More illustrations of apocalyptic imagery

We mentioned in earlier posts on apocalyptic literature that composite images were common among the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians. This was also true of the Hittites who lived in the upper Euphrates area. The Anatolian Civilization Museum at Ankara contains many of the reliefs from Carchemish on the Euphrates. The one below shows two human-headed sphinx standing. There is also a winged horse standing between them. They appear to be dancing.

Human-headed sphinx standing; winged horse standing. Photo by F. Jenkins.

This drawing from the Museum may show the image more clearly. Notice the bird head on the tail of the sphinx on the right.

Drawing of the human-headed sphinx and standing horse.

This one is of special interest. It shows a lion with wings and a human head.  The tail shows the head of a bird. There are four images in composite form. This basalt orthostat also comes from Carchemish.

Three-headed sphinx.

Judeans who were taken captive to Babylon traveled in this region on their way to their place on the Chebar (Kebar) River in southern Mesopotamia. We know that Nebuchadnezzar made his headquarters at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Because this region was part of the Fertile Crescent we can be sure that the Judeans traveled in the area on their long trip from Judea to Babylon. See 2 Kings 25:6-7.

We are not saying that Ezekiel borrowed his composite creatures from the culture around him. We are saying that such was common and that it would not have been unusual or strange to Ezekiel or his hearers/readers.

Notice, again, Ezekiel’s description of the creatures he saw:

These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar;  so I knew that they were cherubim.  Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands.  As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead. (Ezekiel 10:20-22 NASB)

For the images in the book of Daniel we could show numerous composite creatures from Babylon.

Ankara, the capital of Turkey

In addition to some of the highlights of the modern city, we visited the Temple of Augustus and the priceless collection of Hittite artifacts in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. This museum is often referred to as the Hittite Museum. The Temple of Augustus, shown above, was built about 20 B.C. when Ankara was known as Ancyra and was in the province of Galatia. The deeds of Augustus are recorded on the outside wall in Greek, and on the inside wall in Latin. Augustus is referred to as DIVI in Latin and THEOS in Greek. Worship of the emperors was widespread in Asia Minor. This information helps us with our understanding of the setting of the book of Revelation.

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is a small, but very impressive museum. This is because of the great collection of Hittie artifacts. There is one large room devoted to Neo-Hittite reliefs from Carchemish on the Euphrates River. Carchemish was the site of the defeat of the Assyrian Empire in 605 B.C. The photo below shows a three-head sphinx. It is a winged lion with the head of a bird of prey on the tail. On top of the head is a human head wearing a conical hat. Composite images such as this were common during Old Testament times. An understanding of this helps us with our study of the apocalyptic books of the Bible, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation.

In the afternoon we headed south to the region of Cappadocia, or as they call it s here, Kappadokia. More tomorrow, hopefully.

 

The Hittites

 

We made a full day excursion from Ankara to the Hittite sites of Hattusas (now Bogazkale) and the open air sanctuary of Yazilikaya where the Hittite gods are depicted in relief on the rock. During Old Testament days Turkey was the home of the ancient Hittites, once thought by critics of the Bible to be an example of the inaccuracy of the Bible. In 1906 archaeologists began to uncover the Hittite civilization at Boghazkoy (now Bogazkale). The Hittites had numerous contacts with the people of the Bible from the time of Abraham onward (Gen. 15:20; Josh. 1:4; 2 Sam. 11:3; 1 Kings 10:29; See National Geographic, July, 1977). Our trip, including the sightseeing, took about 11 hours. The weather was warm, in the mid-80s, and the sky was beautiful. This made for a good photographic day. The photo above is of the Lion’s Gate.

The photo below shows some of the temple area and a portion of reconstructed wall. This also provides a view of the typical Anatolian landscape around Hattusas.

Tomorrow we will visit the famous Hittite Museum in Ankara, and continue to Cappadocia.