Editing Cherub (section)

== Appearance ==
[[File:Ivory plaque from Megiddo IAA 1938-780.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|An ivory from Tel Megiddo showing a king sitting on a throne which is supplicated by a sphinx-esque winged hybrid.]]
[[File:Cherubim Bate.jpg|thumb|Depiction of the "cherubim of glory shadowing the [[mercy seat]]" ([[Julius Bate]], 1773)]]

Aside from Ezekiel's vision, no detailed attestations of ''cherubim'' survive, and Ezekiel's description of the [[tetramorph]] being may not be the same as the ''cherubim'' of the historic Israelites.<ref name=Eichler2015>{{cite journal |last=Eichler |first=Raanan |year=2015 |title=Cherub: A History of Interpretation |journal=Biblica |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=26–38 |jstor=43922717 }}</ref> All that can be gleaned about the ''cherubim'' of the Israelites come from potential equivalents in the cultures which surrounded them.

The appearance of the ''cherubim'' continue to be a subject of debate. [[Mythological hybrid]]s are common in the art of the [[Ancient Near East]]. One example is the Babylonian ''[[lamassu]]'' or ''shedu'', a protective spirit with a [[sphinx]]-like form, possessing the wings of an eagle, the body of a lion or bull, and the head of a king. This was adopted largely in [[Phoenicia]]. The wings, because of their artistic beauty and symbolic use as a mark of creatures of the [[heaven]]s, soon became the most prominent part, and animals of various kinds were adorned with wings; consequently, wings were bestowed also upon human forms,<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia2"/> thus leading to the stereotypical image of an [[angel]].<ref name=wright2/>

[[William F. Albright]] (1938) argued that "the winged lion with human head" found in Phoenicia and [[Canaan]] from the [[Late Bronze Age]] is "much more common than any other winged creature, so much so that its identification with the cherub is certain".<ref name=Wood-2008/>{{rp|style=ama|pages= 2–4}} A possibly related source is the human-bodied [[Hittites|Hittite]] [[griffin]], which, unlike other griffins, appear almost always not as a fierce bird of prey, but seated in calm dignity, like an irresistible guardian of holy things;<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia2"/><ref name=wright2/> some have proposed that the word ''griffin'' ({{math|γρύψ}}) may be cognate with ''cherubim'' (''kruv'' > ''grups'').<ref name="propp2">{{cite book |last=Propp |first=William H. |title=The Anchor Bible |publisher=Doubleday |year=2006 |isbn=0-385-24693-5 |volume=2A, Exodus&nbsp;19–40 |location=New York, New York |at=Exodus&nbsp;15:18, p.&nbsp;386, ''Notes''}} which references {{cite book |last=Wellhausen |first=Julius |title=[[Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels]] |publisher=Black |year=1885 |location=Edinburgh, Scotland |page=304 |language=de |trans-title=Prolegomena to the History of Israel |author-link=Julius Wellhausen}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Beekes |first=Robert S. P. |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |publisher=Brill |year=2010 |isbn=978-90-04-17420-7 |volume=1 |location=Leiden, DE / Boston, Massachusetts |page=289 |article={{math|γρυπος}} |quote=From the archaeological perspective, origin in Asia Minor (and the Near East: [[Elam]]) is very probable. |author-link=Robert S. P. Beekes}}</ref> While Ezekiel initially describes the tetramorph ''cherubim'' as having

<blockquote>the face of a man ... the face of a lion ... the face of an ox ... and ... the face of an eagle</blockquote>

in the {{bibleverse|Ezekiel|10||tenth chapter}} this formula is repeated as

<blockquote>the face of the cherub ... the face of a man ... the face of a lion ... the face of an eagle</blockquote>

which (given that "ox" has apparently been substituted with "the cherub") some have taken to imply that ''cherubim'' were envisioned to have the head of a [[bovine]].

[[File:Astarte's throne.jpg|thumb|right|[[Thrones of Astarte|Throne of Astarte]] from the [[Temple of Eshmun]], the legs formed by two winged hybrid creatures.]]

In particular resonance with the idea of cherubim embodying the throne of God, numerous pieces of art from Phoenicia, [[Ancient Egypt]], and even [[Tel Megiddo#Megiddo ivories|Tel Megiddo]] in northern Israel depict kings or deities being carried on their thrones by hybrid winged creatures.<ref name="wright2">{{cite book |author=Wright |first=G. Ernest |title=Biblical Archaeology |publisher=Westminster Press |year=1957 |place=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania}}</ref>

If this animalistic form is how the ancient [[Israelites]] envisioned cherubim, it raises more questions than it answers. For one, it is difficult to visualize the cherubim of the [[Ark of the Covenant]] as quadrupedal creatures with backward-facing wings, as these cherubim were meant to face each other and have their wings meet, while still remaining on the edges of the cover from which they were beaten. At the same time, these creatures have little to no resemblance to the ''cherubim'' in Ezekiel's vision.

On the other hand, even if ''cherubim'' had a more [[humanoid]] form, this still would not entirely match Ezekiel's vision and likewise seemingly clashes with the apparently equivalent [[archetype]]s of the cultures surrounding the Israelites, which almost uniformly depicted beings which served analogous purposes to Israel's ''cherubim'' as largely animalistic in shape. All of this may indicate that the Israelite conception of the ''cherub''{{'}}s appearance may not have been wholly consistent.<ref name=Eichler2015/>