Ophiolatry (snake worship) refers to veneration and religious devotion to serpent deities, a tradition documented in many religions and mythologies worldwide. In many traditional religions and mythologies, snakes have been symbolically associated with concepts such as wisdom, cyclical renewal, and protection, although meanings vary significantly between cultures.
Near East Ancient Mesopotamia Some ancient Mesopotamian and Semitic texts depict snakes as symbols of renewal, possibly linked to their periodic shedding of skin, which ancient authors connected with longevity. The Sumerians worshiped a serpent god named Ningishzida. Before Israelite culture, snake cults were well-established in Canaan in the Bronze Age. Archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo,Gordon Loud, Megiddo II: Plates plate 240: 1, 4, from Stratum X (dated by Loud 1650-1550 BC) and Stratum VIIB (dated 1250-1150 BC), noted by Karen Randolph Joines, "The Bronze Serpent in the Israelite Cult" Journal of Biblical Literature 87.3 (September 1968:245–256) p. 245 note 2. one at Gezer,R.A.S. Macalister, Gezer II, p. 399, fig. 488, noted by Joiner 1968: 245 note 3, from the high place area, dated Late Bronze Age. one in the sanctum sanctorum of the Area H temple at Hazor,Yigael Yadin et al. Hazor III-IV: Plates, pl. 339, 5, 6, dated Late Bronze Age II (Yadiin to Joiner, in Joiner 1968:245 note 4). and two at Shechem.Callaway and Toombs to Joiner (Joiner 1968:246 note 5).
Serpent cult objects also existed in other cultures of the surrounding region. A late Bronze Age Hittite shrine in northern Syria contained a bronze statue of a god holding a serpent in one hand and a staff in the other.Maurice Vieyra, Hittite Art 2300 - 750 B.C. (Alec Tiranti Ltd., London 1955) fig. 114. In sixth-century Babylon, a pair of bronze serpents flanked each of the four doorways of the temple of Esagila.Leonard W. King, A History of Babylon, p. 72. At the Babylonian New Year's festival, the priest was to commission two images from a woodworker, a metalworker, and a goldsmith, one of which "shall hold in its left hand a snake of cedar, raising its right [hand] to the god Nabu".Pritchard ANET, 331, noted in Joines 1968:246 and note 8. At the tell of Tepe Gawra, at least seventeen Early Bronze Age Assyrian bronze serpents were recovered.E.A. Speiser, Excavations at Tepe Gawra: I. Levels I-VIII, p. 114ff., noted in Joines 1968:246 and note 9.
Archeological finds in the United Arab Emirates Significant pottery, bronze-ware, and even gold depictions of snakes have been found throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Bronze Age and Iron Age metallurgical center of Saruq Al Hadid has yielded probably the richest trove of such objects, although much has been found bearing snake symbols in Bronze Age sites at Rumailah, Bithnah, and Masafi. Most of the depictions of snakes are similar, with a consistent dotted decoration applied to them.
Archaeologists have noted the widespread depiction of snakes in Bronze Age UAE sites, with some interpreting these symbols as evidence for snake-related cults, though definitive proof remains elusive.
Judaism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism originated in the late 1st century CE in non-rabbinical Jewish and early Christian sects. In the formation of Christianity, various sectarian groups, labeled gnostics by their opponents, emphasized spiritual knowledge (gnosis) of the divine spark within over faith () in the teachings and traditions of the various communities of Christians. Gnosticism presents a distinction between the highest, unknowable God, and the Demiurge, the "creator" of the material universe. Gnostic Christian doctrines rely on a dualistic cosmology comprising the evil Demiurge or creator god, a false god identified with the Hebrew God of the Old Testament, which they separated from the unknown God of the Gospel, the father of Jesus Christ and creator of the spiritual world, as the true, good God. In Gnosticism, the biblical serpent in the Garden of Eden was praised and thanked for bringing knowledge (gnosis) to Adam and Eve and thereby freeing them from the malevolent Demiurge's control.
However, not all Gnostic movements regarded the creator of the material universe as inherently evil or malevolent. For instance, Valentinians believed that the Demiurge is an ignorant and incompetent creator, trying to fashion the world as well as he can but lacking the proper power to maintain its goodness. They were regarded as heretics by the proto-orthodox Early Church Fathers.
Africa
The Kingdom of Dahomey (in present-day Benin) was the location a cult dedicated to a serpent deity called Dàn or Dangbé, pp. 23–24 et passim. (old spelling Danh-gbi) who was a benefactor-god of wisdom and bliss, "associated with trees and the ocean".According to Burton (1864), cited by This cult may have been of exotic origin, introduced to Dahomey around c. 1725 and originating from the Kingdom of Whydah, which Dahomey conquered at a roughly contemporary time.
At Whydah, the chief center, there was a serpent temple tenanted by some fifty snakes. The killing of a python, even by accident, was punishable by death, but in the 19th century, this was replaced with a fine.
Dangbé has numerous wives, who, until 1857, took part in a public procession from which the profane crowd was excluded; those who peeked were to be put to death. A python was carried around the town in a hammock, perhaps as part of a ceremony dedicated to the expulsion of evils.
Dangbé is pronounced Dagowe by the Surinamese (cf. below).
Rainbow serpents of Africa
The rainbow serpent (or rainbow snake) is a world-wide myth, including Africa. The rainbow snake was called the Aido Hwedo by the Dahomey (Fon people of present-day Benin), a sort of cosmic serpent that served as bridge between heaven and sky, and could cause earthquakes and floods. In West African mythology in general, Ayida Wedo (or together with the male counterpart Dan/Danballa, also called "Dan Ayido Hwedo", etc.), portrayed as a snake is believed to hold up the sky.
The normally unseen Anyi-eẃo of the Ewe people appears in order to graze on grass, or to drink water when thirsty, and with its tail fixed on the earth, reaches its head into the clouds (infringing on the heavenly territory of the Mawu deity) and drinks water, causing rain with the water it spills, or that it props itself on its tail in the sea, bends its head over, and drinks from the other side of the earth.
While the Aido-huedo ("Dan Aìdó-huedó", or just "Dan") is the rainbow serpent of the Fon people of Benin, its counterpart is called by the Yoruba people. The Ouroboros-like characteristic of the serpent swallowing its own tail is found in depictions of the Aido-huedo as well as the Oshumare.
The rainbow snake is also known as to the Ewe people of Togo and Ghana. His messenger was said to be a small variety of boa, and held sacred and inviolable by locals who adorn palm leaves around its lair. The rainbow Anyi-eẃo only appears when it becomes thirsty when it reaches into the sky (dominion of Mawu) and drinks water, spilling rain in the process.
The belief also exists among the Nupe people of Nigeria that the , the rainbow, is a giant snake.
Among the Kongo people in their language signifies the rainbow serpent, the concept of rainbow doubling as a mythic serpent. The term () also refers to the rainbow serpent among the Kongo, with emphasis on carnal love-making.
The AmaZulu (Zulu people) are said to share a similar belief as the Ewe people, believing the rainbow to be a serpent; when it seen touching the earth, tradition says it is in the act of drinking from a water pool. Within the scope of the "rainbow serpent myth" of the Zulu, Leo Frobenius includes a piece of Zulu oral folktale where a being referred to as (Zulu term meaning "rainbow")) is understood to be a sheep-like creature, dwelling in a deep pool. If a man who aspires to become a diviner enters such a pool and succeeds, he will emerge from it besmirched with multi-colored clay and snakes coiled around him.
Similar lore is known to the Hausa people, where in their language, the rainbow is called . Of its origin, it is said to emerge out of anthills (), spin like the whirlwind, bind the storms and stop the rain, according to tradition. That is to say, the moisture is drunk up by the spirit of the rainbow (, which also means "cloud" (1913). Dictionary of the Hausa Language 1: 97, s.v. ""), so there is no raining when the rainbow appears accompanied by dark clouds. Other traditions say that gajimare dwells in the clouds, or in wells, pools, and rivers. It is of double sex, the male part being the red color of the rainbow, the female part blue.
African diasporic religion In Haitian Vodou, the creator loa Damballa is represented as a serpent, and his wife Ayida Wedo is the rainbow serpent.Gordon, Leah (1985). The Book of Vodou, Barron's Educational Series, pp. 50–51 . Simbi are a type of serpentine loa in Haitian Vodou. They are associated with water and sometimes are believed to act as psychopomps serving Papa Legba. In a commonly chanted Haitian vodou hymn, there is invocation of "Eh! eh ! Bomba, hen! hen!" where Bomba according to one theory is the corruption of the aforementioned Mbumba Luangu of Congo. Another theory explains Bomba as a corruption of which means 'snake' in Fon and Surinamese Creole (Sranan Tongo).
Just as the vodun Aida Wedo of the Fon people was transplanted into the Haitian Iwa Damballa Aida Wedo, the Yoruba orisha Oshumare was adopted in Brazil as the orixa Oxumare.
While the Ashanti (Asante) people and the Akan people conceive of the rainbow () as literally "Nyanke-Nyankopon's bow, i.e., "Sky god's bow" rather than a rainbow serpent, scholars have concluded that this belief is connected to the cosmology of the Ewe people whose sky god is Mawu, pp. 36ff, cited by (and in turn, Mawu is the master of Ewe people's rainbow snake). (cf. for more details).
Example in art Eva Meyerowitz wrote of an earthenware pot that was stored at the Museum of Achimota College in present-day Ghana. The base of the neck of this pot is surrounded by the rainbow snake.Meyerowitz 1940, p. 48 The legend of this creature explains that the rainbow snake only emerged from its home when it was thirsty. Keeping its tail on the ground, the snake would raise its head to the sky, looking for the rain god. As it drank great quantities of water, the snake would spill some, which would fall to the earth as rain.Meyerowitz 1940, p. 48.
There are four other snakes on the sides of this pot: Danh-gbi, the life-giving snake, Li, for protection, Liwui, which was associated with Wu, god of the sea, and Fa, the messenger of the gods. The first three snakes, Danh-gbi, Li, Liwui, were all worshiped at Whydah, Dahomey, where the serpent cult originated. For the Dahomeans, the spirit of the serpent was one to be feared, as he was unforgiving.Nida & Smalley 1959, p. 17. They believed that the serpent spirit could manifest itself in any long, winding objects such as plant roots and animal nerves. They also believed it could manifest itself as the umbilical cord, making it a symbol of fertility and life.
Mami Wata
Mami Wata is a water spirit or class of spirits associated with fertility and healing, usually depicted as a woman holding a large snake or with the lower body of a serpent or fish. She is worshiped in West, Central, and Southern Africa and the African diaspora.
Ancient Egypt Ancient Egyptians worshiped snakes, especially the cobra. The cobra was not only associated with the sun god Ra, but also with many other deities such as Wadjet, Renenutet, Nehebkau, and Meretseger.
Serpents could also be evil and harmful, such as the case of Apep. The serpent goddess Meretseger is regarded ambivalently with both veneration and fear. apud Bruyère (1930)