The Garden of God

There are three basic types of gardens in Ancient Near Eastern literature: royal parks, cultic/temple gardens, and forests at the divine/human borders. All of these gardens share several similar features: lush and exotic foliage, abundant waters, and limited access.

The most well-known garden in Tanakh is the Garden of Eden. It includes the deity, the issuing of divine decrees (Gen. 3:14-19, 22-24), the source of the life-giving waters that supply the earth (Gen. 2:6, 10-14), abundant fertility, trees of supernatural qualities and great beauty (Gen. 2:9), and people. A less frequently discussed account of Eden as the “garden of God” (also called “gods’ garden”)¹ is described by Ezekiel as a place of great luxury: “You were in Eden, the garden of God, every precious stone… carnelian, chrysolite, and amethyst; beryl, lapis lazuli, and jasper; sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; and gold beautifully wrought…” (Ezek. 28:13). A much earlier example is the “Jewel Forest” described in Gilgamesh, which contains trees with precious gemstones as fruit: “There was the garden of the gods; all round him stood bushes bearing gems… there was fruit of carnelian with the vine hanging from it, beautiful to look at; lapis lazuli leaves hung thick with fruit, sweet to see. For thorns and thistles there were hematite and rare stones, agate, and pearls from out of the sea” (Tablet IX).² While some scholars view this earlier “garden of the gods” as a parallel to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3, this does not seem to be the case, as one of the main features of the Ancient Near Eastern “garden of the gods” is the presence of deities and lack of humankind. What interests me is who has access to the garden of the gods, how its exclusivity is maintained, and why all of the jewels.

Beginning with access: according to its name, it is a garden for “the gods.” While several biblical texts use the plural noun “Elohim” (literally “gods”) to designate the God of Israel,³ “elohim” also refers to other biblical supernatural creatures as well as foreign deities.⁴ Beings called “elohim” in the Tanakh share certain characteristics: they inhabit the non-human realm but occasionally “roam” the human world; they are more powerful than humans; they are immortal; they affect humans’ lives; and they guard their “superior” status vis-à-vis humans zealously.

All Ancient Near Eastern cultures had some variation of a pantheon of divine beings who administer the affairs of the cosmos, and a comparison of the Tanakh with other Ancient Near Eastern texts reveals several overlaps between those of the surrounding nations and ancient Israel’s. One similarity between the biblical supernatural creatures and other Ancient Near Eastern divine beings is a hierarchy. The first tier of the Ugaritic gods consisted of the god El and his consort Atirat (referred to as Asherah in the Hebrew Bible); Atirat’s status as the wife of El and the mother of other deities provides insight into the many allusions to her and her symbol, the “Asherah pole,” in the Hebrew Bible. According to archaeological evidence, at least some Israelites considered the Israelite deity to have had a divine consort, Asherah. In 1975-76 an excavation team led by Ze’ev Meshel uncovered artifacts from the 9th-8th century BCE in North Sinai (Kuntillet ’Ajrud); one of the pithoi unearthed has a Hebrew blessing formula, “by YHWH, our guardian, and by his Asherah.”⁵ Another is inscribed “by YHWH of Samaria and by his Asherah.”⁶ There is also a 7th century BCE burial inscription found in Khirbet el-Qom which reads: “Blessed be Uriyahu by YHWH, and his Asherah, for from his enemies he (YHWH) has saved him.” Additionally, nude, buxom goddess figurines were found in domestic contexts in Tell el-Duweir and point to popular cults that coexisted with monotheistic Judaism; this type of pillar figurine is typical of those produced in great numbers in Judah at this time.⁷ These figures, and those on clay plaques with nude female figures, probably represent fertility or mother goddesses. Does “his Asherah” refer to an entity, giving credence to Asherah as God’s consort? If so, the Canaanite Asherah would be in tandem with El and his consort — the highest hierarchy among the gods.

The second tier of the Ugaritic deities was a younger group of gods which included the war god Baal and the war goddesses Anat and Astarte. Ugaritic forces of destruction included Yamm, the god of the sea (also known as Nahar, the River), and Mot, the god of death, as well as Resheph (burning) and Deber (pestilence). In total, more than two hundred thirty-four deities are recorded in Ugaritic texts. Feared and admired rather than loved, these gods were revered and praised as masters, but still subordinate to El; they could display kindness, but were fickle and at times, as Ugaritic literature explains, poor decision makers, which explained why humans suffer such hardships in life. Humankind was created to ease their burdens and provide them with daily care and food; often aloof, the gods might respond well to offerings, but at a moment’s notice might also rage and strike out at humans with a vengeance that could result in illness, loss of livelihood, or death.

The corresponding second tier of Hebrew Bible divine beings also consisted of lesser beings. Some members of this court include beings called “sons of god.”⁸ As in Ugaritic texts, some of these gods had fearsome roles and occasionally the same names as the Ugaritic gods — for example, in Habakkuk 3:5, “Pestilence marches before Him, and plague/burning comes at his Heels.” In both cases these lesser beings were clearly subordinate to the highest deity (El and YHWH), forming their heavenly entourage. Additionally, “all of God’s host” could be considered part of the second tier as participants in the wars of the Israelite deity,⁹ similar to the relationship of El and his war gods — Baal, Anat, and Astarte. Just as El’s second-tier gods would sometimes determine the fate of humans, so too the second-tier biblical gods: in Job, the “divine beings” appear before God as a group to report on the performance of their tasks and receive orders, and one of them is the “adversary” — Satan, who carries out his functions under God’s directions (Job 1:6ff.; 2:1ff.). Occasionally they appear in a “courtroom” setting: “God stands in the divine assembly; among the divine beings He pronounces judgment” (Ps. 82:1).

Ancient Near Eastern gods met in various and sundry locations: sacred mountains and lush gardens (i.e., “garden of the gods”). The descriptions of these gardens highlight their beauty and fertility, but they are to be enjoyed solely by the gods. With regard to the sacred mountains, in Ugaritic texts El and his council met on Mount Zaphon; similarly, in Tanakh God is associated with mountains,¹⁰ even with the summit of Zaphon.¹¹ The Ugaritic palace on Zaphon was paved with bricks that made both El’s house and Baal’s house “a house the clearness of lapis lazuli.” Likewise, when Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy elders ascended the mountain they saw the seated God of Israel, and under his feet was “a likeness of pavement of sapphire,” analogous to El’s (Exod. 24:9-10).

Although humans could approach the sacred mountains, the gardens of the gods were safeguarded by fierce monsters to bar human access. The Cedar Forest at the entrance to the mountain range Mashu, where the gods reside, was guarded by the monster Humbaba, and the Jewel Garden was guarded by Scorpion-Man and his wife, Scorpion-Woman: “The name of the mountain is Mashu… Scorpion-man guards its gate… Scorpion-man calls to his wife: ‘[The purpose of their com]ing I would learn.’”¹² Although not gods per se, Ezekiel describes fearsome-looking divine functionaries — cherubim — who guard the biblical garden of the gods, surrounded by flares. The biblical cherub is a winged celestial being which appears in several places: in the story of the Garden of Eden, after the expulsion of Adam and Eve, God stationed cherubim at the entrance of the garden to prevent humans from re-entering (Gen. 3:24); in Ezekiel a cherub lives on God’s holy mountain (Ezek. 28:13ff.); and in Exodus, two wooden images of cherubim overlaid with gold face one another on the two ends of the covering above the Ark in the Tabernacle, forming the throne of God with their outstretched wings (Ex. 25:18-20; 37:7-9).¹³ In Ezekiel’s vision, the chariot throne¹⁴ is supported by four creatures which he identifies as cherubim.¹⁵ This description parallels the golden throne excavated from the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamen; Ancient Near Eastern thrones were often decorated with images such as Tutankhamen’s throne, which includes powerful lions and uraei (sacred royal snakes).¹⁶

The descriptions of the cherubim vary, but generally they are either two-winged or four-winged creatures. The two cherubim in the Tabernacle and in Solomon’s Temple have two wings each (Ex. 25:20; I Kings 6:24, 27) and one face (Ex. 25:20). In the Temple vision of Ezekiel, the cherubim engraved on the walls and doors have two faces, a man’s face and a lion’s face.¹⁷ The lion image is similar to other Ancient Near Eastern fantastic creatures with feline bodies, long ears, wings, and crest feathers — a combination of animal and bird typical of Near Eastern lion-griffins, as well as of the human-headed, winged lion, a creature that also appears as a gate guardian on the doorjambs in the palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud.

In Ezekiel’s description, as in other Ancient Near Eastern representations, the symmetry of four predominates: each of the four cherubim has four wings and four faces. Two of their wings, spread out above, touch one another, and the other two cover their bodies. Their four faces included one of a man, a lion on the right side, an ox on the left side, and an eagle (Ezek. 1:10). Those cherubim have legs, and each one’s feet were like a calf’s foot; they sparkled like burnished bronze, and under their wings on their four sides they had human hands (Ezek. 1:7-8). Another description has the cherubs appearing with the form of a man’s hand under their wings, and each with four faces: one a cherub’s face, the second a human face, the third a lion’s face, and the fourth an eagle’s face (Ezek. 10:14), where Ezekiel includes the face of a cherub among the four and omits that of the ox. Ezekiel’s description seems just as fearsome as the Ugaritic: “They had the figures of human beings. However, each had four faces, and each of them had four wings… their sparkle was like the luster of burnished bronze. They had human hands below their wings… they went wherever the spirit impelled them to go, without turning when they moved… With them was something that looked like burning coals of fire. This fire… had a radiance, and lightning issued from the fire. Dashing to and fro among the creatures was something that looked like flares” (Ezek. 1:5-14).¹⁸

Winged creatures are well known from the art and religious symbolism of the Ancient Near East. Winged bulls were placed at the entrance of Babylonian and Assyrian palaces and temples; they appear on the pottery incense altars from Taanach and Megiddo; winged sphinxes, griffins, and human creatures are represented in the art and iconography of Carchemish, Calah, Nimrud, the Samarian ivories, Aleppo, and Tell Halaf.¹⁹ It is possible that Ezekiel’s description of the fierce cherubim might have been inspired by Hittite reliefs of winged human-headed bulls.

The motif of the composite human-animal-bird figure is widespread throughout the Fertile Crescent, functioning as “guards” who prevent mortals from entering the presence of deities. Biblical cherubim seem connected to this artistic tradition; sphinxes — particularly the winged variety — seem virtually indistinguishable from the biblical cherubim, and examples of sphinx or cherub thrones are known from two pre-Israelite artifacts predating the Solomonic temple: the Megiddo plaque, which depicts a divine figure or king seated on a throne flanked by cherubim, and the Ahiram sarcophagus, which portrays the king seated on a sphinx throne whose highly stylized wings compose the sides of the throne. The cherubim of the Bible are hardly the round-faced infant cherubim known in Western art; like their other Ancient Near Eastern counterparts, they prevented humans from accessing the garden of the gods.

The third point I wish to raise is that the gardens of the gods are adorned with “blazing gemstones.” Precious stones are mentioned in various contexts in the Hebrew Bible, but the most comprehensive list is the description of the breastpiece worn by the High Priest, set with twelve precious stones arranged in four rows of three, representing the twelve tribes: “The first row shall be a row of carnelian, chrysolite, and emerald; the second, of turquoise, sapphire, and amethyst; the third of jacinth, agate, and crystal; and the fourth, of beryl, lapis lazuli, and jasper…” (Exod. 28:17-20).²⁰ Nine of these jewels — carnelian, chrysolite, and amethyst; beryl, lapis lazuli, and jasper; sapphire, turquoise, and emerald — are exactly the same as those in the garden of the gods quoted above. Why jewels in the garden of the gods, and why the similarity with the High Priest’s breastplate? Although the Sumerians probably did not influence the Hebrews directly,²¹ there is little doubt that they influenced the Canaanites, who preceded the Hebrews, and both the Sumerian Jewel Garden and the biblical garden of God contain some of the same priceless jewels.

All Ancient Near Eastern sanctuaries required officiants, and just as sacred space needed to be differentiated from secular space, the occupants of sacred offices had to be distinguishable from the rest of the worshippers. Throughout the Ancient Near East, officiants dressed lavishly, unlike other worshippers; a relief from the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, for example, depicts a king and an attendant richly dressed in jewelry, and Sumerian priests of their deities also wore elaborate robes. Similarly, the attire of the biblical High Priest was colorful, and intended, probably, to make an impression.²² The Israelite deity wanted his “highest level” of worshippers — his chief supplicant — to impress and overwhelm the rest of his tribe. One explanation for the similarity of jewels in both Ancient Near Eastern texts may thus be the fierce determination of the biblical writers to match, and ultimately surpass, all foreign deities, at least in the eyes of the ancient Israelites. Throughout the Hebrew Bible there is a general acknowledgement of foreign deities — even the Israelite deity recognizes their existence. The covenant established between the Israelite deity and the ancient Israelites is very specific: “You shall have no other gods besides me” (Exod. 20:3), not “there are no other deities.” This command warns against violating the covenant by worshipping other nations’ deities, but the text does not necessarily deny that these other deities existed. Just as the High Priest was more awe-inspiring than the rest of the Israelites, so too was the biblical deity presented as more powerful than the rest of the Ancient Near Eastern gods. The Ugaritic Jewel Forest contained some jewels (carnelian, lapis lazuli, unspecified “rare stones,” agate, and pearls), but they are not described in as much detail as in Ezekiel’s garden; in effect, the biblical garden of God is “more impressive” than that of El and his lesser gods.

Not surprisingly, there are many similarities between El and the Hebrew Bible deity: both were the creator god, the father of the rest of the gods as well as humankind, the god of wisdom, and both were considered fairly good-natured, beneficent beings, though both exhibited bursts of anger when not obeyed. El is often associated with the epithet “bull,” indicating strength, stubbornness, and ferocity — a trait the Israelite deity shares as well.

In sum, the biblical garden of the gods was resplendent. Humans may have heard about it but were denied entrance. It was ultimately restricted to God, like the Jewel Garden of Gilgamesh lore — but, perhaps, even more luxurious.