Whilst we may never know exactly what venomous species existed in the ancient Near East in the Bronze Age we can get an idea by looking at some of the modern day venomous snakes from the region. It would appear that the species have not changed very much in the last few thousand years at all.39 So the snake species that we see today are very much the same ones that would have been seen by ancient Near Easterners. If anything their range may have altered slightly due to environmental changes. We can also see if we are able to identify some of these species when compared to ancient art and textual descriptions.
3.2.2.1 Differentiating between various species of snakes
As mentioned not all snakes have venom that causes the reactions described above. Some sectors of the population must have been able to differentiate between venomous and non-venomous snakes. The priests of Elam for example seemed to have been quite happy to handle snakes.
38 Budge 1967:xc. 39
Private communication with Professor Graham Alexander, Faculty of Science, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand.
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Figure 1: Elamite priests with snakes40
Mundkur (1983:83) informs us that venomous snakes were probably defanged by handlers. One can imagine the awe in which snake handlers were held by those who were generally fearful of snakes.
3.2.2.2 Viper versus cobra
We should not underestimate ancient man’s ability to distinguish between varieties of snakes. We do know that the Babylonians were able to distinguish between Viperidae (vipers and adders) and Elapidae (cobras).41 An incantation from the Old Babylonian period makes reference to the viper as ‘the snake that cannot be conjured’ (Astour 1968:17) - the Israelites, too, were able to tell them apart. Jeremiah 8:17 and Psalms 58:5 for example both refer to adders that cannot be charmed or are ‘deaf’.42
There is a distinct behavioural difference between an adder and a cobra. One does not see snake charmers working with adders. Indeed Corkill (1939:49) says that vipers are not used by charmers. A cobra will rise up and follow the movement of the charmer giving the appearance of being conjured or charmed. The reference to the adder being deaf suggests that the snake did not behave like a species that could be charmed.
3.2.2.3 Egyptian snakes and the Brooklyn Papyrus
The ancient Egyptians were clearly able to distinguish between numerous species of snakes. The Brooklyn Papyrus is a testimony to this. This artefact in the Brooklyn Museum is a copy dating to c 300 BCE. The original is thought to date back to c 2200 BCE in the Old Kingdom period (Nunn 1996:183). The papyrus was a manual for medico-magical practitioners who may have been called upon to deal with snake bite victims. The Brooklyn Papyrus lists twenty one snakes although it is thought that it
40 Elamite cylinder seal impression c 2300 BCE (Mundkur 1983:86).
41 Cobras are not the only elapids. Mambas also fall into this category but are not relevant here. 42
Snakes have an auditory nerve so are able to sense vibration travelling through the ground. They cannot hear sound travelling through air (Marais 2004:19; O’Shea 2005:13).
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may originally have listed thirty seven. Some identification with snakes of our modern day world was made by the French scholar Serge Sauneron who translated the papyri into French. Nunn (1996) consulted with Professor Warrell at Oxford regarding identification. In some instances he concurred with Sauneron and in other instances he made a different identification. As a result we have a list of the following possible species identified by the ancient Egyptians:43
Spitting cobra (Naja pallida).
Black desert cobra/Innes cobra (Naja morgani / Walterinnesia aegyptia).
Burrowing asp44 (Atractaspis microlepidota).
Persian horned viper (Pseudocerastes persicus).
Desert horned viper (Cerastes cerastes / Cerastes cornutus).
Burton’s carpet viper (Cerastes coloratus).
Sand boa (Eryx jaculus) (non-venomous).
Saw scaled viper (Echis pyramidum).
Egyptian cobra (Naja haje).
Puff adder (Bitis arietans).
Sahara sand viper (Cerastes vipera).
3.2.2.4 Snakes species in Iraq
In his article Snake specialists in Iraq Corkill (1939) mentions various species of snake that may give insight into what species were around in Mesopotamia during the Bronze Age. There is the Javelin Sand Boa (Eryx jaculus) which is not venomous to man. This appears in Egypt as well (Corkill 1939:45). Also considered non-dangerous are Gray’s Whip Snake (Coluber ventrimaculatus), the European Whip Snake (Coluber jugulans), the Common Water Snake (Natrix lesselatus), and Montpellier snake (Malpolon monspessulana). These varieties are all common in this region. The Hoodless Cobra (Naja morgani) is the same as the Black Desert Cobra found in Egypt. Also venomous is the Levantine Viper (Vipera lebentina).45 Both are common species. Corkill (1939:46) mentions that this snake may be the deaf adder referred to
43 Nunn (1996:185-186).
44 Burrowing asps are also known as Stiletto snakes. They are highly venomous, inflicting a painful
bite and should never be handled (Marais 2004:143-147).
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in Psalms 58:5 as it is locally called the ‘deaf snake’. This snake, which has a few sub-species, is found from Iraq right through the Levant and into North Africa (O’Shea 2005:59). The venomous Carpet Viper (Echis coloratus) found in Egypt is also found in Iraq. The other venomous snake named by Corkill is the Horned Viper (Cerastes cornutus/gasperetti) (Corkill 1939:46). This may well be the inspiration for the horned snake common in Mesopotamian mythology and art.
3.2.2.5 Snake species in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel
Many of the venomous snakes found in Egypt and Iraq also exist in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. The Levantine Viper, Black Desert Cobra, burrowing asps and carpet vipers are some of these. In addition there is the Palestine viper (Daboia palestinae) which has beautiful zigzag markings and issues a hissing sound as a warning (O’Shea 2005:60). Many close relatives of the North African vipers occur across this region. This includes the Arabian horned viper (Cerastes gasperetti), Sahara horned viper and the Sahara sand viper. Also present is MacMahon’s viper (Eristicophis macmahonii) (O’Shea 2005:62).