Editing Snake (section)

=== Symbolism ===
{{Main|Serpent (symbolism)}}
[[File:Golden Uraes Cobra Tutankhamun's Throne.jpg|thumb|right|The reverse side of the throne of Pharaoh [[Tutankhamun]] with four golden uraeus cobra figures. Gold with [[lapis lazuli]]; [[Valley of the Kings]], Thebes (1347–37 BCE).]]
[[File:Longane, Sicily.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.65|Snakes composing a bronze [[kerykeion]] from the mythical [[Longanus]] river in Sicily]]

In [[Mesopotamia|ancient Mesopotamia]], [[Nirah]], the messenger god of [[Ištaran]], was represented as a serpent on ''[[kudurru]]s'', or [[boundary marker|boundary stones]].<ref name="BlackGreen1992">{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Jeremy |first2=Anthony |last2=Green |name-list-style=vanc |title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary |location=Austin, Texas |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |year=1992 |isbn=978-0714117058 |pages=166–168}}</ref> Representations of two intertwined serpents are common in [[Sumerian art]] and Neo-Sumerian artwork<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> and still appear sporadically on [[cylinder seal]]s and amulets until as late as the thirteenth century BC.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> The horned viper (''[[Cerastes cerastes]]'') appears in [[Kassites|Kassite]] and [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian]] kudurrus<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> and is invoked in [[Assyria]]n texts as a magical protective entity.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> A dragon-like creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until the [[Hellenistic Period]] (323 BC–31 BC).<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> This creature, known in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] as the ''[[mušḫuššu]]'', meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld god [[Ninazu]],<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> but later became the attendant to the [[Hurrian religion|Hurrian]] storm-god [[Tishpak]], as well as, later, Ninazu's son [[Ningishzida]], the Babylonian [[national god]] [[Marduk]], the scribal god [[Nabu]], and the Assyrian national god Ashur.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/>

In [[History of Egypt|Egyptian history]], the snake occupies a primary role with the Nile cobra adorning the crown of the pharaoh in ancient times. It was [[snake worship|worshipped]] as one of the gods and was also used for sinister purposes: murder of an adversary and ritual suicide ([[Cleopatra VII of Egypt|Cleopatra]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/cleopatra-suicide-snake-bite|title=Did Cleopatra Really Die by Snake Bite?|author=Sarah Pruitt|date=March 10, 2020|website=History.com}}</ref> The [[ouroboros]] was a well-known [[ancient Egypt]]ian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail.<ref name="Hornung">{{cite book |last=Hornung |first=Erik |date=2001 |title=The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SB_y56Vlz5kC&q=Ouroboros+dragon+ancient+Egypt&pg=PA75 |location=Ithaca, New York and London, England |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8014-3847-9 |pages=13, 44 |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=20 October 2020 |archive-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219210357/https://books.google.com/books?id=SB_y56Vlz5kC&q=Ouroboros+dragon+ancient+Egypt&pg=PA75#v=snippet&q=Ouroboros%20dragon%20ancient%20Egypt&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The precursor to the ouroboros was the "Many-Faced",<ref name="Hornung"/> a serpent with five heads, who, according to the [[Amduat]], the oldest surviving [[Book of the Dead|Book of the Afterlife]], was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively.<ref name="Hornung"/> The earliest surviving depiction of a "true" ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines in [[KV62|the tomb]] of [[Tutankhamun]].<ref name="Hornung"/> In the early centuries AD, the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol by [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] Christians<ref name="Hornung"/> and chapter 136 of the ''[[Pistis Sophia]]'', an early Gnostic text, describes "a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth".<ref name="Hornung"/> In medieval alchemy, the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings, legs, and a tail.<ref name="Hornung"/>

In the [[Bible]], King [[Nahash of Ammon]], whose name means "Snake", is depicted very negatively, as a particularly cruel and despicable enemy of the ancient Hebrews.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

[[File:Medusa by Carvaggio.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Medusa (Caravaggio)|Medusa]]'' (1597) by the Italian artist [[Caravaggio]] ]]
The ancient Greeks used the [[Gorgoneion]], a depiction of a hideous face with serpents for hair, as an [[Apotropaic magic|apotropaic symbol]] to ward off evil.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Phinney |first=Edward Jr. |date=1971 |title=Perseus' Battle with the Gorgons |journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association |volume=102 |pages=445–463 |doi=10.2307/2935950 |jstor=2935950}}</ref> In a [[Greek mythology|Greek myth]] described by Pseudo-Apollodorus in his ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'', [[Medusa]] was a [[Gorgon]] with serpents for hair whose gaze turned all those who looked at her to stone and was slain by the hero [[Perseus]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Kinsley |first=David |date=1989 |title=The Goddesses' Mirror: Visions of the Divine from East and West |location=Albany, New York |publisher=[[New York State University Press]] |isbn=978-0-88706-836-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82oFlfs3MpwC&q=Athena+pallas+goddess&pg=PA142 |page=151 |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=20 October 2020 |archive-date=25 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425062842/https://books.google.com/books?id=82oFlfs3MpwC&q=Athena+pallas+goddess&pg=PA142 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Deacy |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Deacy |title=Athena |location=New York City, New York and London, England |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-415-30066-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIiCAgAAQBAJ&q=Athena+and+Ares+Darmon&pg=PA163 |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=20 October 2020 |archive-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219205833/https://books.google.com/books?id=kIiCAgAAQBAJ&q=Athena+and+Ares+Darmon&pg=PA163#v=snippet&q=Athena%20and%20Ares%20Darmon&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'' 2.37, 38, 39</ref> In the Roman poet [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', [[Medusa]] is said to have once been a beautiful priestess of [[Athena]], whom Athena turned into a serpent-haired monster after she was raped by the god [[Poseidon]] in Athena's temple.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Seelig |first=Beth J. |date=August 2002 |title=The Rape of Medusa in the Temple of Athena: Aspects of Triangulation in the Girl |journal=The International Journal of Psychoanalysis |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=895–911 |doi=10.1516/3NLL-UG13-TP2J-927M |pmid=12204171 |s2cid=28961886}}</ref> In another myth referenced by the [[Boeotia]]n poet [[Hesiod]] and described in detail by Pseudo-Apollodorus, the hero [[Heracles]] is said to have slain the [[Lernaean Hydra]],<ref name="West2007">{{cite book |last=West |first=Martin Litchfield |author-link=Martin Litchfield West |title=Indo-European Poetry and Myth|url=https://archive.org/details/indoeuropeanpoet00west |url-access=limited |date=2007 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0-19-928075-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/indoeuropeanpoet00west/page/n272 258]}}</ref><ref name="Ogden2013">{{cite book |last=Ogden |first=Daniel |date=2013 |title=''Drakon'': Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&q=ancient+Greek+dragons |location=Oxford, England |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-955732-5 |pages=28–29 |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=20 October 2020 |archive-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219210917/https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&q=ancient+Greek+dragons#v=snippet&q=ancient%20Greek%20dragons&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> a multiple-headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps of [[Lerna]].<ref name="West2007"/><ref name="Ogden2013"/>

The legendary account of the foundation of [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]] mentioned a monster snake guarding the spring from which the new settlement was to draw its water. In fighting and killing the snake, the companions of the founder [[Cadmus]] all perished—leading to the term "[[Cadmean victory]]" (i.e. a victory involving one's own ruin).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gf5QEAAAQBAJ|title=Reflections in a Serpent's Eye Thebes in Ovid's Metamorphoses|author=Micaela Janan|date=2009|isbn=9780191572258|publisher=OUP Oxford}}</ref>

[[File:Rod of asclepius.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rod of Asclepius]], in which the snake, through [[ecdysis]], symbolizes healing]]
Three medical symbols involving snakes that are still used today are [[Bowl of Hygieia]], symbolizing pharmacy, and the [[Caduceus]] and [[Rod of Asclepius]], which are symbols denoting medicine in general.<ref name=AIM/>

One of the etymologies proposed for the common female first name ''[[Linda (given name)|Linda]]'' is that it might derive from Old German ''Lindi'' or ''Linda'', meaning a serpent.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

India is often called the land of snakes and is steeped in tradition regarding snakes.{{sfn|Deane|1833|p=61}} Snakes are worshipped as gods even today with many women pouring milk on snake pits (despite snakes' aversion for milk).{{sfn|Deane|1833|p=61}} The cobra is seen on the neck of [[Shiva]] and [[Vishnu]] is depicted often as sleeping on a seven-headed snake or within the coils of a serpent.{{sfn|Deane|1833|pp=62–64}} There are also several temples in India solely for cobras sometimes called ''Nagraj'' (King of Snakes) and it is believed that snakes are symbols of fertility. There is a Hindu festival called [[Nag Panchami]] each year on which day snakes are venerated and prayed to. See also ''[[Nāga]]''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AiK2EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT782|editor=James Chambers|date=2015|title=Holiday Symbols & Customs, 5th Ed|isbn=9780780813656|publisher=Infobase Publishing|page=782}}</ref>

The [[Snake (zodiac)|snake]] is one of the 12 celestial animals of [[Chinese zodiac]], in the [[Chinese calendar]].<ref>{{cite web |work=timeanddate.com |title=The Chinese Calendar |url=https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/about-chinese.html |access-date=June 1, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815132857/https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/about-chinese.html |archive-date=August 15, 2017}}</ref>

Many ancient Peruvian cultures worshipped nature.<ref>{{cite book |last=Benson |first=Elizabeth |title=The Mochica: A Culture of Peru |location=London |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-500-72001-1}}</ref> They emphasized animals and often depicted snakes in their art.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Berrin |first1=Katherine |last2=Larco Museum |name-list-style=vanc |title=The Spirit of Ancient Peru: Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera |location=New York |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-500-01802-6 |title-link=Larco Museum}}</ref>