“Ain Samiya’s Silver Goblet”
Israel Museum, Jerusalem/Ardon Bar Hama
A silver chalice dating back 4,300 years, found in Palestine’s West Bank, displays a depiction of the universe’s formation from primordial chaos, marking it as the oldest recorded visual interpretation of a creation myth.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind design,” says Eberhard Sanger from the Lewisian Research Foundation in Switzerland. “It conveys a complex narrative using a minimal number of lines.”
Measuring about 8 cm in height, the “Ain Samiya” goblet was uncovered 55 years ago in an ancient tomb located a few miles northeast of Ramallah, on the western edge of the Fertile Crescent, an area where early civilizations thrived.
The goblet features two distinctive scenes. The first shows a large serpent confronting a chimera with a human upper body and animal legs, positioned on a small flower-like circle. The second scene depicts a smiling serpent lying on the ground beneath a much larger flower-like circle, supported by two humanoid figures—of which only one is currently visible due to the goblet’s damage.
Archaeologists of the 1970s proposed that these scenes could represent Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation myth in which the primordial entity Tiamat is overcome by the god Marduk, resulting in Tiamat’s body transforming into heaven and earth. However, Zanger notes that this interpretation has its shortcomings; notably, there are no battle representations on the goblet, and it is approximately 1,000 years older than Enuma Elish itself.
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<p>This has led other scholars to suggest alternative meanings. For instance, they propose that the goblet might represent the cyclical rebirth of a year and the passing of another.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Zanger and his associates, including independent researcher <a href="https://utoronto.academia.edu/DanielSarlo">Daniel Sarlo</a> from Toronto, and <a href="https://fabiennehaasdantes.academia.edu/">Fabienne Haas Dantes</a> from the University of Zurich, argue that the original interpretation remains the most accurate. They contend that the scenes depict the creation of the universe, drawing from ancient creation stories that predate even <em>Enuma Elish</em>.</p>
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<img class="Image" alt="This scene illustrates cosmic order emerging from chaos, featuring figures such as serpents and deities (Credit: ? Israel Museum, Jerusalem, by Florica Weiner)." width="1350" height="901" src="https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg" srcset="https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=300 300w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=400 400w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=500 500w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=600 600w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=700 700w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=800 800w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=837 837w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=900 900w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1003 1003w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1100 1100w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1200 1200w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1300 1300w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1400 1400w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1500 1500w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1600 1600w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1674 1674w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1700 1700w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1800 1800w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=1900 1900w, https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/12150512/SEI_274075982.jpg?width=2006 2006w" sizes="(min-width: 1288px) 837px, (min-width: 1024px) calc(57.5vw + 55px), (min-width: 415px) calc(100vw - 40px), calc(70vw + 74px)" loading="lazy" data-image-context="Article" data-image-id="2504118" data-caption="The images engraved on the goblet portray deities, serpents, and the sun" data-credit="Israel Museum, Jerusalem/Florika Weiner"/>
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<p class="ArticleImageCaption__Title">The engravings on the goblet depict a deity, a serpent, and the sun.</p>
<p class="ArticleImageCaption__Credit">Israel Museum, Jerusalem/Florica Weiner</p>
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<p>Zanger's research team views the first scene as ambiguous. The chimera signifies a weaker god combined with an animal. The small flower-like circles beneath its legs symbolize the powerless sun. A colossal serpent dominates this chaos. In contrast, the second scene reveals that order has emerged from chaos, with gods distinguished from animals, transforming into potent humanoid figures. They raise the powerful sun atop a "vessel of heaven," indicating the separation of heaven from earth, while the chaotic serpent lies defeated beneath the sun.</p>
<p>Zanger also mentions that cuneiform texts from another area of the Fertile Crescent, dating similarly to the goblet, discuss how deities divided heaven and earth. This indicates that by the time of the goblet's creation, the locals had already contemplated the theme of world creation. "The remarkable aspect of this artifact is that it allows us to glimpse their conception of this narrative," he states.</p>
<p><a href="https://independent.academia.edu/JLisman">Jan Lisman</a>, an independent researcher from the Netherlands, remains skeptical of this interpretation. "What it depicts is the daily journey of the sun," he argues. "But it certainly does not reflect 'origin' or 'chaos.'"</p>
<p><a href="https://www.altestestament.unibe.ch/about_us/people/prof_em_dr_schroer_silvia/index_eng.html">Sylvia Schroer</a>, a professor at the University of Bern, Switzerland, shows some willingness to entertain the notion that the goblet signifies world creation. However, she believes a different aspect of the new analysis is problematic.</p>
<p>According to Zanger, some images on the Ain Samiyah goblet, notably the giant snake, resonate with ancient cosmological tales from the Fertile Crescent and adjacent areas. They posit that this implies a profound connection among various creation myths which may trace back to a singular, more ancient narrative. Illustrating this, they cite a celestial vessel resembling that in the goblet, which is carved on a pillar at Göbekli Tepe in modern-day Turkey, a location dating back 11,500 years—7,000 years prior to the goblet's creation. "This is astonishing," Zanger remarks.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Schroer argues that it might be too speculative to assert that all creation narratives in the region are tightly intertwined. "Even with similarities, it doesn't necessitate clear influence," she maintains.</p>
<div class="JournalReference" data-title="JEOL – Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society “Ex Oriente Luxˮ" data-title_link="https://www.exorientelux.nl/jeol/" data-reference_type_overwrite="Journal reference:" data-doi="in press" data-method="shortcode" data-component-name="journal-reference">
<p class="JournalReference__Title"><i>JEOL – Journal of Ancient Near East Studies “Ex Oriente Luxˮ</i> <a class="JournalReference__Link" href="https://www.exorientelux.nl/jeol/">DOI: In print</a></p>
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