تماثيل الثعبان في مصر القديمة و شرق شبة الجزيرة العربية : (دراسة مقارنة)‎

Abstract EN

This paper studies statues of snakes during the prehistoric period in Egypt and in Delmun and Magan in the distant ancient times of the Arabian peninsula.

As we shall see this topic was not adequately studied in the literature concentrating on the civilizations of these two region.

It is the aim of this study to concentrate on statues of snakes in Delmun and Magan and their religious connotation.

It argues that, owing to the importance of these statues and to their archaeological contexts in predynastic Egypt, snakes may have been a subject of worship and consecration and that the same argument can be applied to Delmun and Magan.

Although the ence of written records in Eastern Arabia during this era and the fact that we have no documents to confirm the same phenomenon in this region, the increase in the representations of snakes during the first millennium BCE may be an indication of their religious significance in ancient Arabia as well.

It also suggests that we may have here an external influence originating from Egypt.