The symbolism of Mesopotamian cult images

Authors

• Helmer Ringgren

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30674/scripta.67121

Keywords:

Symbolism, Mesopotamia -- Antiquities, Iconography, Idols and images

Abstract

Is. 44: 12-20 contains a satirical description of the way the pagans, i.e., the Babylonians, make their "gods", i.e., their idols. "The ironsmith fashions it and works it over the coals; he shapes it with hammers, and forges it with his strong arm ... The carpenter stretches a line, he marks it out with a pencil; he fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, he plants holm trees and oaks and lets them grow. Some he uses for fuel to warm himself or to bake bread, of others "he makes a god and worships it. With these and similar words the prophet ridicules those who make cult images. This might of course be an independent literary creation—and perhaps it is—but interestingly enough there is a Babylonian text that could well have served as the prophet's model. In a ritual for the akitu festival in Babylon from Seleucid times we read about the third day as follows: "When it is three hours after sunrise, he shall call a metalworker and give him precious stones and gold from the treasury of the god Marduk to make two images for (the ceremonies of) the sixth day. He shall call a woodworker and give him (some) cedar and tamarisk (pieces). He shall call a goldsmith and give him (some) gold." It is obvious that the images in question are not cult images in a real sense, i.e., images to be set up in a temple to receive sacrifices and worship, but images intended to be used in a "magical" ceremony: they represent evil forces that shall be annihilated by means of destroying their images in fire. At the same time, the text shows that it was well known how these images were made, but also that this did not detract from their symbolic, or magical, value.