ASSYRIAN CYLINDERS: THE TREE OF LIFE. 233 
both bore fruit which Adam and Eve might eat. There were also cherubim, as 
well as a serpent. It would seem as if there must be some mythological relation 
between the tree and the cherubim of the Assyrian art and the trees and the cheru- 
bim of the Eden story. Certainly the interpretation here gives us the sacred tree 
as a tree of gifts of fortune much more in keeping with the trees of Genesis than is 
the explanation given by Mr. ‘Tylor, which sees here simply the process of fertiliza- 
tion. In both cases the fruit of the tree is for the man. He eats the fruit of the 
tree of knowledge and he is driven from the tree of life for fear he might eat of it 
and live forever. It is a tree of life because its fruit would give large life; and after 
the man had partaken of the wrong tree the cherubim stood guard over the tree of 
life that he may not eat of it. Of course, there is a contrast, in that the Assyrian 
design represents the winged cherubim, as they are called in Ezekiel and I. Kings, 
as providing the fruit, plucking it off for the worshiper, while it is the purpose of 
the Genesis writer to show how man lost immortality and the immortal fruit by 
being deceived into taking the fruit of another tree, and then the guardian cher- 
ubim became as hostile as the dragon of the Hesperides. We may then see that 
the Genesis story and the Assyrian sacred tree throw light on each other. 
It is to be observed that in the Kabbala the tree of life represents the Shiph'ah 
or providential supply which man receives from God. It is thus parallel to the 
horn of plenty of Fortune. 
That, in the Oriental imagination, the fruits of the tree of life are considered 
as being eaten, appears in Revelation 22:2, where we read: “And on this side of 
the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding 
its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”’ 
Certainly the Assyrian sacred tree, as well as the tree of Eden, is connected with 
this thought of the tree of life transplanted into Heaven. The tree of life is also 
mentioned in Proverbs. Wisdom “is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her,”’ 
3:18, and we are told that “the fruit of the righteous 1s a tree of life,” 11: 30; that 
“‘an accomplished desire is a tree of life,” 13:12; and that “healing of the tongue 1s 
a tree of life, and perverseness therein is a broken bolt”’ (beriach for beruach, after 
Ehrlich), 15:4. The tree of life evidently bears fruit. 
It may be mentioned that the sacred tree lingers in modern Oriental art, even 
where its meaning seems forgotten. It is often to be seen on brasswork or rugs. 
Dr. Birdwood, in his “Indian Arts,” says that the tree of life on the Yarkand rugs 
is a pomegranate, but it may be more formal in Persian and Turkish rugs. 
Before concluding this investigation of the sacred tree it may be well to add 
that there is no basis for the statement made by Schrader, Delacouperie, and others 
that the number seven prevails in the branches of this tree. For an investigation 
of this matter see Ward, “The Asserted Seven-fold Division of the Sacred Tree,”’ 
“Journal of the Exegetical Society,” 1887, pp. 151-155. 
It is also impossible to relate the Assyrian sacred tree to the numerous local 
sacred trees in Egypt, or to the great heavenly tree, single or double. ‘These are 
never, I believe, heraldic. One may recall, however, the early text of King Pepi I., 
on whose pyramid it is inscribed that he sits with the gods at the great lake, and 
receives from them of the fruit of the tree on which they feed. 
While there are mythical trees in the early Babylonian stories, it is not clear 
that they are closely related to the sacred tree of Assyria. They are either a palm 
