. Babel and Bible;. Fig. 50a. Winged Cherub, with Body of Lion and Human Head (After Layard.) whose chief office it was to guard the entrance to theirdivine masters was imparted the unconquerable strengthof the bull, or the awe-inspiring majesty of the lion.(Figs. 48, 49, 50, and 50a.) The Babylonian and Assyrian angels, like those inEzekiels vision, are very often of hybrid shape. Take,for example, the cherubim of which a type is given in BABEL AND BIBLE. 55 Fig. 50, with their wings, their bulls bodies, and theirhonest, serious human countenances. Then again wefind types like that discovered
. Babel and Bible;. Fig. 50a. Winged Cherub, with Body of Lion and Human Head (After Layard.) whose chief office it was to guard the entrance to theirdivine masters was imparted the unconquerable strengthof the bull, or the awe-inspiring majesty of the lion.(Figs. 48, 49, 50, and 50a.) The Babylonian and Assyrian angels, like those inEzekiels vision, are very often of hybrid shape. Take,for example, the cherubim of which a type is given in BABEL AND BIBLE. 55 Fig. 50, with their wings, their bulls bodies, and theirhonest, serious human countenances. Then again wefind types like that discovered in the palace of Ashurna-zirpal (Fig. 51), which bears the closest possible resem-blance to our conception of angels. These noble andradiant figures, which art has rendered so attractive andfamiliar in our eyes, will always retain a kindly place inour Fig. 51. Angels with Human Heads.(Noble types closely resembling the Christian conception of angels.) But the demons and the devils, whether they takefor us the form of the enemies of man or that of theprimordial foes of God,—to these we were destined to bidfarewell for all eternity, for the ancient Persian dualismwas not after our hearts. I form the light and createdarkness : I make peace and create evil: it is /, Yahveh,that do all these things. So justly declares the greatest 56 BABEL AND BIBLE. prophet of the Old Testament, Isaiah (xlv. 7). Demonslike that represented in Fig. 52,—though such picturesare not without interest for the history of duelling,—orcaricatures like that represented in Fig. 53, may be corn-
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbible, bookyear1906
