Newly discovered link between Hercules, Israel suggests cultural exchange in region - study

Legendary demi-god Hercules may have been connected to northern Israel through a 2,800-year-old stamp, according to the peer-reviewed study by Prof. Christoph Uehlinger, published in Near Eastern Archaeology.

The stamp, which was published for the first time but was uncovered in Tel Hazor in 2022, depicts a battle between an unknown figure accompanied by Greek and Egyptian mythical creatures, and a large seven-headed serpent; commonly believed to be an illustration of the Lernaean Hydra from the Greek myth of Hercules’s 12 labors, according to the study.

Study author and professor in comparative religion at the University of Zurich Christoph Uehlinger noted the unique mix of figures in the hybrids shows an important feature of Levantine visual culture: the ability to combine elements from different places into new forms.

In his study, Prof. Uehlinger explains that this practice is often attributed to the Phoenician people - who lived by the ancient Israelites - however, he argued that the practice was more widespread and should be seen more generally as Levantine.

The Hercules seal was discovered during an archaeological excavation in Tel Hazor, Israel in 2022.It depicts a battle scene involving a human figure wielding a spear facing up to a seven-headed serpent. A griffin, scarab, and a pair of monkeys are also visible on the seal. pic.twitter.com/pBP82yByXB

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Therefore, Prof. Uehlinger wrote, “We simply cannot tell whether the Hazor seal was carved by a Phoenician or an Israelite craftsperson.”

Who is the figure on the seal?

Concerning the figure, “there are no clear indications regarding the hero’s sex,” he further noted. However, one detail suggests the hero on the Hazor seal might be male: a broad belt, which is usually seen with male warriors in the art of the time.

“The seal’s main matter, a hero fighting a seven-headed snake,” is a theme that first appeared in Early Dynastic Mesopotamian art, where the hero is shown as a nude male, Prof. Uehlinger explained. This theme was popular in Mesopotamian tradition and spread west by the third millennium BCE and reached the North Syrian coast by the mid-second millennium BCE.

Connecting Hercules and ancient Israelites

The ancient depictions of Hercules battling the Lernaean Hydra continue to puzzle scholars, Prof. Uehlinger noted in his study. Similarly, the appearance of a seven-headed snake in later texts like the Apocalypse of John raises questions about how such imagery vanished from art only to reappear unchanged centuries later and across different regions.

In Greek mythology, according to Britannica, the Hydra is a mythical creature with varying numbers of heads, one of which was immortal. It lived in the marshes of Lerna, near Argos, and occasionally would terrorize the locals. Despite numerous attempts, the monster could not be killed, as cutting off one of its heads resulted in two more taking its place.

Eventually, the Greco-Roman hero Hercules, with the assistance of his nephew Iolaus, was able to defeat the monster by severing each head and quickly cauterizing the wound to ensure no new heads would sprout, and burying the immortal head under a rock, according to Britannica.

In ancient Ugarit, myths about battling a seven-headed snake shifted from male gods like Baal to the goddess Anat. Anat boasts of defeating enemies including the seven-headed serpent, Tunnan, and the "Twisty Serpent." Scholars debate whether these foes represent distinct beings or symbolize cosmic forces like Yam (the Sea) and Mot (Death,) Prof. Uehlinger explained.

However, in another Ugarit text, Mot challenges Baal and claims victories over Litan and the Twisty Serpent, which resembles Tunnan. This reflects evolving mythological themes where names and traits of mythical creatures changed over time.

In his study, Prof. Uehlinger noted that despite Anat and Baal's victories, later texts mention Tunnan as an ongoing threat linked to the Sea. These Ugaritic texts reveal a complex mythological world where Anat, Baal, and other gods confront symbolic adversaries, shaping ancient ideas about cosmic balance and divine power.

Israelite mythology

In ancient Israelite mythology from the first millennium BCE, found in the Torah (the Hebrew Bible), God is described as a divine warrior fighting the Sea, the Dragon (tannîn), and Leviathan (the Coiler). Scholars have long acknowledged, that these stories are creative versions of older Ugaritic or Canaanite traditions, Prof. Uehlinger noted in his study.

The names and descriptions of monstrous snakes in Israelite and Ugaritic traditions are very similar. However, scholars argue that the Israelite version was not directly influenced by the Ugaritic one; instead, both come from a shared Levantine tradition, Prof. Uehlinger stressed.

This suggests a complex path of how these stories were passed down, rather than a direct line from Ugarit to Jerusalem, he further noted in the study. Some details, like the snake monster's seven heads, aren't mentioned in the Torah but appear later in Christian texts and the Babylonian Talmud.

According to the study, scholars believe these similarities might come from oral traditions or visual storytelling, preserving myths in cultural memory.

The discovery of the Hazor seal from the eighth century BCE provides crucial evidence – and the only known evidence according to the study - of continued visual representation of a divine hero conquering a seven-headed sea serpent Prof. Uehlinger emphasized. This theme, important to Levantine culture, suggests its ongoing popularity during that period.

The seal's origin in Hazor supports the theory that Phoenicia played a significant role in transmitting myths from Ugarit to Israel, evolving them from Baal to Yahweh. In his study, Prof. Uehlinger argued that Phoenician artists and scholars along the Levantine coast likely facilitated the spread of these myths to Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem, where they found expression in the Torah and beyond.