Editing Serpent symbolism (section)

===Ancient Iran===
[[File:Serpent on a jewelry box from Shahdad, Iran, 2700 BC.jpg|thumb|Serpent on a [[Casket (decorative box)|jewelry box]] from [[Shahdad]], Iran, 2700 BC]]
Serpents are sacred and powerful in the thought of prehistoric [[Culture of Iran|cultures of Iran]], having been portrayed as patrons of fertility, water and wealth in the ancient objects of Iran. They seem to have been worshipped along with the [[fertility goddesses]] from the fourth to first millennia BC, when their presence as mighty patrons and source of life and of immortality is seen in the art of [[Tall-i Bakun]], [[Chogha Mish]], [[Tepe Sialk]], [[Jiroft culture]], [[Shahr-e Sukhteh]], [[Shahdad]], [[Elamite]] art, [[Luristan bronze|Luristan]] art, etc.

However, it seems that the symbolic concept of the serpent was corrupted in the cultures of the [[Iranian plateau]] over time by Western influence. In [[Abrahamic traditions]], the serpent represents sexual desire, as he lured [[Eve]] with the promise of forbidden knowledge in the [[Garden of Eden]]. As a result of such influence, Aryan religions call the serpents diabolic; [[Zahhak|Azhi Dahake]] in the [[Avesta]] is a scary serpent, and [[Zahhak]] in the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' is an infernal creature with two snakes on his shoulders. This replacement might be due to communication between the inhabitants of Iran and believers in [[Abrahamic religions]], and beyond that the conversion of [[matriarchy]] into [[patriarchy]] as the social structure of Iranian plateau cultures.<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://jfava.ut.ac.ir/article_56378_0.html |title = Inversion of a Symbol's concept |date = 2015 |publisher = Tehran: Honarhay-e Ziba Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3. |last = Taheri |first = Sadreddin |access-date = 2018-07-24 |archive-date = 2018-07-24 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180724183610/https://jfava.ut.ac.ir/article_56378_0.html |url-status = dead }}</ref>