithet bl dini, "lord of judgment," not attached to Nab0 (see F. Pomponio, Naba [Rome, 1978],
any other god (see Tallqvist, Gotterepitheta, p. 43; pp. 189 ff.); the latter figures as the vanquisher of
cf. ibid., pp. 456 ff.). The other common name of thisAnz^ in Cooper, Return of Ninurta, p. 147, and Liv-
Sefirah, Gevurah (Power of Might), corresponds toingstone, SAA 3 no. 38:12 (see also ibid., nos. 34:57
?amag's standard epithets etlu, "strong man" (CAD,f., 35:51 f., 39:24 ff. and r. 20, referring to Ninurta).
PILLAR OF EOUIIBRIUM
ANU
Cro w
PILLAR OF JUDGMENT CrownPILLAR OF MERCY
3 2
SIN EA
Understanding Wisdom
I MUMMU \
Knowledge I
5 4
SAMAS MARDUK
Judgment ENLIL
Mercy
ISTAR
Beauty
8 7
ADAD NABC
GIRRU NINURTA
NUSKU NI ,. T
Glory Victory
9
NERGAL
?AKKAN
Foundation
Strength
FIG. 7.-The reconstructed Tree
(just as his son Ninurta was equated with Nabf),76 the topmost
responds to Anu, the god of Heaven.77
Foundation (Yesod) corresponds to Nergal, lord of the un
characteristic, strength, is in Akkadian homonymous wit
dunnu.78 For the identification of Daat with Mummu (Consciousness) and the number
zero, see notes 111 and 125 below.
The equation Ninurta = Nabfi is explicitly attested in(god), the heavenly father, the greatest one in heaven
CT 25 11:12 and KAR 142 i 22 f. In Rav's list of ten and earth, the one who contains the entire universe,
creative powers (n. 49), Ninurta is represented asthe Ge-father/progenitor of the (great) gods, creator of
vurah, "might," which in the Sefirotic scheme nor- everything" (Tallqvist, G6tterepitheta, p. 254) and to
mally occurs as an alternative name of Din. his role in the creation process (see n. 55 above). For
In modern Kabbalistic literature, Nezah is, besides Anu as the Monad, see nn. 89, 94, and 104 below.
"Victory," also rendered "Endurance, Duration, Per- 78 See CAD, s.v., and note that the word occurs in
manence, Eternity," and the like. Such renderings Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions not only as a com-
agree with the meaning of the word in modernmon He- epithet of Nergal (in bel abdri u dunni, "lord of
brew but not with the active nature of the Pillar of power and strength") but also as a synonym of us'u,
Mercy (see n. 53 above) nor with the attributes"foundation,"
of and as designation of the netherworld
Nabfi and Ninurta. It should be noted that in rabbini- (dunni qaqqari, "bedrock, terra firma"); cf. SAA 3 no.
cal Hebrew the root nsh means only "to be victori- 39: 34 ff. and see n. 38 above. Note also that in Rav's
ous, win, prevail" (see Jastrow, Dict., pp. 927 f.) and list of ten creative powers (n. 49), Yesod (Foundation)
that the renderings "Endurance," etc., are not found is replaced by Kah (Strength).
in older Kabbalistic literature (see, for example, In Kabbalah, Yesod is associated with "that aspect
Robert Fludd, Philosophia Sacra [1626]: "Trium- of the soul which corresponds to animal life and de-
phus Victoria"; Athanasius Kircher, Oedipus Aegyp- sires; [it is] located in the third world, the material and
tiacus [Rome, 1652]: "Victory"). sensuous world, [and is] symbolic of both male and
75 See U. Seidl, "Gottersymbole und -attribute," female genitals" (Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 68 and 129).
RIA, vol. 3, p. 486. In Assyria the crown also occurs Nergal's association with animal life and sexual de-
as a symbol of ASlur by virtue of A''ur's equation sires is clear from passages such as Ebeling, Die akka-
with Anu and Enlil (see Reade, "Shikaft-i Gulgul: Its dische Gebetsserie "Handerhebung" (Berlin, 1953),
Date and Symbolism," Iranica Antiqua 12 [1977]: 38; p. 114:9 ("Enlil your father entrusted to you [Nergal]
K. Tallqvist, Der assyrische Gott, StOr 4/3 [Helsinki, mankind, all living creatures, the cattle of ?akkan, and
1932], p. 13; and n. 94 below); this aspect of A''ur is the herds of wild animals"), from his uncontrolled
referred to in Assyrian cultic texts as A''ur-Crown or sexual behavior in the myth of Nergal and Ereikigal
AS'ur-Enlil, while AS'ur himself is referred to as (S. Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia [Oxford, 1989],
plain A''ur or A''ur-ASlur (see, for example, 3R 66 pp.i 171 ff.) and from his appellative "Gazelle" (CT 12
14, iv 20 and v 24 f.). 16:38, equated with the cattle god ?akkan in CT 29
46:13). For Nergal as Pluto, note his names Lugal-
76 See n. 74; on the usurpation of Enlil's position by
Marduk, see W. Sommerfeld, Der Aufstieg Marduks, hegal and Ud-hegal, "King of Opulence" and "Day of
AOAT 213 (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1982), pp. 175 ff. Opulence"
As (Tallqvist, Gotterepitheta, pp. 353 and
stressed by Sommerfeld, Enlil's assimilation to Mar- 476), as well as the personal name Sub'i-mre^r-
duk was for political reasons never overt but was?akkan, "Bring-Riches-?akkan!" (CAD, s.v. mes'r).
realized covertly through Marduk's appellative Bel For Nergal as a beautiful, cunning Tempter (a role
("Lord"), which replaces Enlil (See SAA 3 no. 39:31; overlooked in E. von Weiher, Der babylonische Gott
cf. ibid. r. 12, where Bel = Marduk), and through theNergal, AOAT 11 [Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1971]), note
mystic number 50, attributed to both gods. his identification with the fox in Livingstone, SAA 3
77 Note also SAA 3 no. 11 r. 5 (Assurbanipal's cor-
no. 38:37 (cf. Fox Star = Erra, CT 33 1 i 17), his ap-
onation hymn), where Anu is associated with thepellatives and epithets "King of Tricks" (Lugal-
king's crown and Enlil with his throne. In Kabbalah, galamma), "cunning in tricks" (uzun nikilti), "of
Keter is referred to as the "Ancient of Ancients, thehandsome face" (s'a pani banaf), (Tallqvist, Gotterepi-
Primordial Point or Monad," the first expression of theta, pp. 352 and 393 ff.), and his ability to evade
God's primal will, which contains the plan of the en-recognition in Nergal and Ereikigal (Dalley, Myths
tire universe and the power of all opposites in unityfrom Mesopotamia, p. 174). It seems likely that epi-
(Ponc6, Kabbalah, p. 113); it is the Alpha and the thets such as "the power of earth" or "the strongest/
Omega, "all that was, is and will be, the place of first
most potent/powerful of gods" refer to Nergal specifi-
emanation and ultimate return" (Halevi, Kabbalah, cally as the personification of sexual potency and
p. 6). This corresponds to Anu's epithets "the first man's animal instincts.
I had to resort to Tallqvist's Akkadische Gotterepithe

epithets fitting the Sefirah of Hod (Splendor or Ma
firegod Girru, and Marduk, Nabfi, and Ninurta,79 t
their place in the diagram. Accordingly, this Sefir
who share the same mystic number,s0 and it is notewo
refers to Jahweh as a thundering and flashing storm.81
The last Sefirah, Kingdom (Malkhut), is defined as
tributes the Divine stream to the lower worlds,"82 wh
to the king as the link between God and Man.83 The m
the Divine stream is repeatedly encountered on A
streamer emanating from the winged disk above
excluded this Sefirah from the reconstructed model be
harmony of the Tree and because the king, though im
not form part of it in Assyrian art.85
79 The Hebrew word hod means1970]). The

"glory,
beginningsplendor,
of this passage literally reads
"Yahweh Hebrew
beauty, majesty" and in rabbinical will make the majesty
also of his voice heard"
"dis-
tinction, pride" (Jastrow, Dictionary, (hsmyc yhwh 't-hwd p. qwlw),
337a); its
to be compared with
closest semantic equivalent in "Adad, the voice ofis
Akkadian your
the[A''ur's]
root majesty" (siqir
srh with its derivates s'arhuilliliitika Addu), KAR 128
and sitrahu, r. 24.
"glorious,
splendid, proud," both of which are
82 The well Jewish
Standard attested as
Encyclopedia (Jerusalem,
epithets of Adad, Girru, NabUi, 1958-59), p. 1090. Cf.
Ninurta, and Halevi, Kabbalah, p. 7 ("The
Marduk
(see Tallqvist, Gitterepitheta, p. 230);
lowest the
Sefirah, the same gods
complement to Keter, the Crown,
also share the epithet gasru, is"mighty" Malkhut, the Kingdom.
(ibid.,Inp. it the
77).Divine Light is
When referring to Adad and earthed. It constitutes
Girru, such the epithets
Shekhinah, the Presence of
were certainly associated with God the continuous
in Matter"), and Ponce,flash-
Kabbalah, p. 130 ("It is
ing and roaring of a violent thunderstorm. through her that the divine grace of En-Sof passes
Hod is defined in Kabbalah as "the
through intosupport of the
the lower world").
fifth Sefirah Judgment" (Ponc6, 83 See Kabbalah,
n. 28 above and M.-J.
p. 129),Seux, "Kinigtum,"
which "picks up and passes on RlA,information"
vol. 6, pp. 162 f. and(Halevi,
166 ff.; A. L. Oppenheim,
Tree of Life, p. 32) and "reverberates Ancient Mesopotamia the impulse
(Chicago, 1964), pp. 98 f.
throughout the Tree" (idem, Way
84 Cf. nn. 25of Kabbalah,
and 55, and see, for further exam-
p. 31). This agrees with Adad's role as
ples, Danthine, the oracle
Palmier-dattier, figs. 163, 333, 371,
god par excellence, announcing, 372, 379,by 420, 424, roar,
his 429, 430, divine
432, 435, 437, and 445.
judgments and decisions to mankind; cf. his name
In Collon, First Impressions, fig. 345, the streamers
"King of Decisions" and epithets "lord grasped
are exceptionally of oracles/
not by the king but by a
decisions, august judge," androyal the like probably
eunuch, (see Tallqvist,
the owner of the seal; the
Gdtterepitheta, s.vv. Lugal-egbarra, goddess I'tarbil appears in the background. The appear-
biri/purussi,
and dajjdnu siru. Note that in anceRav's list of
of the goddess in theten
scenecre-
is not fortuitous; it
ative powers (see n. 49 above), should Hod
be noted is replaced
that by "Presence,"
in Kabbalah, God's
Gaarah, "Rebuke." Shekhinah, is envisioned as a beautiful woman, "vir-
80 See RIA, vol. 3, p. 499b (for Gibil = Girru, see
gin of light," with whom the mystic seeks to be
united; see Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 83 ff., 229 ff., and
ibid., pp. 383 f.). Besides Adad and Girru, the mystic
number 10 was also assigned to Madanu ("Verdict") 315, with many striking examples, and see n. 145 be-
and Nusku, the god of vigilance and hope (manifestedlow. This notion of the Shekhinah agrees perfectly
in the lunar crescent, cock, and lamp); the equationwith the role played by Itar in Assyrian ecstatic
Girru = Nusku = Madanu = Nuru ("Light") is explic- prophecy, where she represents the Word of God
itly attested in Assyrian prayers; see Mayer, Unter-manifested through prophetic spirit (to pneuma,
suchungen, pp. 386 and 406 f. For Nusku-Girru's "spiritus sanctus"); see my introduction in Assyrian
epithets gaSru, sarhu, bukur/ilitti Anim, and tappe Prophecies, and cf. n. 73 above. In a seal published
amasl which this god shares with Adad, see ibid. by Lambert, "Near Eastern Seals in the Gulbenkian
81 "Then the LORD will make his voice heard in Museum of Oriental Art, University of Durham,"
majesty (hod) and show his arm sweeping down in 41 (1979): pl. 8:67, the streamers are held by
Iraq
fierce anger with devouring flames of fire, with I'tar herself along with another, unidentified, god.
cloudburst and tempests of rain and hailstones" (Isa. 85 The secondary nature of the Sefirah Malkhut is
30:30, translation of the New English Bible [Oxford,also indicated by the fact that it is not included
Once the gods had been placed in the diagram, which did not
hour, I filled in their mystic numbers using as a guide W. R6l
in the Reallexikon der Assyriologie (see fig. 9). For the most p
chanical operation;86 in some cases, however, I had to choos
ternative numbers."7 The numbers shown in figure 9 are t
divine names in the Middle and Neo-Assyrian standard orthogr
securely attested."8 I should point out that the number for An
among the six Sefirot constituting (seethe

I. Finkel,
"Lower in E. Leichty
Face" et al., eds., A Scientific
(see n. 52 above) in Kabbalistic tradition, nor in Humanist: Studies in Memory of Abraham Sachs
Rav's list of the ten creative divine powers (n. 49). [Philadelphia, 1988], pp. 148 f.) is a copy of a Middle
86 That is, there was generally only one number Babylonian original. For 50 = Enlil, see MSL 14,
per god and only one god per number. Gods with the pp. 255 and 285 (Ea II 176 and Aa II/4:203 ff.). The
same number were taken as equated and assigned the equation 50 = Marduk is established by 50 = dBE in CT
same place in the diagram (see nn. 74, 76, and 80). 13 32 r. 12, commenting on the fifty names of Marduk
in EnCima elis' VII 144. For 40 = Ninurta see SAA 3
87 In R61ig's list, Ea has three numbers, 40, 50(?),
and 60; Adad has two numbers, 6 and 10; ?ama' has no. 47 r. 3 (Neo-Assyrian); the reading is ascertained
two numbers, 10 and 20; Ninurta has two numbers, through collation by A. K. Grayson, "Literary Letters
9(?) and 50. Actually, "9" for Ninurta, deduced only from Deities and Diviners: More Fragments," JAOS
from the god's association with the ninth day, remains 103 (1983): 148; Borger, RIA, vol. 3, p. 576b; and
unattested and is best ignored; "50" for Ea occurs HKL 1, p. 327. 30 = Sin was prolific in personal
only in mur-50 = tmL'-dE.A (5R 44 iii 15), which cer- names from the Akkadian period on, see W. von
tainly is a mistake for Ur-40 (Gilg. X ii 22 and Soden, Das akkadische Syllabar, AnOr 42, [Rome,
passim). This still leaves 6 and 10 for Adad, 10 and 1967], p. 55, Ranke, PN; Saporetti, Onomastica; and
20 for ?amal, and 40 and 60 for Ea. In addition, a Tallqvist, APN and NBN, passim. For 15 = Ibtar and
passage overlooked by Rollig has 40 = Ninurta, so 10 = Adad in Middle Assyrian/Neo-Assyrian names,
that this god too had two numbers, 40 and 50. see Saporetti, Onomastica, vol. 2, pp. 177 ff., 191,
Adad's number 6, which is the reciprocal of 10, and Tallqvist, APN, passim; only sporadic examples
plays a role only in the gematric speculations of I.NAM (all NB) are known from Babylonia. For many exam-
GI?.HUR and the cultic calendar Inbu bel arhi, where it ples of 20 = ?ama' in Neo-Assyrian/Neo-Babylonian
is used to derive days sacred to Adad from combina- astrological texts, see SAA 8, p. 352; the spelling was
tions of 6 and 10 (6, 6 + 10, 6 + 10 + 10 and 6 + 6 + avoided in personal names for fear of confusion
6 + 10); see Landsberger, Kult. Kalender, p. 114. For with 20 = garru. For 14 = Nergal/Sakkan, see CT 25
a similar play with a mystic number, see Livingstone, 50:15 and cf. Landsberger, Kult. Kalender, p. 131,
Mystical Works, p. 41, lines 20-24, where ?ama' is and von Weiher, Nergal, pp. 52 f.; the accuracy of
equated with Sin (30 = 3) through the reciprocal of King's copy (against Livingstone's "11," Mystical
his mystic number 20 (3 = 60/20). ?amas's number 10 Works, pp. 32 f.) is ascertained through collations by
has been derived from 20 by splitting the latter into M. Geller and W. G. Lambert.
two (cf. Livingstone, ibid., lines 18 f.); it is attested After a single occurrence in the reign of Adad-
only once in a lexical passage (see n. 104 below) and nirari I (Andrae, Stelenreihen 90:2.4), the spelling 10
is clearly secondary to 20, used passim for writing the = Adad suddenly becomes productive under Shal-
god's name. Ninurta's number 50, attributed to him as maneser I (1273-1244); see KAJ 48:17, 51:18, 57:5,
son of Enlil, is well attested and possibly of great an- 62:4, 81:6, 90:20, 114:15, 118:9, 120:14 and 27 ff.,
tiquity (note Gudea's temple E-50 and the Ur III per- 123:3, 156:4, 180:12, 217:10, 224:20, 275:5, 299:6,
sonal name i-li-ha-an-ga, "My-God-is-50," UET 3 KAV 104:18, TR 100:12 f., 101:10 f., 102:12, 2086:4,
1080 r. ii 3); unlike 40, it was, however, never used and 2904:1 (datings after Saporetti, Gli eponimi
for writing the god's name. For Ea's numbers 40 and medio-assiri [Malibu, 1979]). The earliest attestation
60, see Excursus 1, pp. 203-4 below. of 15 = I'tar (KAJ 85:30) is from the reign of Tukulti-
88 For numerous examples of Ea written with the Ninurta I (1243-1207); see 0. Peders6n, Archives
sign 60 (DI), all but one of them Assyrian, see Galter, and Libraries in the City of Aslur, vol. 1 (Uppsala,
Enki/Ea, pp. 10, 228 (NB), 236, and 268, and note 1985), p. 115 with n. 9. The earliest examples of 60 =
also BBR 26 iii 44; KAR 35 r. 15 and 37:8; 4 R2 33 iii Ea (Weidner, Tn. 60:2 and 61:1) date from the late
43; Or. n.s. 22 39 r. 8; SAA 3 no. 37:17.23.32, twelfth century (reign of A''ur-re'-i'i I).
38:26.32, 39:35; STT 88 r. iv 16; and G. van Driel, In sum, it can be seen that the practice of writing
The Cult of AHgur (Assen, 1969), p. 98:32. Ea was divine names with numbers emerged under the Mid-
never spelled 40 in Assyrian texts; the two examples dle Assyrian Empire and represents a genuinely
cited by Galter (Enki/Ea, pp. 230 and 248) are Neo- Assyrian innovation; previously only the name of the
Babylonian or Late Babylonian, and ND 4358+:67
moon god had been written this way, and only
A;/
No.
MIS
:o~oX
2'?`
q A"i4 11 4
'r, 4 4 N.-MR 49ii4K //4

41r, o.:iiii
. . . . . . .>1> 4
Z,4'
Ol' N''4
( >14144ii 444
/ k4> 1 #4 W
1'_-
>i>~> /4-
44 444i
~i4'4 ~ 74 4>4>4 / 44444 4

4'::_
41 ,,/ #//~l4> 44 74444>4>
'4/:?::
FIG. 8.-The Ki
the British Museum.
1
"U
3 2
30 60
%
(0
20
AAMAS
50
MA"ouK
15
IATAR
10 40
14
MROAL
FIG. 9.-The distribution of the mystic numbers
as 60 in Rillig's article. Of course, the vertical wedge can also be re

of Anu, "the first god," the only reading that makes sense is 1, as w
The ease with which the gods and their numbers fitted into the
good to be true, and the insights obtained in the process were m
Suddenly, not only the diagram itself but the perplexingly opa
gion as well started to make sense;90 I felt on the verge of a major
THE DISTRIBUTION OF GODS AND NUMBERS IN THE DIAGRAM
Looking at the reconstructed diagram more closely, one observes that p

the great gods of the Assyro-Babylonian pantheon figure in it, some occupyi
place because they were theologically equivalent.91 Only one major god
Ai'ur, for whom no mystic number is attested.92 This strongly suggests that
The Mightgod
sporadic examples of other numerically written That Was Assyria, p. 202) but is in fact a
names are known from later Babylonia. This saviorortho-
god comparable to Christ or Mithra; see Ex-
graphical innovation can be securely dated cursusto 2, the
pp. 204-5 below.
early thirteenth century and thus coincides 91 See nn.
with the74, 76, 78, 80, and 97. The pattern of
appearance of the Late Assyrian Tree (see equations
n. 6). and interrelationships found in the diagram
is already
89 See p. 188. The point is that the vertical wedge,discernible in the late second-millennium
in the absence of a symbol for zero in the god list
Meso-An = Anum (see Lambert, RIA, vol. 3, pp.
potamian number system, stood for both 275If.),
and which
60, surveys the whole pantheon as an ex-
tended royal is
just as our number 1 (depending on its context) family starting with the divine king,
a symbol for both 1 and 10; the valueAnu, "1" and then proceeding as follows: 2. Enlil,
is of
course the primary one in both cases. AsNinurta,
"One and Bdlet-ili; 3. Ea, Marduk, Nabfi; 4. Sin,
Sixty," Anu's number comprised the mystic numbers
?amal, Adad; 5. I'tar; 6. gods equated with Nabfi and
of all other gods; he was the Alpha and Ninurta
the Omega(Lugalmarda, Lugalbanda, Amurru, Tispak,
(cf. above, n. 77). This point is made quiteIn'u'inak,
explicitI'taran,
in Zababa, Ural, Ningirsu); 7. Nergal
the esoteric work I.NAM GI9.HUR, where Anu andis
other chthonic deities. As can be seen, the struc-
associ-
ated not only with the crescent ("Appearance ture of
onthe list perfectly agrees with that of the dia-
the
gram, bearing
first day: the crescent (is) Anu . . . . The first (rs'ta) in mind that, for political reasons, the
god, father of the gods, 1 (is) Anu"), but, family of Enlil
through a had to be presented as distinct from
gematric operation, also with the full that moon:of Marduk
"15 (see n. 76 above). In the diagram,
times 4 is 60 ['1']; 60 (is) Anu; he called the 'fruit' which was esoteric, this requirement did not apply.
[= full moon]" (see Livingstone, Mystical Works, From the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I on (1114-
pp. 23 and 30; for passages associating Anu with the 1076), the gods found in the diagram appear as a
first month and the first day, see B. Landsberger, Der group in Assyrian royal inscriptions, and by the reign
kultische Kalender der Babylonier und Assyrer of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859), the composition of
[1915; Leipzig, 1968], p. 105, and D. D. Luckenbill, the group has become more or less standardized (cf.
The Annals of Sennacherib, OIP 2 [Chicago, 1924], Grayson, ARI, vol. 2, ?? 8, 413, 486, 646; Tadmor,
p. 136). SAA Bulletin 3 [1989]: 26). Interestingly, transferring
90 In reducing the multitude of Mesopotamian the Ashurnasirpal group into the diagram in the order
gods to mere aspects of a few "great gods," and these in which the gods are enumerated, one obtains a
again to mere aspects or powers of a single universal complete outline of the Tree divided into the "Up-
God (see below), the diagram unfolds a sophisticated per" and "Lower Faces" (see n. 52), with I'tar in the
monotheistic system of thought sharply deviating heart of the diagram as the terminal point (see fig.
from the current simplistic notion of Mesopotamian 10a); the same result is obtained when Rav's list of
religion and philosophy. As in Kabbalah, the key to the ten creative powers are transferred to the diagram
the system is the Tree diagram, which functions as a (see fig. 10d). This seems more than a coincidence;
mandala defining the essentials of the system in the do we have in figure 10b the Assyrian "sign of the
simplest possible visual terms. Without this key, it cross" defining the body of the Divine anthropos (cf.
would be next to impossible to understand the system Ponc6, Kabbalah, p. 138)?
on the basis of the scattered, highly symbolic, and 92 On the special status of AS'ur within the pan-
often seemingly contradictory evidence of the Meso- theon, see also Lambert, "The God ASSur," Iraq 45
potamian religious texts. A case in point is the god (1983): 82-85, who points out, among other things,
Ninurta/Nabfi, who is still commonly regarded as that this important god "lacks the family connections
"the god of war or hunting" (cf., for example, Saggs, which are characteristic of all the major gods and
tant god has to be identified with the winged disk ove

Divine stream emanates93 and, accordingly, is ident
Kabbalah, En Sof.94 As a matter of fact, the various sp
out difficulty, be interpreted as expressing the idea of
goddesses of the Babylonians inside and the Sumerians,

moon represented uniting
Nabfi. Thus it may be
them in one big clan . . .One seeks in
hypothesized that vain for his
in Icons showing two minor gods
identity" (p. 82). beside the central figure (see n. 25 above), the right-
93 On the still open debate concerning the mean-
hand god likewise represented Nabfi, occupying a
ing of the winged disk, see Reade, "Shikaft-i place of honor beside his father comparable to that of
Gulgul," pp. 38 f., with earlier literature; cf. idem,Christ or Michael as "the archon of all the holy
Assyrian Sculpture, pp. 26 f., and Lambert, "Trees, forms on the right side of God" (see Scholem, Ori-
Snakes and Gods," p. 439. While the plain winged gins, pp. 147 f. and Excursus 2 below). To complete
disk certainly was a symbol of the sun god, the an-the trinity with a female member, the left-hand god
thropomorphic disk with streamers (see n. 25 above;would then logically be Marduk's wife Zarpanitu,
hereafter "the Icon") must be interpreted differently.alias Baltiya, "My Lady," the Babylonian Madonna
Of decisive importance here is the textual evidence (cf. SAA 3 no. 37 r. 24 ff. and SAA 9 no. I ii 16 ff.,
discussed in n. 28, which unquestionably establishes and see n. 97 below).
this particular form of the disk as a symbol of As'ur 94 See nn. 50, 55, 56, and 113. In Kabbalistic the-
(see also n. 56 for the sun as a manifestation of A'- osophy, En Sof ("The Limitless") is defined as total
sur). This symbolism-and it alone-accounts for unity beyond comprehension; his Will to manifest
the role of the Icon in the Achaemenid Empire, himself, which lies behind all existence, is called En
where it (despite P. Calmeyer, "'Das Zeichen der Sof Or, "The Endless Light," and envisioned as a
Herrschaft... ohne ?ama' wird es nicht gegeben'," boundless ocean of light engulfing and pervading the
Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 17 [1984]: physical world (see, for example, Halevi, Kabbalah,
147) certainly symbolized Ahura Mazda, the "God of p. 5, and Tree of Life, pp. 28 f.; Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp.
Heaven," equated with Jahweh in Ezra 1:2. 93 ff.; Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 67 f. and 307 with n. 72;
It should be stressed, however, that, according to for En Sof as "the circle," see ibid. p. 63). The rela-
the Assyrian(!) esoteric text SAA 3 no. 39 r. 4 f., the tionship of the Will of En Sof (i.e., En Sof Or) to his
god riding in the disk was not ASSur but Marduk. first emanation (i.e., Keter) has been a matter of de-
This shows that the Icon represented a composite bate among Kabbalists, and many claim the identity
symbol consisting of several subordinate elements, of the two of them (see Scholem, "Kabbalah," pp.
each of which defined one aspect of A''ur. The 560 f.). In the popular Kabbalah, En Sof is "merely a
figure of Marduk portrayed him as the creator, the synonym for the traditional God of religion" (ibid.,
winged disk, as the light of the world; the arrowsp. 559).
shot by the god identified him as the conqueror of This accords well with the fact that A''ur is com-
evil (see Excursus 2, pp. 204-5 below), the bow heldmonly referred to as "the God" in Assyrian cultic
by him represented I'tar, the power of love (cf. En. texts (e.g., KAR 215 r. ii 9; van Driel, Cult of AlSur,
el. VI 84-91 and CAD, s.v. qas'tu, pp. 149b and pp. 88:36 and 136:16 ff.; Ebeling, "Kultische Texte
152b). The streams emanating from the disk iden- aus Assur," Or. n.s. 22 (1953): 36 r. 5 ff. and 39 r. 4)
tified him as the source of wisdom (see nn. 55 and and identified with Anu in god lists (see Lambert,
69), their lightning ends underlined his might (see "The Gula Hymn," p. 130, and see also n. 75 above
nn. 72 and 79); the Maltese Cross sometimes drawn and pp. 191 f. below). In Craig, ABRT I 83, ASSur is
inside the solar disk (Calmeyer, "'Das Zeichen dercalled "king of the totality of gods, creator of him-
Herrschaft'," pp. 142 f.) portrayed him as the lord of self; father of the gods, who grew up in the Abyss;
the universe (see LAS, vol. 2, pp. 330 f., and note the king of heaven and earth, lord of all gods, who ema-
Assyrian spelling of Ninurta with the sign of the nated (lit., "poured out") the supernal and infernal
cross, dMA9; see also n. 103 below). gods and fashioned the vaults of heaven and earth";
Thus the Icon portrayed ASSur as the sum total of in SAA 3 no. 34:53 ff. and 35:44 ff., he is said to be
the entire divine pleroma (see n. 56). This is consis- "dressed in water" (see n. 96 below) and have "come
tent with the fact that in some seal scenes (for exam- into being before heaven and earth existed." Note
ple, Danthine, Palmier-dattier, figs. 444, 471, 476;
that the solar disk in ASSur's icon is sometimes re-
Orthmann, Der alte Orient, no. 274; S. Herbordt, placed by two concentric circles with a point in the
center (see Collon, First Impressions, no. 340; Dan-
SAA Studies 1, p. 99), the solar disk of the Icon is re-
placed or accompanied by the lunar crescent; for the
thine, Palmier-dattier, fig. 488), identical with the
moon as an embodiment of the divine pleroma, Kabbalistic
see diagram illustrating the manifestation of
nn. 66 and 89 above. In Collon, First Impressions,
En Sof as the Universal Monad (Ponc6, Kabbalah,
no. 346, the crescent replaces the Tree. p. 52). For the Apsu (Abyss) as ocean of light, see
nn. 69 and 96.
According to SAA 3 no. 39 r. 4 f., the divine figure
??~??r??~Z
ANU
SIN EA
I t
ENLIL
NMA MARDUK
IBTAR
ADAD NINURTA
"NERGALN
a. Grayson, ARI 2, ?? 486 and 646 b. The same plotted on the body of
(reigns of Tukulti-Ninurta II and the Divine anthropos. After A. Parrot,
Ashurnasirpal II). Nineveh and Babylon (London, 1961),
fig. 9.
ANU
AGAN
ENLIL
TEVUNAH - HOKHMAH
SIN EA
DAAT
MISHPAT , HESED
RAHMIM
_AMA_ /M
IBTAR
ZEDEK
N BO
HHGEVURAH
AARAH KAH NUSKU NINURTA
0 ERGAL/
c. KAR 25 (see Excursus 2). In this list,
Adad exceptionally appears among gods d. Rav's list of creative powers (see
of the Upper Face to make possible the nn. 49 and 70 ff.).
clockwise round of the Lower Face.
FIG. 10.--Enumerations of Gods and divine powers
as well as the various qualities of En Sof.95 The sola

rily represented implies that his essential nature w
Of the gods found in the diagram, Anu, king of H
daughter, representing all female deities,97 occupie
the underworld, the base of the trunk. The remain
left sides of the trunk in a corresponding way, wit
other words, the tree is composed of three succ
horizontally as interrelated trinities, to be comp
nodes, volutes, and circles of the Assyrian Tree
95 See Excursus 3, pp. 205-8 below.

"All gods requested (sg.)" (Tallqvist, APN, p. 78).
96 The "garment of water" Note that the latterAs'ur
covering name was(n. borne by the chief
94)
scribeas
is a metaphor identifying him and"the
ideologist of Ashurnasirpal
ocean of divine II; and see
light, to whom all returns";nn.
on 30, this
31, and 38 above. This usage meta-
Kabbalistic of ilini, of
phor, also used in Christian, Muslim,
course, has and inIndian
a well-known parallel this biblical plu-
mysticism, see Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 67
ralis majestatis, elohim,ff."God"On seals,
(lit. "gods").
the Icon is often abbreviated 98toOn the
a triadic
mere structure
wingedof the Sefirotic
disk Tree, in
(see Appendix B, pp. 201-2 general,
below). see Halevi, Kabbalah, p. 8. The horizontal tri-
97 Cf. Landsberger, Kult. Kalender,
ads, corresponding to the pp. 105
divine andare re-
generations,
131, on the "vereinfachung des
ferred weiblichen
to as Panthe-
"a succession of layers" (see Scholem,
ons" in the Assyrian culticOrigins,
calendar,
p. 75, quotingandthe Booknote
of Bahir)theand associ-
ated not=only
equations Zarpanitu = Bdlet-ili with the=
?erua "Worlds
Erua of Creation"
= I'tar (see
in Mayer, Untersuchungen, pp.
n. 55), but 379
also withf.three
and 425,
degrees and
of consciousness
Gula = Nintinugga = Nanseand=layersNinkarrak = Baba
of the soul. The latter association= gives the
Ninsun = Mullissu in Lambert, "The Gula
Tree a psychological dimension Hymn,"
equaling in impor-
p. 109; in KAR 109, Baba istance
addressed as
its theological and "Mullissu
cosmological dimensions.
of the gods" and equated with Ningal,
The topmost Aya, ofI'tar,
triad, representative En Sof 's power
Erua, etc. In accordance withof this, Assyrian
thought, corresponds texts
to the highest fre-
degree of con-
quently speak of "the gods and the
sciousness, I'tar," the singular
divine or "over-soul" Neshamah lo-
implying that there was, incated in the only
fact, center Sefirah,
one, Keter
not (head).
sev-It is "the
eral, "female" deities; see,place for whereexample, Ebeling,
the individual perceives the 'plan' or
"Mittelassyrische Rezepte,"meaning pl. 26 r. 9;
of being" TCL
(Ponce, 3, p.
Kabbalah, 20:
p. 204).
115; SAA 3 no. 1: 16 (AS'ur asThe thesecondprogenitor
triad, representative of "the
of En Sof's moral
gods and I'tar"). Such a usage power andof course
emotion, perfectly
corresponds to the self-conscious
agrees with the Tree diagram, soul Ruah where
located in the I'tar is sur-
Sefirah Tiferet (heart). It is the
rounded by eight "male" deities; cf.virtues
world of "moral theand Kabbalistic
ability to distinguish be-
parable in Bahir explainingtween the gooddivine
and evil.., pleroma
.a position where as[mana can]
garden planted with nine male see others(palm) trees
not in the light and
of his own one
needs, but in the
feminine tree (the ethrog), light analyzed
of their own"in Scholem,
(ibid., pp. 202 ff.). Ori-
gins, p. 172 (cf. n. 124 below). The lowermost triad corresponds to the "animal
In this context, it is noteworthy that
soul," Nefesh, located the
in the plural
Sefirah Yesod (genitals). It
ildni, "gods," is used as a divine name
is the world and
of instincts construed
where "all conscious energies
as a singular noun in Middle and Neo-Assyrian
are concentrated in the sexual and instinctual sphere
personal names. Examples are Iqbi-ilani "ildni [and] the individual is conscious only of his own
commanded (sg.)" (CTN 3 52 r. 9, VAS 1 99 r. 2, needs" (ibid.).
etc.) and Remanni-ilani "ildni, have (sg.) mercy on In contrast to the cosmological Tree, which is visu-
me!" (VAT 9693 r. 1), both seventh century, to be alized as emanating from above (cf. the "inverted tree"
compared with Iqbi-ASSur/Ilu/I'tar, "AS'ur/God/Itar in Cook, The Tree of Life, pl. 38), the psychological
commanded," and Remanni-A''ur/Ilu/Itar; Ilani- Tree is rooted in the netherworld, and its different lay-
eril, "ildni requested (sg.)" (AfO 10 39 no. 84:8,ers are viewed in terms of a gradual progress towards
twelfth century); and Ilani-aha-iddina (TR 3016:6, a higher form of consciousness. In Hekhalot Rabbati,
thirteenth century), to be compared with A''ur/Ilu/the Tree is likened to "a celestial ladder whose first
Ibtar-eri' and the royal name A''ur-ahu-iddina (Esar-edge is on the earth and second edge on the right leg of
haddon). The parallel names imply that ildni herethe throne of glory" (Dan, Revelation, p. 30; see also
stands for the divine pleroma conceived as one god,ibid., p. 22, where "the one who is worthy to observe
and this conclusion is corroborated by such names as the King and the throne" is likened to "a man who has
Gabbu-ilani-sarru-usur, "All gods, protect (sg.) the a ladder in his house"). This imagery is reflected in the
king!" (Ass. 8890: 9 and r. 5) and Gabbu-ilani-eril,iconography of the Assyrian Tree (cf. nn. 20 and 22).
lines connecting the gods exactly render the divine genealog

second- and early first-millennium texts.99
But that is not all. The distribution of the mystic numbers in t
to it a dimension unknown in the Sefirotic Tree. Six of the numbers are full tens, all
neatly arranged, in descending order, on the branches of the Tree: those higher than 30
to the right, the rest to the left side. The numbers on the trunk are not tens, and their ar-
rangement is different: they begin with 1, as in the Sefirotic Tree, but the following two
are not in numerical order. Does this distribution make any sense?
Initially, we note that the numbers on the trunk, when added together, yield 30, the
median number of the sexagesimal system.'00 From the standpoint of number harmony,
this tallies beautifully with the medium position of the trunk and recalls its Kabbalistic
designation, the Pillar of Equilibrium. The position of the number 15 in the center of the
diagram is justifiable from the same point of view.'0'
On the surface, the numbers on the right and left of the trunk seem to upset the bal-
ance of the Tree because the numbers on the left are consistently smaller than those on
the right. Yet, when one adds the numbers together, one obtains for each branch the
same total (30) as for the trunk, the Pillar of Equilibrium. This is so because the num-
bers on the left side, according to the polar system of oppositions governing the Tree,
are negative and thus have to be subtracted from those on the right side. 02 The sum
total of the branches and the trunk (4 x 30 = 120) added to the sum total of the individ-
ual numbers (1 + 10 + 14 + 15 + ... + 60 = 240) yields 360, the number of days in the
Assyrian cultic year and the circumference of the universe expressed in degrees.103
99 For Anu, Ea, Sin, ?amas, IEtar, Marduk, Nabji, light. This, of course, immediately recalls the eight-
Ninurta, and Nergal, see Tallqvist, Gitterepitheta, pp.pointed star attested as a symbol of I'tar since the late
251 ff. and see also n. 91 above. Adad, Girru, and second millennium B.C. (cf. Seidl, RIA, vol. 3,
Nusku are, because of their association with fire, ad- pp. 484 f.; Reade, "Shikaft-i Gulgul," pp. 37 f.). The
dressed as sons of Anu (see nn. 65 and 79 f.). Note choice of 15 as the mystic number of I'tar can actu-
that Marduk and I'tar are called "the brother" (talimu)ally be explained only with reference to the diagram;
and "sister" (talimtu) of ?amas, while IEtar is "the note that the emergence of this mystic number coin-
daughter" of both Anu and Sin and "the daughter-in- cides with the emergence of the Assyrian Tree (see
law" of Ea. This fits I'tar's position in the diagram n. 88 above).
perfectly and recalls a passage in the Assyrian proph- 102 See n. 53 above.
ecies (SAA 9 no. 3 ii 35), where I'tar invites her "di- 103 The significance of this grand total can be ap-
vine fathers and brothers" to join the covenant shepreciated
is when it is recalled that in the doctrinal sys-
concluding with the King. In this text, I'tar is unques-tem of Basilides (early second century), God is the
union of the 365 days of the year, 365 being the ge-
tionably identical with ASSur (cf. ibid. ii 27 with iii 14
f., and see Excursus 2, pp. 204-5 below. matric value of both His mystic name ABRASAX
100 For 30 as the median number, see the esoteric and its Greek appellation hagion onoma ("holy
name"); see Contenau, "Notes d'iconographie,"
passage "bai = share, bai = half: half (bta) of Sin (30)
is half of a half" (Livingstone, Mystical Works, p. 156, for many other examples of gematria (Greek:
p. 23:12 [I.NAM GI.HUR]). isopsephy) in early Christianity and Gnosticism. As
101 The position of Beauty in the middle of the noted by Contenau, the letters of Mithra (Greek
Tree makes it "the central focus [which] joins and Mithras) interpreted gematrically likewise yield the
reconciles the flow of various paths that come number 365. See also Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 170 f.,
through its junction station" (Halevi, Way of Kab- for 358 as the number of the Messiah (Hebrew m'yh
balah, p. 31); in Sefer Yezirah, the Sefirot are said to = 40 + 300 + 10 + 8).
be "knotted in unity in the middle," as if the writer A schematic year of 360 days divided into twelve
had the Assyrian Tree with its central node (see n. 22 months of 30 days each is encountered not only in
above) before his eyes. A diagram in Ponce, Kab- the Assyrian cultic calendar Inbu bel arhi (see n. 87
balah, p. 104, captioned "Beauty as the bearer of all above) but also in the late second-millennium astro-
powers," represents the Sefirotic Tree in the form of nomical text Mul Apin (see Excursus 1, pp. 203-4
an eight-pointed star, with Tiferet as its source of above); in the latter, it is correlated with a division of
In all, it can be said that the distribution of the m

plays an internal logic and, remarkably, contribu
and harmony of the Tree. All this numerical beauty
of the Sefirotic Tree, which only reflects the genea
that the numerical balance of the Tree can be maint
left-side numbers are negative, as required by K
amounts to mathematical proof of the correctnes
further the perfect match obtained with the placem
meaningful triads and genealogies,105 and the ide
disk, I feel very confident in concluding that the Se
potamian model and that this model was perfected i
bly in the early thirteenth century B.C.106
the solar year into four seasons of equal

Gnosticism, the need tolength,
unify the tencor-divine powers
responding to the later division is commonplace;
of the see Idel, Kabbalah,into
ecliptic pp. 120 f. Note
twelve zodiacal signs of 30 degrees especially the eachfollowing(see van
passage from der
The Refutation
Waerden, Anfdinge der Astronomie, of All Heresies by pp. the 78
Gnostic
f.). Monoimos,
Since cited ibid.:
the correct length of the solar "The monad,
year[that (365is] the one tittle,
days) is is, therefore, he
also
found in Mul Apin, the text's says, also a decad. Foron
insistence by the
the actual
sche-power of this
matic year indicates a desire to onestate
tittle are produced
the lengthduad, of
and triad,
the and tetrad,
year in terms of "time degrees" and pentad,
derived and hexad,
fromand heptad,
the and cir-ogdoad, and
cular path of the sun "round" ennead, the earth.
up to ten. For theseIn other
numbers, he says, are ca-
words, the author of the text associated the sun not pable of many divisions, and they reside in that un-
only with the length of the year but with the circum- compounded and single tittle of the iota." Compare
ference of the universe as well. This conclusion is this with the Mesopotamian lexical passage Aa 11/4:
confirmed by Julianus Apostata's (361-363) hymn 1 ff. (MSL
to 14, p. 280) explaining the number ten as
King Helios, which, as observed by van der Waerden "Anu, Antu, Enlil, Sin, ,amas, Adad, I'tar, I'tar as a
(ibid., pp. 227 ff.), is directly based on Mul Apin. star, totality, wisdom, god, creation, and counting."
This association explains the particular form It of
willthe
surely not have escaped the attention of Meso-
solar disk in A''ur's icon (see n. 93 above): thepotamian
Mal- mystics that 360 (see preceding note) mul-
tese Cross symbolized the turning points and thus
tiplied by ten yields 3,600, the number of totality and
gave the disk a cosmic dimension, making it perfection a sym- (9AR); cf. Excursus 3, pp. 205-8 below.
bol of the universe. The wavy lines radiating 105out
See also nn. 70, 74, 79, and 99 f. on the posi-
between the arms of the cross, sometimes terminat- tions of Sin, Ninurta, Adad, and I'tar in the diagram.
ing in palmettes (Calmeyer, "'Das Zeichen der 106 In light of the evidence discussed above (see nn.
Herrschaft... '," pp. 142 f. and 150), turn the disk6, 33, 36 f., 56, 65 f., 88, and 97, and Excursus 2 be-
into a variant of the eight-pointed star symbol of low), it is clear that the emergence of the Tree, and the
Ibtar (n. 101), representing the divine pleroma in themonotheistic ideas connected with it, correlates with
form of a four-spoked wheel. The wheel form cer- the rise of the Middle Assyrian Empire and the as-
tainly referred to the eternal rotation of the seasonssumption of the title "king of the universe" by the As-
and thus added to the disk the notion of eternity. syrian emperors; the doctrine of "unity in multiplicity"
We thus have the following string of associations:(see n. 21 above), of course, admirably suited the
Sun = Year = Universe = Eternity. It is not difficult to
structure of this empire, which was not just a large
see why both Christ and Mithra were associated notmultinational state but a veritable pleroma of diverse
only with the year but also with the sun and (Mithra) semi-independent vassal powers unified under the ab-
with the Zodiac. solute power of the king. The title "king of the uni-
104 The decimal numbering of the Sefirot derived
verse" is already attested for the founder of the empire,
from their order of emanation (see n. 48 above) of
ASSur-uballit I (1369-28), and his Babylonian contem-
course also applies to the Assyrian Tree; see n.porary
87 Burnaburia' II (see Seux, Epithetes, pp. 308 ff.:
showing that the number 3 was associated with the Sin,single attestation of the title for Kurigalzu I listed
the third god to be emanated; see also n. 117. With
there comes from a late copy and is uncertain); the nu-
the inclusion of Mummu (zero), the equivalent ofmerical
the spelling of the word "universe" with the sign
non-Sefirah Daat (see nn. 110 and 124, and cf. nn.9AR,
49 "3,600," however, becomes established only
and 52), the total of the gods in the reconstructed
under Adad-nirari I (1305-1274) and Kurigalzu II
Tree becomes 10, equaling the number of the Sefirot
(1332-1308), the son of A''ur-uballit installed by the
in the Sefirotic Tree. In early Kabbalah, as also in on the Babylonian throne. It is worth noting that
latter
Being able to reconstruct this Tree, date it, and understand the
derlying it has tremendous implications to the history of religion
cannot be pursued within the limits of this paper.107 I will content
crete examples illustrating how the insights provided by the Tree
tionize our understanding of Mesopotamian religion and philos
III. THE TREE AND MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION AND PHILOSOPH
THE BIRTH OF THE GODS IN ENUMA ELIS
In Eniima elis, the narrator, having related the birth of Anu, mysteriously
"And Anu generated Nudimmud (= Ea), his likeness." This can only be a r
matics
the first attestation of the spelling AN.?AR = A''ur and Philosophy in Late Antiquity [Oxford,
like-
1989], p. 27, II
wise occurs in an inscription of this very Kurigalzu and R. T. Wallis, Neoplatonism [London,
(see Seux, Epithltes, p. 311). 1972], pp. 13 ff. and 104 ff.). This claim, which is
Thus, already by the late fourteenth century, perfectlythe
consonant with what is known of the lives of
Tree with its pinecone "garland" certainly Pythagoras
connoted and Plato, and has been repeated several
the idea of "unity in multiplicity" and may times,
alsothough
have never "proven" (see Idel, Kabbalah, pp.
involved a numerical interpretation; note that 256 the
f., and n. 67 above), is put in a totally new light by
mys-
tic numbers of ?ama' (20), Sin (30), Ea (40),the evidence
and cited in this article.
Enlil
(50) occur in the Middle Babylonian lexicalAstext Eathe birth of Jewish monotheism in par-
regards
(Tablet II, 164-76), tentatively assigned "to the ticular, which has been taken as a "reaction" to syn-
middle of the Kassite period" by M. Civil, MSL 14, chretistic and polytheistic pressures from the outside
p. 169; cf. ibid. p. 156. The fact that the numbers of world threatening the national and religious identity of
Adad (10) and I'tar (15) are not included in Ea but ap- the Jews, the evidence presented in this article shows
pear only under Shalmaneser I and Tukulti-Ninurta I, that the truth is not that simple. During the seventh
however (see n. 88), strongly suggests that the final through fifth centuries B.C., the Jews did in fact face
(mathematical) form of the Tree diagram was per- the threat of national extinction, but that threat was
fected no earlier than about 1250 B.C. caused by Yehoiakim's and Zedekiah's adventurous
foreign policies leading to the destruction of the
While the Tree diagram and the elaborate doctrinal
system associated with it can thus be considered anJewish state and the cult of Jahweh, not by foreign
ideologies. Biblical passages such as Chron. 29:11,
Assyrian creation, the general symbolism of the Tree,
including its psychological dimension, is much older
enumerating the Sefirot constituting the "Lower Face"
and may well go back to the third millennium B.C., in
if the very order gedullah-gevurah-tiferet-nezah-hod
not earlier; see p. 1 above with nn. I and 14, and in David's blessing to Solomon, or Prov. 3:19, pre-
nn. 109, 139, and 149 below. senting the triad hokhmah-tevunah-daat as God's
107 As a point of departure, it should be understood power of creation (see nn. 49, 52, and 55 above), are
that the Assyrian religion was not only imposed onclear evidence that the backbone of Assyrian and Kab-
vassals (see SAA 2 no. 6:393 f. and p. xxx), but also balistic monotheism, the Tree diagram, was part and
actively propagated throughout the empire (cf. SAA 3 parcel of the Deuteronomistic religion as well. As
no. 1:3-10 and r. 9-12). Thus the religious ideas con-soon as it is realized that the Biblical image of God,
nected with the Tree were, with time, bound to spread epitomized in the diagram, is but a copy of an Assyr-
out and take root within the confines of the empire and ian model, there is nothing unique in Jewish monothe-
even abroad. This process is amply documented by ar- ism to differentiate it from its Assyrian predecessor
chaeological evidence (the most striking example be- (see also n. 97, on Biblical elohim = "God," and
ing the direct transfer of Assyrian religious symbolismnn. 68, 90, 93, and Excursus 3 below).
to Achaemenid imperial art [see n. 93 above]), and it The same applies to Christianity with its doctrines
is reflected in the sudden emergence of "new" reli-of the Trinity, God the Father, the Holy Ghost, Unity
gions and philosophies (Zoroastrism, Pythagoreanism, of the Father with the Son, etc., all of which are
Orphism, Platonism, Jewish monotheism) in Assyria's derived from Assyrian religion and philosophy (see
former dependencies after the collapse of the empire.nn. 3, 21, 25, 56, 67, 84, 90, 93, 96, 103, and Excur-
It is well known that leading Neoplatonists, such assus 2 below). The crucial significance of the Tree to
Plotinus and Porphyry (who as Orientals should have early Christianity is made evident by the reference to
known!), believed that the teachings of Pythagoras,it in Rev. 22, the last chapter of the Bible, mirroring
Plato, and the Orphics originated in the East (see, for the famous Tree passage in Gen. 2-3, at the very be-
example, D. O'Meara, Pythagoras Revived: Mathe- ginning of the Bible. This configuration makes the
the fact that the mystic numbers of these two gods,

sign,108 and indicates that the composer of the epic
mathematical process.
On the surface, of course, the theogony of Eniima
reproduction.109 As the example just quoted show
just one level of meaning. In fact, the curious sequen
1-15 makes much better sense when it is rephrase
"When the primordial state of undifferentiated
"+0"),110 in which nothing existed, came to an en
binary system of oppositions (Lahmu and Lahamu
AS'ur) with its negative counterpart (Kisar).112 A'sur
mary manifestation, to mirror his existence to the
comes very close to Kabbalistic and Neoplatonic m
Tree, which is Christ, the key mistoprincipiis, chap. 125 (see Excursus
the theological struc- 3 below), re-
ture of early Christianity, its ferring
"Alphato Babylonian
andinformants,
Omega, explains
[its] Mummu
as ton noeton
first and [its] last, [its] beginning andkosmon, "cosmic
[its] end"reason (or conscious-
(Rev.
22:13). ness)." In En. el. I 48, mummu (without the divine de-
108 See n. 89 above. terminative) clearly has the meaning "mind, reason";
cf. milik temiya,of
109 The metaphysical propositions OIP 2, p. 109 vii 5,are
Tantra and note that
stated in very similar terms, there was no
but semantic
the distinction
sexual between "mind,"
allegory
is taken much further. Reality"reason,"
in or "consciousness"
its primordial in Akkadian (cf. AHw.
state
is presented as consisting of s.v.
two tEmu). For Mummu as an male
principles, equivalent of the Sefi-
and
rah Daat,
female [= Apsu and Tiamat], soseedeeply
n. 124 below, and note the definitions
joined in
bliss that they are unaware of
of Daat as "the cosmic
their consciousness" and and
differences "the door
into Timelessness..
beyond time. Slowly, consciousness [=.the edge of where Time does
Mummu]
awakens, and the pair become notaware
exist" in ofHalevi,
theirKabbalah, pp. 168 and 182. The
distinc-
tion [= Lahmu and Lahamu]. The female
interpretation of Mummu "objective"
as the equivalent of zero,
[= Kisar] separates from the implied
male by its position [=
"subject" in the Tree diagram (cf.
ASSur]
and begins the sacred dance n. 116), is also
which clear from its
"weaves" theinsertion
fab- between the
ric of the world (see P. Rawson,
male and Tantra: The Indian
female principles in En. el. I 3-4.
Cult of Ecstasy [London, 1973], pp.
111 That 18 f.).
Lahmu It isrepresent
and Lahamu clear the binary
oppositions
that this allegory is strongly implicit is made clear by Mesopotamian
in Enuima elis, icon-
too, but the phrasing of the ography,
text is where
kept theyintentionally
are represented as antithetically
(often upside-down)
vague to allow other interpretations as well, posed naked figures struggling
includ-
ing misinterpretations. with each other or separating heaven from earth; see
Lambert,
The idea of an inverted tree (see "Then. 98 Pair above)
Lahmu-Lahamu rep-in Cosmogony,"
resenting a manifestation of Or.
the n.s.cosmos
54 (1985): 189-202,
from especially
a single 197 ff. For
transcendent source, Brahman,the nudity of the figures,
is already see Gen. 3:7-11.
attested in
the earliest Indian scriptures, 112theAs the oppositeand
Vedas of ASSur
Upan- (Endless Light),
ishads (ca. 900-500 B.C.). This inverted tree is not Kisar must be understood as the finite physical uni-
derived from the Assyrian Tree; its visualization asverse (dominated by darkness). It corresponds to the
the fig tree (asvattha) links it with the Harappan sa-void created by En Sof for his manifestation; cf. Ha-
cred tree motif (see n. 1 above), suggesting that the levi, Kabbalah, p. 5, and Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 79 ff.
basic doctrines of the Tree had already spread to In- 113 Note that in this connection the text carefully
dia by the early third millennium B.C. via Proto-avoids using the word "created" or "made": literally
Elamite intermediaries. translated, the passage reads "An'ar reflected
110 Note the way in which the unity of Apsu, (umaS'il) Anu, his first-born." The idea of reflection
Mummu, and Tiamat is presented in the text: theiswa- further strengthened by the chiastic insertion of
ters of Apsu and Tiamat are said to mix with Anu each in the preceding line. For the emanation of
other, and Mummu (lacking the divine determinative, Keter as the "mirror" of En Sof's existence see Ha-
levi, Kabbalah, p. 5; on the identity of AS"ur and
in contrast to line 31 ff.) is not presented as a distinct
being but directly attached (almost as an attribute) Anu toand En Sof and Keter, see nn. 75 and 94 above.
Tiamat. For Mummu as the cosmic mind or con- 114 For the latter, see, for example, Wallis, Neo-
sciousness "zeroed" in the primordial state see platonism, pp. 47-72.
n. 109, and note that Damascius, Quaestiones de pri-
Lines 21-24 of Tablet I of Eniima elis' seem to describe the "birth

ber of Sin which can be derived from the number of Ea by simply
The irritation of Apsu caused by this play with numbers and th
Apsu and "leashing" of Mummu (lines 29-72) seem to be an etiol
of the third number and the establishment of the places of Ea and
diagram.116 The "birth" of Marduk, the next god in the diagram,
lowing lines as expected. Marduk's mystic number, like the numbe
gods, can be derived from the preceding numbers by simple arithm
The prominent part played by numbers both in Eniima elis' and t
course immediately recalls the central role of mathematics a
Pythagorean philosophy."8
THE EPIC OF GILGAMESHll9
Looking at the Epic of Gilgamesh through Kabbalistic glasses, a n

the Epic can be proposed viewing it as a mystical path of spirit
in the acquisition of superior esoteric knowledge (see fig. 12).12
stages through the Tree of Life, starting from its roots dominated
115 The passage tells that the gods60(i.e.,

+ 3the num-
= 20; I'tar (7th): 60 + 4 = 15; Nabfi/
bers 1, 60, and 2 that had come into (8th): 60 - 60
being thus far,+ 23 (or 2 x 20) = 40; Adad (9t
as the sequential number of Ea) "came 6 =together"
10; Nergal and(10th): 15 - 1 (or 2 x 7) = 14
disturbed Apsu by their "playing." This 118 can
Onbe taken
the Babylonian background of Pyth
literally as referring to the "play with numbers"and
mathematics (seeastronomy, see van der Waer
n. 87) by which all the mystic numbers in the Tree
Pythagoreer (Zurich and Munich, 1979), pp. 4
diagram can be derived from the previously
119 In the "ema-
absence of an adequate critical e
nated" values (see also n. 117). the following analysis is based on my own
lished
116 With the emergence of the number of reconstruction
Sin (30), of the Epic. The recent
the flow of emanation gets temporarilytions
out by M. Gallery Kovacs, The Epic of G
of balance
until Ea "establishes a universal pattern"
(Palo Alto, (line 1985),
62, and S. Dalley, Myths fro
probably referring to the zigzagging pattern(Oxford,
potamia of the 1989), pp. 50 ff., can be c
stream of emanation) and assumes a for eneral orientation.
position "on top"
of Apsu, the male principle (line 71; cf. Ea's position
o0 Gilgame' is prominently marked as a mystic by
on top of the right-hand male column, fig. 9).
the following The in the Epic:
features
"binding" of Mummu (line 70, referring toepithet
(1) the the Pillar
"perfect" accorded to him in Tablet
of Equilibrium) restores balance by forming
I (cf. n. 57)thewhichsym-qualifies him as a Zadek, "just or
metrical tetrad of the "Upper Face" (Anu-Ea-Sin-
saintly man, not born but made, partly by the assis-
Mummu; see n. 52). The "leashing" of Mummu,
tance of God and with
partly by his own effort" (see Ha-
Ea holding the leash, certainly refers to Way
levi, the of stabiliza-
Kabbalah, pp. 74 ff.);
(2) the special
tion of the positional value 60 for Ea's number, technique (pressing head between
in con-
trast to the number of Anu, written withknees) he uses
the same for attaining dreams (Tablet IV iii 6);
sign,
which could be read both I and 60 (see n. 89).
on this Inci-of Elijah," see Idel, Kabbalah,
"posture
dentally, the fact that Ea's number inpp. 78 ff.elis
Enama and is
90;the
"Assyrian" 60, not the "Babylonian"(3)40 the(cf. n. 88),
technique of weeping, fasting, and praying
confirms the late (Isin II) date assigned to IX
(Tablet the Epic
1-14) by for achieving the paranormal
he uses
Lambert, in W. S. McCullough, ed., The Seed
state of of Wis-
consciousness and visions recounted in Tab-
dom (Toronto, 1964), pp. 3 ff. lets IX-XI; see Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 75 ff.; Dan, Three
117 Marduk's number 50 is derivedTypes,from the num-
p. 29;
bers of Ea (60) and Sin (30) by the following equa-
(4) his role as revealer of hidden mystical knowl-
tion: 60 - 30 + 3 = 50; the divisor 3
edge(representing
(Tablet I 4-7); see ibid., p. 28, and Revelation,
Sin's position in the order of emanation)
pp. 24 ff.; is attested
as a number of Sin in the mystical work I.NAM
(5) the GI.HUR
recurrent references to his ascetic appear-
(see n. 87). Note Ponc6, Kabbalah,ance
p.and
125: "Hesed
behavior in Tablets I and IX-X (dress of
[Marduk] is produced by the unionskin,
ofunkempt
Wisdom [Ea] the desert), consonant
hair, roaming
and Understanding [Sin]." with his prophetic role; see Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 234 ff.
The numbers of the other gods (in (6)
their order
the warnings of to Enkidu in Tablet XII;
he gives
emanation) can be derived as follows: ?amag
see n. 132 below. (6th):
the realm of Nergal (Tablet I); the names of the god

encoded in the contents of the tablets, and they fol
in the Tree, read from bottom to top.121 Tablet II,
deals with spiritual awakening;122 Tablet III outlines
the final breakthrough to the source of supernal kn
The late version of the Epic consists of twelve tabl
sidered an "inorganic appendage break[ing] the form
had come full circle between the survey of Uruk in
end of Tablet XI."'125 In reality, nothing could be f
121 The codes for the individual gods

higher purpose in life aretoas
(the journey the Cedar For-
follows: est being a metaphor for spiritual growth; cf. Halevi,
Tablet I (Nergal): the strength, animal drive, andWa of Kabbalah, pp. 64 ff.).
sexual potency of Gilgamesh; the strength and ani-3 The goal of the journey is explicitly defined in
mal characteristics of Enkidu, his life on the steppethis tablet (ii 18) as the destruction of evil, to be
(a synonym of the netherworld), his association with compared with the aspirant Kabbalist's struggle with
the dark side of his ego (Halevi, Way of Kabbalah,
gazelles and the cattle god ?akkan, his instinctive be-
havior and instantaneous fall to temptation by the pp. 153 ff.). In Assyrian glyptic, "Killing of Hum-
baba" occurs as a theme supplementing the Tree
whore (cf. n. 78), as well as the length of the coitus
(6 days and 7 nights), which ended only barely be- Motif in the same way as the "Killing of Anzfi" or
fore it would have completed the number of Nergal the "Killing of Asakku"; see, for example, Danthine,
(14); Palmier-dattier, figs. 92 (Humbaba), 78-86 (Anzfi),
Tablet IV (Adad and Girru): the repeated dreamand 52 (Asakku).
oracles received by Gilgamesh; the thunderstorm, 124 Tablet IX corresponds to the Sefirah Daat
fire, lightning, and bull (Adad's sacred animal) seen(Knowledge), which in the psychological Tree repre-
in the dreams; the voice calling from heaven; the fear
sents the gate to supernal knowledge, "the point where
striking the travelers (see n. 79 ff.); identity vanishes in the void of Cosmic consciousness
Tablet V (Ninurta and Nabfi): the slaying before of union with Keter" (Halevi, Tree of Life, p. 47;
Humbaba, described in terms resembling Ninurta's cf. ibid., pp. 42 and 158); passing through it is some-
times compared to spiritual death (Ponc6, Kabbalah,
battle with Anzfi and referred to as "triumph" in Tab-
let II (see nn. 74 and 123); p. 206). The revelation of supernal knowledge, on the
Tablet VI (I'tar): the word dumqu "beauty" in line other hand, is described "in Jewish classical texts as a
6, I'tar's love affairs recounted, etc. (see n. 73); tremendous eschatological event, when the sun will
Tablet VII (?ama'): the divine court of justice, the
shine with an overwhelming light. The act of acquiring
harsh judgment passed on Enkidu, Enkidu's appeal supernal
to knowledge involves a change in both the
?ama' (see n. 72); known and the knower; it is presented as a active
Tablet VIII (Marduk): Gilgamesh's emotion and
event, or penetration" (Idel, Kabbalah, p. 228). Com-
compassion for Enkidu, pervading the whole tablet; pare this with the penetration of Gilgamesh through
the magnificence of Enkidu's funeral (see n. 71); the dark passage of the cosmic mountain guarded by
Tablet IX (Mummu): penetration into the Garden the Scorpion man and woman and his emergence to
of Knowledge (see n. 124); the dazzling sunlight on the other side. The beautiful
Tablet X (Sin): the counsels of wisdom given to jewel garden he finds there is the Garden of Knowl-
Gilgamesh, the role of the boat (cf. moon's barge), edge; it corresponds to the "garden of God" of Ezek.
Utnapishtim's reflection and pondering (see n. 70). 28:12 ff. associated with wisdom, perfection, and
Note also the assonance of Siduri to Sin; Siduri, "theblamelessness, and "adorned with gems of every kind:
Igtar of Wisdom" (gurpu II 173), is here portrayed, sardin and chrysolite and jade, topaz, carnelian and
through her veiling, as the daughter-in-law of Ea, thegreen jasper, sapphire, purple garnet and green fel-
god of wisdom (see n. 99); spar." On the association of the Sefirot with jewels and
Tablet XI (Ea); the divine secrets revealed to Gil-translucent colored glass vessels, see nn. 47 and 55
gamesh, the role of Ea in rescuing Utnapistim and above, and see also Ponc6, Kabbalah, p. 103, and Idel,
granting him eternal life, the plant of life fetched Kabbalah, pp. 104 ff.; for a Neo-Assyrian seal scene
from the Apsu (see n. 69); showing the scorpion man and woman as guardians of
Tablet XII (Anu): reunion with Enkidu (see n. 57 the Tree, see Danthine, Palmier-dattier, fig. 354. See
above and n. 132 below). also n. 97 above on the passage in Bahir comparing
122 The process described in the tablet reads like the Sefirotic pleroma to a garden.
an extract from a modern Kabbalistic textbook: the 125 See, in more detail, Kovacs, Epic of Gil-
appearance of a maggid (?amhat, "who leads Enkidu gamesh, pp. 116 f., and J. Tigay, The Evolution of
like a god," later Enkidu himself), the recognition ofGilgamesh Epic (Philadelphia, 1982), pp. 26 f.
the
one's state (Enkidu weeping), and the yearning for a
twelfth tablet, the Epic would be a torso because, as we sha

mate wisdom that Gilgamesh brought back from his arduous s
That wisdom was not meant for the vulgus, and it is therefo
But the Epic is full of clues to help the serious reader to penet
at the end of Tablet XI is one of these. Far from signaling the
the reader back to square one, the Prologue, where he is adv
ture of "the walls of Uruk" until he finds the "gate to the
locked inside a box." "The walls of Uruk" is a metaphor for
box" is the surface story, and "the lapis lazuli tablet" is the sec
of the Epic, the Tree diagram.'28
Once it is realized that the Epic is structured after the Tree,
of Tablet XII becomes obvious, for it corresponds to the
(Heaven), which would otherwise have no correspondence in
On the surface, there is no trace of Heaven in Tablet XII.
with death and the underworld, the word "heaven" (or the
mentioned in it, and it seems to end on an utterly pessimis
considered in the light of the psychological Tree and the spirit
in the previous tablets, however, the message of the tablet
Gilgamesh achieving reunion with his dead friend Enkidu, b
him and thus to acquire precious knowledge from him about li
is more, he achieves this reunion in exactly the same way as h
longed weeping and praying.130 In other words, the uniqu
counted in Tablets IX-XI, there presented as something tota
126 According to the Prologue, Gilgamesh er's attention to the Tree; see the discussion on
brought
back to Uruk the "ultimate sum of all wisdom," pp. 195 ff. below, and note that the felling of the hu-
which is said to be revealed in the Epic (referred luppu
to is referred to as a feat comparable to the con-
by the term nara, "stela," in line 8). Note the empha-
quest of Anzfi in Cooper, Return of Ninurta, p. 147
(see n. 123 and Excursus 2 below).
sis placed on the word hidden in line 5.
This metaphorical significance of the "walls"129 Cf. Idel, Kabbalah, p. 94, quoting an eigh-
(framing Tablets I-XI like brackets) is made clear teenth-century
by Kabbalist, Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer: "I
the parallelismus membrorum of lines 8-9, equating performed an incantation for the ascent of the soul,
the building of the walls with the inscribing of the
known to you. And in that vision I saw.., .the souls
"stela." The meaning of the metaphor is clarifiedof bythe living and of dead persons ... ascending from
the epithet supuru ("fold") attached to Uruk, else-one world to the other through the column known to
where used to refer to the halo of the moon (see adepts in esoteric matters." See also ibid., p. 92, and
cf. n. 57 above. On the death of Enkidu, attributed in
CAD, s.v., pp. 397 f.) and thus clearly connoting the
Tablet XII to his ethical imperfections, see n. 132
idea of a return to the beginning (cf. nn. 89 and 103);
compare the similar use of the Tree of Life motifbelow.
as a
framing device in the Bible, discussed in n. 107. The130 Cf. n. 120 and Idel, Kabbalah, p. 86, quoting
reference to the seven sages in lines 18-19 looks like
Safrin's commentary to the Zohar: "By much weep-
a metaphor stressing the antiquity and solid philo-ing, like a well, and suffering I became worthy to be
sophical background of the Epic. transformed into a 'flowing stream, a fountain of wis-
128 Note the lapis lazuli foliage of the Treedom'; of no secret was revealed to me, nor a wondrous
Knowledge in Tablet IX (see n. 124 above) and the apprehension, but afterward I became like dust and
unique description of the Tree of Life in CT 16 wept before the Creator of the universe like a spring,
46:183 ff.: "A black kigkana tree grew up in Eridu, lest I should be rejected from the light of his face,
was created in a holy place; its sheen is pure lapis la- and for the sake of gaining apprehensions out of the
zuli, drawing from the Apsu..." (for the continua- source of wisdom." This passage illustrates the ratio-
tion, see Widengren, King and the Tree, pp. 6 f.). In nale behind the weeping technique, associating it, in
addition, the conspicuous omission of the huluppu- Mesopotamian terms, with the ocean of wisdom,
tree theme from Tablet XII (see A. Shaffer, "Sumer- Apsu, and thereby with Ea (cf. n. 69); note that it is
ian Sources of Tablet XII of the Epic of Gilgamesh" explicitly Ea, not Enlil, or Sin, who finally grants
[Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1963], Gilgamesh his rendezvous with Enkidu.
pp. 99 ff.) is certainly also meant to direct the read-
Tablet XII become a firmly established technique b

sought at will.131
In Jewish mysticism, such experiences are referred
ing Paradise" and regarded as tremendous events reser
fectly stable men.132 The evolution of Gilgamesh into
in Tablets I-VIII.'33 In the early (third century?) Jewi
the very concept of mystical "ascent to heaven" is rev
a revolutionary "secret of the world."'34 There can be
secret, revealing the way to Heaven, was the preci
back from his journey to Utnapishtim.
THE ETANA MYTH
The Mesopotamian myth of Etana is well known for its central motif, a
to heaven on an eagle's back. It has thus been classified as an "adventure st
131 On "weeping [and prayer] as a means of at-

scension" (yeridah), an idiom that has not been satis-
taining revelations and/or a disclosure factorily
of secrets-a
explained (see Dan, Three Types, pp. 8 and
practice that can be traced back through 34allwith n. 29).
the major
stages of Jewish mysticism over a period ofThe
133 morefirst phase in the process is the long jour-
than two millennia," see Idel, Kabbalah, ney
pp. 75 ff.
into one's self (Tablet IV), involving practice o
132 Ibid., pp. 88 ff. and n. 124 above. religious
The perilous
duties and love of one's neighbor; the goal,
nature of such experiences is constantly emphasized the subjugation
in of the dark side of the ego (Tablet V)
Jewish mysticism, and the following Talmudic is reached with divine guidance (?ama') and human
story
(Epstein, Kabbalah, p. 3) is told to illustrate helpthe
(Enkidu).
point: The purity of one's soul is put to test
by major temptations (Tablet VI) and the severities of
Legend relates that each of the four [sages] entered Pardes,
life (the death of Enkidu, Tablet VII); both tests have
that is, embraced the mystical life. Rabbi Akiva, the oldest
and best prepared was first to achieve superconscious to be stood while still retaining a humble and com-
states.
However, on his "return" to waking consciousness, he passionate heart (Tablet VIII). The overall goal of the
warned the other three not to succumb to the illusions their program seems to be a stepwise control over all psy-
minds would create along the way. "When you enter near chic the powers operative in the human soul, represented
pure stones of marble, do not say, 'Water! Water!' for the by the gods for whom the tablets are encoded (cf. the
Psalms tell us, 'He who speaks falsehoods will not be estab-
bird's nest metaphor of Moses Cordovero cited in
lished before My Eyes'."
Ponc6, Kabbalah, p. 123). This certainly looks like
The saintly Rabbi ben Azai "gazed and died," for his soul
clearly defined program of spiritual growth resem-
so longed for its source that it instantly shed the physical
body upon entering the light. . .Only Rabbi Akiva, the manbling the Kabbalistic and Neoplatonic strategies of
of perfect equilibrium, entered and left in peace. conquering the "vegetable" and "animal" levels of
the soul (cf. Halevi, Way of Kabbalah, pp. 117 ff.,
This story immediately recalls the warnings dealt
and Wallis, Neoplatonism, pp. 72 ff.). Its promi-
by Gilgamesh to Enkidu in Tablet XII before the lat-
nently theurgic character is well in line with the pro-
ter's descent to the netherworld to retrieve the lost
fessional background (exorcist) of Sin-leqe-unninni,
"hoop" and "driving stick." And that is not all. the
The author of the Late Version.
passage has other important affinities with Jewish 134 See Dan, Revelation, pp. 24 ff., and note espe-
mysticism too. The "hoop" and "driving stick" cially pp. 29 f.:
clearly correspond to the "date stone" and "palm
branch" of Jewish mysticism, where they symbolizeThe last paragraph of the above-quoted text defines, briefly,
the rewards of the mystic. If the person successfully over-
the syzygy of masculine and feminine, but especially
comes the earthly inclinations to sin, and observes the com-
the mystical reunion with the Divine (see Scholem,
mandments as presented by Rabbi Nehunia, he will be
Origins, pp. 173 ff.). Setting out to retrieve them, En-
rewarded by the opportunity to observe the beauty, the
kidu was attempting to restore the broken unity power,
with the magnificence and the secrets of the divine
the Divine, the very purpose of the mystical union
world... This passage does not leave any doubt in that the
(see Idel, Kabbalah, pp. 62 ff.); he succumbed be-
authors of this text realized completely the far-reaching his-
cause he, like the sages of the talmudic story, torical
was and spiritual meaning of the[ir] mystical claim:
[Rabbi Nehunia] is speaking about the most important, the
not morally and ethically stable enough. Thus Enki-
most central subject that a man can know. This indeed is a
du's "descent" is paradigmatic for a failed mystical
ascent. Note that in the Hekhalot literature the gnosis of cosmic dimensions.
practice of ascension is paradoxically called "de-
TABLET
Anu xII Union Eternal

withlifeGod
Ea XI The Ultimate Wisdom

Accepting God's Will
"ISLE OF SAINTS"
OUTSIDE ORDINARY Sin X Understanding man's fate and
TIME AND SPACE the purpose of life
Altered states
Mummu IX Contact with the Divine

Glimpse of Paradise
Marduk VIII Practice of magnanimity,

Enlil compassion and mercy
REFIENNG AOUL Sania VII Exposure to trial

severities of life
s'tar (VI Withstanding major temptations
Nab
Ninurta V Victory over the ego
LEARNING TO Adad Practice of honesty and virtues

KNOW ONESELF Girru IV Love of one's neighbor
Nusku Hope
III Discovery of the Path
Awakening of consciousness
II Sorrow over one's condition
Desire for change
THE ANIMAL MAN Nergal Bestiality and animal instincts

Sakkan Selfishness and Greed
FIG. 12.-Via Mystica in the Gilgamesh Epic
"science fiction" containing the first known account

ascent motif has been recognized to recur in Helle
and legends and has also been connected with the
Alexander Romance.136 Much less attention has be
eagle and the snake which figures so prominently in
Without going into unnecessary detail, it can be
serpent theme in Tablet II is an allegory for the fall
described in Tablet III is to be understood as mystica
duous program of spiritual restoration. Seen in this
lated to the Gilgamesh Epic in substance, and in p
achieve the ascent, it forcefully contributes to the n
the "Perfect Man."'38
The tree of Tablet II is Etana himself, whose birth its sprouting marks. The eagle and
the serpent are conflicting aspects of man's soul, the one capable of carrying him to
heaven, the other pulling him down to sin and death.139 The deal struck by the eagle
with the serpent marks the beginning of Etana's moral corruption as king. Ignoring the
voice of his conscience, he becomes guilty of perfidy, greed, and murder;140 for this, he
is punished. The serpent attacks the eagle, cuts off its wings, and throws it into a bot-
tomless pit. This is an allegory for spiritual death; the same idea is expressed by the
childlessness of Etana, to whom the narrative now returns.'41
135 See J. V. Kinnier Wilson, The Legend of Etanatree in the Sumerian Gilgamesh epic, which is ex-
(Warminster, 1985), pp. 5 f.; J. Aro, "Anzu and plicitly called Anzf. Later, however, having suffered
Simurgh," Kramer Anniversary Volume: Studies and been rescued by Etana, it carries the latter to
in Honor of Samuel Noah Kramer, AOAT 25 heaven. The evil aspect of the bird corresponds to the
(Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1976), pp. 27 f. natural state of man's soul, which, despite its divine
136 See S. Langdon, The Legend of Etana andorigin,
the is contaminated with sin (see Enima elig VI
Eagle (Paris, 1932), pp. 3 f.; Aro, "Anzu and Si- 1-33 and Lambert and Millard, Atra-hasis, p. 59:
murgh," p. 26; Dalley, Myths, p. 189. In addition, 208 ff.; cf. Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 61 f. and 82 f.). The
one may compare the story of Abu Muhammad al- aspect of the bird corresponds to the soul of a
second
Kaslan in the Arabian Nights, the Greek myth of
"purified" man (see below).
Daidalos and Ikaros, and, above all, the Indian The "tree" itself is marked as sinful by its species
(the poplar), associated with Nergal; see CAD s.v.
mythical bird Garuda as spiritual vehicle of the yogis
(see below). sarbu, pp. 109 f., and note BEl-sarbe "Lord of the
137 The recurrence of this theme in the SumerianPoplar" = Nergal, CT 25 37:16. This accords with
myth of Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld Ebeling, Handerhebung, p. 114:9, which explicitly
(see n. 128) has, of course, been noted, but the mean-
states that mankind is "entrusted to Nergal," that is,
ing of the theme in either myth has not been dis- under the power of sin.
cussed at all. 140 Etana's voice of conscience is the "small, es-
138 Cf. nn. 34 and 58. pecially wise fledgling" of II 45 and 97. Note that the
139 In Christian symbolism, "The eagle holding a of bird's nest with the young (taken over from
theme
theof
serpent in its talons or beak represents the triumph Sumerian Lugalbanda epic; see Aro, "Anzu and
Christ over the 'dark forces' of the world (seeSimurgh,"
Ser- pp. 25 and 28) also plays a role in Kab-
pent)" (Baldock, Elements, p. 92). In Indian mysti-
balah, where it is explicitly associated with self-
cism, the bird Garuda likewise achieves its ascent to discipline and wisdom; see Ponc6, Kabbalah,
heaven in spite of the serpents coiling around its pp. 123 f., and Scholem, Origins, p. 134.
head, wings, and feet (see the illustration in Rawson, 141 Etana's barren wife is the feminine, spiritual
Tantra, pl. 67). half of his soul, corresponding to the Shekhinah (cf.
In the Etana myth, the eagle plays two roles. At Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 208 f.); the desired "son" is
first, it is "an evil eagle, the criminal AnzQ (var.: Etana's "fruit," the deeds by which he will be judged.
criminal and sinner), who wronged his comrade"; as For a similar allegory, see Matt. 21:19-25 (Jesus
such, it parallels the eagle inhabiting the huluppu cursing the fruitless fig tree).
Etana's realization of his condition is the beginning of his salv

appears as a person referred to by his own name. Admittin
prays for a "plant of birth" (that is, a chance for spiritual rebi
path that will take him there.142
The path leads him to the mountain where he finds the eagle
wings cut, a metaphor for the imprisonment of the soul in
world. Complying with the wish of the eagle, his better sel
teaching it to fly again, an allegory for spiritual training a
eight months to attempt the first ascent to heaven, which fail
not ready for it.143 The second ascent, better prepared, is succ
a celestial palace where he, having passed through several ga
sitting on a throne guarded by lions.
All this is so reminiscent of the terminology and imagery rel
soul in Jewish mysticism that mere coincidence can be exc
and heavenly palaces through which Etana passes are comm
texts and later mystical literature.144 The girl seen by Etana is
ence or Beauty of God.145 Etana's fall from the heavens has am
tic literature, where the ascent is considered a dangerous pr
normal state referred to as being "thrown down like a stone."'1
142 The spiritual meaning of theKAR prayer (concealed

125:6: "the vulture is the bird of Nabf; [its cry
under the "plant of birth" metaphor) is made
is]: 'Hero, clear by
hero Ninurta [killed AnzQ]!"'). Note that
the preceding prayer of the eagle the(II 121-23):
Christian "Am
symbolism of Ithe cock ("vigilance and
to die in the pit? Who realizes thatwatchfulness," it is your Baldock,
punish- Elements, p. 88) likewise
ment that I bear? Save my life, so that goes back to Mesopotamia,
I may broadcast where the cock is the bird
you fame for eternity!" In the late of Nusku (see
Turkish CAD and of
version AHw. s.vv. tarlugallu, kub-
the myth, which survives in the folk-tale collection
s~nu, and hasibaru, and cf. n. 80 above).
Billur Ko6k (Aro, "Anzu and Simurgh," 144 For the p.Hekhalot
28), thetexts, see Scholem, Origins,
bird rescues the hero from the netherworld. pp. 19 ff.; Dan, Three Types, pp. 5 ff., and idem, Rev-
143 Note that the Old Babylonian version (Tablet elation, pp. 14 ff.; the technical term used in these
I/E 8) at this point states that Etana wished to ascend texts for the heavenly palaces, hekhalot, is a loan
to heaven "to disclose concealed things." Compare from Akkadian ekallu (pl. ekalliiti), "palace." For
this with nn. 57 and 130 above, and note also Idel, later mysticism, see, for example, Idel, Kabbalah,
Kabbalah, p. 91: "[He] asked questions, and his soul p. 94, continuing the story of Rabbi Israel ben
ascended to heaven in order to seek [answers to] his Eliezer already cited in n. 129 above:
doubts."
And I asked my teacher and master that he come with me,
The eagle's wings are a well-known symbol for
and it is a great danger to go and ascend to the supernal
transcendental ascent to heaven. See, for example,
worlds, whence I have never ascended since I acquired
Rawson, Tantra, p. 27: "The achievement of the awareness,
as- and these were mighty ascents. So I ascended de-
cent may be symbolized by a great bird, equated with
gree after degree, until I entered the palace of the Messiah.
the mystical Persian Simurgh. This is sometimes
shown in art as carrying a pair of divine lovers"; and145 See n. 84 above. Cf. the following vision of R.
Isaac Yehudah Yehiel Safrin cited in Idel, Kabbalah,
Baldock, Elements, p. 92: "Eagle: A symbol of the As-
p. 83:
cension, and of Christ. The eagle was reputed to be
able to look directly into the sun, without diverting And
its I wept many times before the Lord of the world, out of
gaze. It trained its young to do likewise, rejecting
the depth of the heart, for the suffering of the Shekhinah.
And through my suffering and weeping, I fainted and I fell
those who failed. In this respect it represents Christ
asleep for a while, and I saw a vision of light, splendor and
who raises his followers, through faith, to contemplate
great brightness, in the image of a young woman adorned
God, the source of Divine Light." This symbolism cer-
with twenty-four ornaments. .. . And she said: "Be strong,
tainly goes back to Mesopotamia, where the eagle
my son."
(i.e., Anzfi) was the bird of Ninurta, Nabji, and Zababa
(see Excursus 2 and Seidl, RIA, vol. 3, pp. 487f and 146 See Idel, Kabbalah, p. 95. Incidentally, since
488b; and also STT 341:7: "The vulture is the bird of the fall effectively marks the end of the "ascent,"
Ninurta; its cry is: 'Hero [... ] killed AnzQ!'," and Tablet III is likely to represent the end of the myth;
The heavenward ascent of Etana is already attested

(ca. 2300 B.C.)147 and thus antedates the earliest Hek
half millennia, and the mystical experiences of n
than four thousand years.148 In saying this, I do no
"ascent" phenomenon in Mesopotamia. The point I
pearances, Mesopotamian religion and philosophy
in Jewish, Christian, and Oriental mysticism and
vides the key which makes it possible to bridge thes
covering the forgotten summa sapientia of our cult
there is no need to assume the existence of further

(muSlir mere? makkiTra zirma) before embarking on
the Ark. This parallel indicates that the deluge story
tablets (thus Kinnier Wilson, Etana, p. 2; cf. Dalley,
Myths, p. 189). in Gilgamesh too, as in the Bible, is an allegory for
147 See R. Boehmer, Die Entwicklung der Gyptikthe end of carnal men, eternal life being the share of
wiahrend der Akkad-Zeit (Berlin, 1965), pp. 123, morally
190, and ethically perfect, saintly men only. Note,
and figs. 168, 192, and 693-703; all examples are
in this context, the suffering of the Goddess at the fate
"Akkadisch III," i.e., Naram-Sin or later. The dogs
of her creatures (Tablet XI 116-126), which provides
barking at the ascending pair symbolize envy aand perfect parallel for the suffering of the Shekhinah
other vices, while the earthly possessions (cattle, because
jugs of the sins of the world (see n. 145 above).
of beer, butter, cheese, etc.) shown on these seals 148 For the date of the earliest Hekhalot texts (sec-
symbolize material values left behind by Etana. See ond through fourth centuries A.D.), see Scholem, Ori-
n. 78 on the association of material values with Ner- gins, p. 20, and Dan, Three Types, p. 16. The vision
gal, and note that in the Gilgamesh Epic, Utnapishtim of Rabbi Isaac cited above (see n. 145) dates to 1845.
is told to "leave the riches" and "hate possessions"
APPENDIX A. GLYPTIC VARIANTS OF THE ASSYRIAN TREE
428 431 426 429 422 435 430 421 433 522 436
a b c 449 425 d e 437 424 379 f
448 450 458 451 447 453 456 455 454 452 457
471
443 445 446 461 463 465 469 470 468 457
474
439 440 442 444 438 476 464 500 434 506 423
g 491 348 349 350 460 362 441 354 352 804
342-4 345 336 338 346 341 335 339 f. 337 347 355
351 372 106 105 815 h 814 166 165 371 479
502 498 479 492 490 277 495 419 494 588* 493
504 488 824 820 163 164 122 505 333 334 819
142 170
40 54 64 787 153 151 149 195 104 797 375
309 i 310 308 307 278 353
NOTE: numbers refer to Danthine. Palmier-

sions, no. 351; c = Orthmann, Der alte Orient
g = Collon, ibid., no. 345; h = Orthmann, ibid
1 = Parrot, Nineveh and Babylon, fig. 282;
o = Iraq 17, pl. 23:2 and p. 115:6; p = Orthman
p. 213.
APPENDIX B. VARIANTS OF THE WINGED DISK ICON
431 g h j 426 c 479
354 k 478 i 495 820 463 455
349 447 500 1 m 444 h 471
494 307 819 461 465 451 460

n
440 432 430 a 345
445 488 443 435 362 372 437 420
0 438 456 p 124 336 452 509

165
439 522 454 f 457 105 346 449
453 40 245474351 passim 341 153 442 337
EXCURSUS 1: THE MYSTIC NUMBERS OF AN
Ea's number 40 was conceived as a sexagesim

by the name of Ea's boatman, Ur-'inabi/40 (see
sanabi = 40 = forty/Ea/two-thirds" in Aa 11/4
hitherto unexplained, but it is very likely deri
daylight at the winter solstice (associated with
moon was derived from the ideal length of the m
the maximum variation of daylight is attested in
Waerden, Die Anfdinge der Astronomie, Erwac
1965], pp. 86 f., and Livingstone, Mystical W
millennium astronomical work Mul Apin (H.
Astronomical Compendium in Cuneiform, AfO
1 (= 60) as the length of the longest day (IV 15) an
at the other turning points in sexagesimal fractio
ing scheme for the year ("Path" refers to the sun
terms of "paths" assigned to Anu, Enlil, and Ea; "
expressed sexagesimally; "notes" refers to Hung
Month Path Day Night Total Notes

1 15 Anu 50 50 1,40 Spring, "Winds"
IV 15 Enlil 1 40 1,40 Summer, "Heat"
VII 15 Anu 50 50 1,40 Fall, "Winds"
X 15 Ea 40 60 1,40 Winter, "Cold"
This scheme perfectly explains the numbers of Ea, but

Enlil (50) are not in the expected order. One is also surpr
the "paths" does not follow the otherwise standard order A
erian "Lord Wind," is not associated with "winds"; and th
sociated with the summer solstice (see n. 65 above). All
the order of the paths is adjusted as follows:
Month Path Day Night Total Notes

1 15 Enlil 50 50 1,40 Spring, "Winds"
IV 15 Anu 1 40 1,40 Summer, "Heat"
VII 15 Enlil 50 50 1,40 Fall, "Winds"
X 15 Ea 40 60 1,40 Winter, "Cold"
This emendation presupposes that the compiler of Mul Ap

the paths of Anu and Enlil in an attempt to mitigate the ef
equinoxes, which had shifted constellations traditionally
to the wrong paths. Indeed, earlier star lists differ considera
spect: out of the twelve constellations assigned to the Path
second millennium?), six appear in the Path of Enlil in M
Path of Ea there are fewer differences (see van der Waerde
p. 70, and Pingree, in Eniema Anu Enlil, Tablets 50-51,
tables 3 and 4). Thus the emendation seems perfectly j
Sumerian character of the posited scheme points to the third

would date the emergence of the mystic numbers of Anu, En
early Old Babylonian times. This agrees with the fact that 40 (=
Ea is already attested in the Old Babylonian period (in the na
sinabi, Gilg. M iv 7 ff.).
It is worth pointing out that the reconstructed scheme also agr
scheme of the "three worlds" briefly discussed in n. 55. Com
41 f., citing Sefer Yezirah: "'The heavens were created out
[= Anu];' the earth from Water [= Ea], and the Air from th
mediates between the two'. In addition to being symbolic of
mothers [= the letters Aleph, Mem, and Shin, functioning as
also define the temporal year: the element fire [= Anu] corre
season; the element water [= Ea] corresponds with the winter
air [= Enlil] corresponds with the seasons of spring and autumn.
EXCURSUS 2: THE EXALTATION OF THE VANQUISHER OF
In a prayer to Marduk (KAR 25 ii 6 f.), both Nabui and Ninurta

of Marduk, the former as his "victory" (l9u^tu), the latter as his
and it is certainly not by accident that in SAA 3 no. 2:15 Marduk
smiter of the skull of Anzfi." Note Ninurta's epithets "weapon"
Gdtterepitheta, p. 424; in SAA 3 no. 37:11-15 it is by Marduk's "
Asakku are vanquished. Anzfi and Asakku, on the other hand
in the Etana myth, Anzfi alternates with anzillu, "abominati
and CAD A/2 s.v. anzillu, pp. 153 f.). Thus Ninurta and Nabu
power to resist and prevail over evil and sin, recalling the roles
in Judaism, Christ in Christianity, or Mithra in Mithraism (see
cept of Ninurta/Nabfi as "God's weapon" is first attested in t
name Ninurta-tukul-A''ur (Saporetti, Onomastica, p. 354, twel
For his triumph over Anzfi, Ninurta/Nabfi obtains the "St
Fates" (see Pomponio, Naba, p. 182; Finkel, Studies Sachs, p.
p. 168:21; W. Mayer, "Ein Hymnus auf Ninurta als Helfer in
[1992]: 29 v 9; for Nabfi as the Recorder of Sins, see Finkel,
and the Tablet of Sins," Anatolian Studies 33 (1983): 75-80 and ABL 545:7 ff.). His
looks are changed; his eyes flame like fire, his [garments] glow like snow (E. Ebeling,
"Mittelassyrische Rezepte zur Herstellung von wohlriechenden Salben (Taf. 1-49),"
Or. n.s. 17 [1948]: pl. 26, r. 4 f.); casting numinous splendor and silence over god and
man, he returns in his triumphal chariot to his father, who rejoices in his son, blesses
him, and magnifies his kingship (ibid., r. 9 ff.; SAA 3 no. 37:24 ff.; Cooper, The Return
of Ninurta, pp. 73 ff.; Hru'ka, Anzu, p. 174). In a Neo-Assyrian hymn glorifying
Ninurta, his body is described as encompassing the whole universe, with different gods
equated with his limbs, his face being the sun, etc. (see KAR 102, translated in A. Falk-
enstein and W. von Soden, Sumerische und akkadische Hymnen und Gebete [Zurich,
1953], pp. 258 f.); cf. the Jewish mystical text Shiur Qomah from the second century
1 My explanations appear within brackets.
A.D., on which see Scholem, Origins, pp. 21 ff., and Dan

with his magnification, Nabfi's name could occasio
wedge, "One and Sixty" = Alpha and Omega; see CT
All this recalls the appearance of God on his Thron
ff. and Daniel 7:9 ff., that of resurrected and glorified
(1:14 ff.), as well as the role of Michael as the keeper
chon on the right side of God" (Scholem, Origins, p
just as Christ and the Father are one, so is triumphant
both Marduk and Enlil are included among Ninurta's lim
addressed as B6l in the text, an appellative otherwise
observed by Lambert, Ninurta's triumphal chariot is
duk's Chariot in the B6hl festschrift, pp. 276 ff. (s
ground, it is not accidental that the throne of God in
Chariot in Jewish tradition; the aspect of God on it is
and sin (cf. Ezek. 7:1 ff., 11:14 ff.; Dan. 7: 11 ff.; Re
According to the doctrine of the Tree, the power t
the man who succeeded in conquering sin would bec
eventually triumph in Heaven. In Jewish mystical tr
5:23 f.) was, because of his piety, transformed in the h
second only to God, called Metatron, an angel with fles
and eyes of flaming torches. "After overcoming the
clude Enoch among them, God gradually gave Enoch-
edge, and a body, a garment, and a chariot of fire
human attributes, grows enormous wings, has one h
divine name itself" (Dan, Three Types, pp. 15 f., paraph
written in Babylonia in the fifth century A.D. or later)
The figure of Enoch/Metatron is based on Mesopot
antediluvian sage who was taken to heaven after he had
wind," a metaphor corresponding to the slaying o
emetto di Adapa [Budapest, 1981], pp. 74 f.); note A
"storm of Anu" and his representation as a winged e
sculpture (see nn. 24 and 31 above). The divine power
Enoch into the heavens, "who seems to have been a p
connected with demiurgic elements" (Dan, Three Ty
pa's patron, the god Ea. It is noteworthy in this contex
Unity explains Anafiel as the supreme luminary "
lights that 'stand before the place of the unity as a bu
p. 346). This agrees perfectly with Ea's appellative
and his position in the diagram before Sefirot 3 to 9, a
planets (see n. 68).
EXCURSUS 3: THE NAME OF AUR
Applying the technique used in the exegesis of the fi

elis' (see n. 66 and J. Bott6ro, "Les Noms de Marduk
potamie ancienne," in M. deJong Ellis, ed., Essays on
of Jacob Joel Finkelstein [Hamden, Conn., 1977], pp. 5 ff.), th

AS'ur's name can be interpreted as follows:
1. A9 A9 iften "The One"

DILI edu "The Only One"
piriftu "Mystery"
Ri gitmalu "The Perfect One"
2. dA? DINGIR A9 ilu iften "God is One"
DINGIR DILI ilu edu "The Only God"
il piristi "The Hidden God"
3. as'-sur A? ?UR iKten sirhu "A Single Flash" (see n. 45)
"The First Flash" (see n. 55)
4. da-*ur A ?UR me S.arriti "Flashing Water"

"Flowing Waters" (see
(see n.n.55)
63)
5. AN."AR AN ?AR kissat samA "Totality of Heaven" (see n. 94)
DINGIR ?AR kissat ilani "Totality of Gods"
il kiswati "Universal God"
ilu ma'ad "God is Many"
It is true that no Assyrian text actually giving the above analysis is extant. But if
names of such gods as Marduk, Zarpanitu (Lieberman, "A Mesopotamian Backgr
pp. 179 f.), Zababa (Lambert, "A Late Babylonian Copy of an Expository Text,"
48 [1989]: 217), and even ?ulak (Hunger, Uruk, no. 47:4 f.) could be subjected to
tical exegesis, one can be sure that the name of the highest god of the pantheon con
tuted no exception. The exegesis of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) plays a param
role in Kabbalah, and "the secret knowledge of the great name" was considered in ea
Kabbalah tantamount to the highest wisdom and even a key to the attainment of su
divine powers (see Ponc6, Kabbalah, pp. 174 ff.; Idel, Kabbalah, p. 236; Dan, T
Types, pp. 18 ff.). The highly esoteric nature of such knowledge accounts for th
lack of extant speculations concerning ASur's name.
For numerous examples of a similar exegesis of Mesopotamian temple name
tracting hidden significance from the names by playing with the readings of their
ponent logograms), see A. R. George, Babylonian Topographical Texts, Orient
Lovanensia Analecta 40 (Louvain, 1992), passim. The Mesopotamian scholars' h
neutical attitude to their (predominantly logographically spelled) canon has a st
parallel in the Kabbalistic attitude to the unvocalized text of the Bible, illustrated b
following statement in Rabbi Bahya ben Asher's thirteenth-century Commentary on
Pentateuch, quoted by Idel, Kabbalah, p. 214: "The Scroll of the Torah is [wri
without vowels, in order to enable man to interpret it however he wishes ... .W
is vocalized it has but one single significance; but without vowels man may interpre
[extrapolating from it] several [different] things, many, marvellous and sublime ....
relationship between vocalization and consonants is like that between, respec
soul, or form, and matter." Cf. also Idel, Kabbalah, p. 227, citing the Zohar:
Torah . . . is dressed in four, or perhaps even five, levels of meaning that must be p
trated by the perfect student of the Torah in order to reach its ultimate layer, the K
istic meaning."
Most of the logographic values included in the abo

meanings "hidden" in the spellings must have
scribe (regarding nos. 1-3, note that the sign A?
Assyrian orthography, so the spellings concerned c
from the beginning). Incessant meditation on th
mystics must have produced an extensive, much m
the name. A reconstruction of this lore cannot be a
seem worth noting.
The graphic shape of the name should have attrac
role that syllables and numbers played in Assyri
and 115-18); A and ?UR were the first signs of the
15, and 96), and the horizontal wedge A? not only
ing but also the basic number, equivalent to DI (
the spelling as'-s'ur as consisting of A9 ("One") a
one obtains a mantra capturing the basic symbolism
is One [in His Multiple] Emanation." For the Tet
Kabbalah, pp. 181 ff.
Secondly, if one writes the elements of the word
emanation" (from above to below), one obtains a
istic "Tetragrammaton as Man" (see Ponc6, Kab
Anu (1) Keter

Hokhmah
Ea (60)
Sin (3) Binah
Gods nos.4-9 Sefirot nos. 4-9
Malkhut
FIG. 11.-a. The "Emanation" of al-lur; b. The tetragrammaton as man
Not only is this figure produced in the same way as the Kabbalistic one (this, too, be-
ing obtained by writing the letters YHWH from above to below), but the specific sym-
bolism of the Tetragrammaton works in it too: the topmost wedges (1 to 60) stand for
Anu and Ea, just as the tittle and the body of Y stand for Keter and Hokhmah (see nn.
70, 90, and 108); the group of three wedges (3) stands for Sin, just as H stands for Bi-
nah (see n. 88 above); and the lowermost wedge stands for the entire "Lower Face" (cf.
n. 52 above), just as W stands for the Sefirot 4 to 9. The Sefirah of Malkhut (the last let-
ter of the Tetragrammaton) has no counterpart in the scheme; see n. 85 above. If all this
is merely a coincidence; the coincidence certainly is a most striking one.
In conclusion, it may be pointed out that the name ASSur

ogy" for the name of the God of Kabbalah, En Sof. Applying
(n. 66) to the alphabetic spelling of A'sur, one obtains
Ds(w)r = 9yn swp wr, "En Sof Or."
En Sof Or would thus represent a Jewish reinterpretation of

cussed, expressing the idea of transcendent God in his esse
(cf. n. 94); correspondingly, En Sof would be a reinterpretatio
referring to the Unmanifest God. Compare the Kabbalisti
(9mn) as l mlk n'mn, "God, the faithful king" (Ponc6, Kab
Deut. 7:9), and the hidden meanings derived by notarikon
Pardes "garden, paradise" (a metaphor for mystical life):
"Jewish sages warn all but the perfectly stable, perfectly et
place. The letters of the Hebrew word Pardes, they say, co
contained there: P represents Peshat, the simple, exterio
stands for Remez, the homiletical meaning; D is Drush, th
is Sod, its secret, or innermost, meaning" (Epstein, Kabbalah,
the title of Moses de Cordovero's famous sixteenth-centur
Pardes Rimmonim, "The Pomegranate Garden," and cf. n. 2
For the pronunciation and alphabetical spellings of AS'ur in t
and first millennium A.D., see my articles, "A Letter from ?a
don," Iraq 34 (1972): 29, n. 40, and "The Alleged Middle/Ne
*nass and the Assyrian Sound Change S>s," Assur 1/1 (197
ans in Chaldean and Achaemenian Babylonia," Assur 4/3 (19
Hatra and Dura Europos; B. Aggoula, Inscriptions et graffi
ples, 1985), passim, third century A.D.; Fales, Aramaic Epigrap
Neo-Assyrian Period (Rome, 1986), p. 62 and nos. 46-49; R.
Synonyms," JNES 51 (1992): 281-85. Note especially the Gr
o) in Damascius (Quaestiones de primis principiis, chap. 125
proves that the tradition of Eniima elis' known to this sixth-c
ASSur as the father of Anu and fully accepted the "Assyrian"
introduced as early as in the fourteenth century B.C. (see n. 1

Assyrian Tree of Life

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Assyrian Tree of Life

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The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the Origins of Jewish Monotheism and Greek

SIMO PARPOLA, University of Helsinki

flankin figure tai treamer

FIG. 1.-Structural elements of the Assyrian Tree Motif

FIG. 2.-Triadic configuratio

About the middle of the second millennium, a new

its characteristic features" stand out even in the crudest examples

tree,24 while a winged disk hovers over the whole.25

II. THE TREE: ITS SYMBOLISM AND CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURE

THE BASIC SYMBOLISM OF THE TREE

Two fundamentally important points have neve

because part of the textual there, then, as one may

himself represented the realization of that order in man, in othe

Tree was common knowledge, while the more sophisti

THE SEFIROTIC TREE

Mesopotamian esoteric lore has a remarkable parallel in Jewish Kabbala

H. Tadmor, B. Landsberger, and S. Parpola, scholars;"The Sin

PILLAR OF JUDGMENT Crown PILLAR OF MERCY

FIG. 5.-The Sefirotic Tree

schematic design known as the Sefirotic Tree of Li

This Kabbalistic technique has without

shown in the diagram,50 manifests Himself. Each has a nam

early Jewish and Gnostic sources, referring

[The theosophists] claim that they received from the proph-

straining influence of the polar system of opposites. I

lightning flash issuing from godthe

however, that the "foundation stone" of Kabbalism, the Sefer

g. The Sefirotic Tree h. The

FIG. 6.-Sefirotic and Assyrian Tree variants

Kabbalistic doctrines, such as the location of the Throne of God in

THE ASSYRIAN TREE DIAGRAM

65 See KAR 307:31 ff. = Livingstone, SAA

elements of the Tree, the Sefirot, are crucial in thi

Nabfi and Ninurta with Victory (Nezah).74 Crown (Keter) w

FIG. 7.-The reconstructed Tree

I had to resort to Tallqvist's Akkadische Gotterepithe

79 The Hebrew word hod means1970]). The

among the six Sefirot constituting (seethe

'r, 4 4 N.-MR 49ii4K //4

~i4'4 ~ 74 4>4>4 / 44444 4

FIG. 9.-The distribution of the mystic numbers

as 60 in Rillig's article. Of course, the vertical wedge can also be re

THE DISTRIBUTION OF GODS AND NUMBERS IN THE DIAGRAM

Looking at the reconstructed diagram more closely, one observes that p

tant god has to be identified with the winged disk ove

goddesses of the Babylonians inside and the Sumerians,

FIG. 10.--Enumerations of Gods and divine powers

as well as the various qualities of En Sof.95 The sola

95 See Excursus 3, pp. 205-8 below.

lines connecting the gods exactly render the divine genealog

In all, it can be said that the distribution of the m

the solar year into four seasons of equal

III. THE TREE AND MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION AND PHILOSOPH

THE BIRTH OF THE GODS IN ENUMA ELIS

the fact that the mystic numbers of these two gods,

Lines 21-24 of Tablet I of Eniima elis' seem to describe the "birth

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESHll9

Looking at the Epic of Gilgamesh through Kabbalistic glasses, a n

115 The passage tells that the gods60(i.e.,

the realm of Nergal (Tablet I); the names of the god

121 The codes for the individual gods

twelfth tablet, the Epic would be a torso because, as we sha

Tablet XII become a firmly established technique b

THE ETANA MYTH