Table Decorated with Serpents and Deities Spouting Water Sb 185 Sully room 10 Note the holes to allow the flow of victims’ blood.
The serpent was often used as an object of worship. It is a symbol of fertility associated with the goddesses of sex. The two interlaced serpents suggest sexual union. The repeated sloughing of their skin also represents the continuity of life. Interestingly, the Bible clearly identifies ‘the one called Devil and Satan’ with the original serpent. (Genesis 3:1; Revelation 12:9). To put an end to the serpent worship practised among his subjects, King Hezekiah crushed to pieces the ‘copper serpent-idol’ that had been used in the desert at the time of Moses (2 Kings 18:4). Jesus Christ revealed the prophetic significance of this previous episode to Nicodemus by showing that it was necessary to exercise faith in him to obtain eternal life. - John 3:13-15.