DoubtingNate Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I am copying this from another thread so as not to derail the topic. I don't have a quote and I've been reading lots of ot myth stuff lately, but I think it's in Robert Prices book 'evolving out of Eden' where he postulates that the story was written by devotees of some faction of priests that were devoted to the worship of the serpant deity, who is basically a deposed, former deity and the same Leviathan/Rahab chaos dragon that Yahweh is said to have overthrown (referenced in Jobs, Isaiah and Psalms. I can provide references later if anyone is interested). It is all about some priestly rival between Yahweh devotees and the dragon cult (again, I have more names somewhere but I'm on my phone now). Suddenly the story about Moses holding up the snake totem to cure all those nasty snakebites that God decided to in inflict everyone with.. It makes more sense now. price even goes as far as to say that this is the same beast in Revelation. So basically all of human history just a sweeping drama starring Yahweh the Dragonslayer. That's like something right out of LOST. I actually kinda like it. As a comic book premise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orbit Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 The Leviathan story is from the story of Marduk slaying Tiamat (the serpent) in Babylonian mythology. The serpent was also worshipped in the ancient world as a god of healing--it's where we get the caduceus (the medical symbol of two snakes around a pole with wings) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenstar Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiamat I'm not sure if the Leviathan can be equated with Tiamat, but she was considered a sea monster (and a goddess) and even the sea itself. It kind of makes sense that there would be some sort of equivalent in the Torah. Interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubtingNate Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 I guess you could say they are mythological cousins or equivalents, like Zeus and Jupiter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenstar Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 It seems like we always end up back with the Sumerians. Re-workings of very ancient stories… the names change, the details change but there are always the root concepts. We are looking at a civilization that began somewhere around 7000 years ago, that a pretty long game of telephone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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