Snake Tubes, alias Offering Stands
from Canaanite shrines circa 1500 bce --and Nubia!

cylindrical stand with serpents crawling up and openings cut in the walls

The Canaanite snake tubes predate those in Crete. This example from Beth She'an has the serpentine handles and snakes coiling around the sides as well. There are also doves perched in the small cutouts. Snake-vessels are also known from around 1500 bce in Canaan, with serpents clustered around the narrow neck of a pouring-pitcher.


snake tube with cutouts with little women looking out

Here's a better view of the Beth She'an snake tube, showing
both the coiling serpents and the triangular cutouts
from which women or goddesses look out.

 

a broken snake tube

Another Canaanite example from Megiddo, around the same time.

tall cult stand with snakes coiling around it

Another Canaanite snake tube from Beth She'an,
circa 1500 BCE, with openings for serpents to go in
and out, and birds perched on some of them.

 

clay stand with vertical serpent applique

more stands with clay serpent patterns

Older than the Canaanite snake stands are these Nubian examples from the A-Group culture, going back to 3000 BCE. It would not be the first case of cultural innovations springing out of Africa to influence Mediterranean peoples.

More snake tubes from Crete>

Suppressed Histories Archives | Articles | Gallery

d