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79-526: Gryphus may refer to: Gryphus, the Griffin Gryphus (brachiopod) , a genus of brachiopods in the family Terebratulidae Gryphus , a genus of bivalves in the family Chamidae, synonym of Chama Gryphus , a genus of beetles in the family Terebratulidae, synonym of Grypus [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct genera with

158-411: A fierce bird of prey, but seated in calm dignity, like an irresistible guardian of holy things; some have proposed that the word griffin ( γρύψ ) may be cognate with cherubim ( kruv > grups ). While Ezekiel initially describes the tetramorph cherubim as having the face of a man ... the face of a lion ... the face of an ox ... and ... the face of an eagle in the tenth chapter this formula

237-496: A protective spirit with a sphinx -like form, possessing the wings of an eagle, the body of a lion or bull, and the head of a king. This was adopted largely in Phoenicia . The wings, because of their artistic beauty and symbolic use as a mark of creatures of the heavens , soon became the most prominent part, and animals of various kinds were adorned with wings; consequently, wings were bestowed also upon human forms, thus leading to

316-485: A red chest and white wings". Aelian was the last source on the griffin to add fresh information on the griffin, and late writers (into medieval times) merely rehashed existing material on griffins, with the exception of the lore about their "agate eggs" which emerged at some indistinct time later on (cf. infra). The griffin has been associated with various deities (Apollo, Dionysus, Nemesis), in Greek mythography but here,

395-413: A region of very rich soil but quite uninhabitable because griffins, a savage and tenacious breed of wild beasts, love.. the gold that is mined from deep within the earth there, and because they guard it with an amazing hostility to those who set foot there. The aforementioned Aelian ( Claudius Aelianus , d. 235 AD) added certain other embellishments, such as its reputation of "black plumage on its back with

474-609: A vehicle upon which the deity descends to earth from heaven to rescue the speaker (see 2 Samuel 22:11, Psalm 18:10). In Exodus 25:18–22, God tells Moses to make multiple images of cherubim at specific points around the Ark of the Covenant . Many appearances of the words cherub and cherubim in the Bible refer to the gold cherubim images on the mercy seat of the Ark, as well as images on

553-755: Is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion , and the head and wings of an eagle with its talons on the front legs. Because the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts, and the eagle the king of the birds, by the Middle Ages, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Since classical antiquity, griffins were known for guarding treasures and priceless possessions. In Greek and Roman texts, griffins and Arimaspians were associated with gold deposits of Central Asia. The earliest classical writings derive from Aristeas (7th cent. BC), preserved by Herodotus and Aeschylus (mid 5th century BC), but

632-534: Is described as having a " visor " (i.e., beaks) made by Urartian craftsmen, similar to what is found on Greek protomes. Representations of griffin-like hybrids with four legs and a beaked head appeared in Ancient Egyptian art dating back to before 3000 BC. The oldest known depiction of a griffin-like animal in Egypt appears as a relief carving on slate on the cosmetic palette from Hierakonpolis ,

711-555: Is generally accepted within traditional rabbinic Judaism . There is, however, a wide range of beliefs within Judaism about what angels actually are and how literally one should interpret biblical passages associated with them. In Kabbalah there has long been a strong belief in cherubim, the cherubim and other angels regarded as having mystical roles. The Zohar , a highly significant collection of books in Jewish mysticism, states that

790-446: Is how the ancient Israelites envisioned cherubim, it raises more questions than it answers. For one, it is difficult to visualize the cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant as quadrupedal creatures with backward-facing wings, as these cherubim were meant to face each other and have their wings meet, while still remaining on the edges of the cover from which they were beaten. At the same time, these creatures have little to no resemblance to

869-572: Is in contrast to common translations for many years that rendered it as “who sits upon the cherubim”. This has implications for the understanding of whether the ark of the covenant in Solomon's Temple was Yahweh's throne or simply an indicator of Yahweh's immanence. Cherubim feature at some length in Ezekiel. While they first appear in Ezekiel 1 , in which they are transporting the throne of God by

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948-459: Is not uniquely applied to the griffin beast, and tštš ( Teš-teš ) has also been used to denote the god Osiris elsewhere. Most statuary representations of griffins depict them with bird-like forelegs and talons , although in some older illustrations griffins have a lion's forelegs (see bronze figure, right); they generally have a lion's hindquarters. Its eagle's head is conventionally given prominent ears ; these are sometimes described as

1027-563: Is repeated as the face of the cherub ... the face of a man ... the face of a lion ... the face of an eagle which (given that "ox" has apparently been substituted with "the cherub") some have taken to imply that cherubim were envisioned to have the head of a bovine . In particular resonance with the idea of cherubim embodying the throne of God, numerous pieces of art from Phoenicia, Ancient Egypt , and even Tel Megiddo in northern Israel depict kings or deities being carried on their thrones by hybrid winged creatures. If this animalistic form

1106-618: Is that these derive from the bumps (furrows) on a lion's snout. Another view regards the wart as deriving from the bumpy cockscomb on a rooster or other such fowls. Griffin-like animals were depicted on cylinder seals in Mesopotamia c. 3000 BC, perhaps as early as the Uruk period (4000–3100BC) and subsequent Proto-Elamite ( Jemdet Nasr ) period. An example of a winged lion with beaks, unearthed in Susa (cf. fig. right ) dates to

1185-554: The Achaemenian Persian Empire . Russian jewelry historian Elena Neva maintained that the Achaemenids considered the griffin "a protector from evil, witchcraft, and secret slander", but no writings exist from Achaemenid Persia to support her claim. R.L. Fox (1973) remarks that a "lion-griffin" attacks a stag in a pebble mosaic at Pella , from the 4th century BC, perhaps serving as an emblem of

1264-648: The Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals) is recited by at least ten thousand seated at one meal, a special blessing Blessed is Ha-Shem our God, the God of Israel, who dwells between the cherubim is added to the regular liturgy . In the Book of Genesis , the Cherubim were introduced: So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep

1343-511: The Lamassu , an Assyrian protective deity, often depicted with a bull or lion's body, eagle's wings, and human's head. Sumerian and Akkadian mythology feature the demon Anzu , half man and half bird, associated with the chief sky god Enlil . This was a divine storm-bird linked with the southern wind and the thunder clouds. Jewish mythology speaks of the Ziz , which resembles Anzu, as well as

1422-919: The Two Dog Palette dated to the Early Dynastic Period , c.  3300–3100  BC. Griffin-type creatures combining raptor heads and mammalian bodies were depicted in the Levant , Syria , and Anatolia during the Middle Bronze Age , dated at about 1950–1550 BC. Griffin-type animals appeared in the art of ancient Crete in the MM III Period (1650–1600 BC) in Minoan chronology , found on sealings from Zakro and miniature frescos dated to this period. One early example of griffin-types in Minoan art occurs in

1501-491: The cherubim in Ezekiel's vision. On the other hand, even if cherubim had a more humanoid form, this still would not entirely match Ezekiel's vision and likewise seemingly clashes with the apparently equivalent archetypes of the cultures surrounding the Israelites, which almost uniformly depicted beings which served analogous purposes to Israel's cherubim as largely animalistic in shape. All of this may indicate that

1580-643: The putto derived from Cupid in classical antiquity , resulting in depictions of cherubim as small, plump, winged boys. Cherubim are also mentioned in the Second Treatise of the Great Seth , a 3rd-century Gnostic writing. Delitzch 's Assyrisches Handwörterbuch (1896) connected the name keruv with Assyrian kirubu (a name of the shedu or lamassu ) and karabu ("great, mighty"). Karppe (1897) glossed Babylonian karâbu as "propitious" rather than "mighty". Dhorme (1926) connected

1659-548: The tetramorph being may not be the same as the cherubim of the historic Israelites. All that can be gleaned about the cherubim of the Israelites come from potential equivalences in the cultures which surrounded them. The appearance of the cherubim continue to be a subject of debate. Mythological hybrids are common in the art of the Ancient Near East . One example is the Babylonian lamassu or shedu ,

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1738-588: The "curled tresses" that are the signature of Uratrian workmanship. Even the ornate crests on Minoan griffins (such as the fresco of the Throne Room, figure top of page) may be a development of these curled tresses. One prominent characteristic of the cauldron griffins is the "top-knob between the brows" (seemingly situated at the top of the head ). The top-knob feature has clear oriental origins. Jack Leonard Benson says these appendages were "topknots" subsequently rendered as "knobs" in later development of

1817-592: The 15th century BC frescoes of the Throne Room of the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos , as restored by Sir Arthur Evans . The griffin-like hybrid became a fixture of Aegean culture since the Late Bronze Age , but the animal called the gryps, gryphon, or griffin in Greek writings did not appear in Greek art until about 700 BC, or rather, it was "rediscovered" as artistic motif in

1896-723: The 4th millennium B.C., and is a unique example of a griffin-like animal with a male lion's mane . However, this monster then ceased to continue to be expressed after the Elamite culture. What the Sumerians of the Early Dynastic period portrayed instead were winged lions, and the lion-headed eagle ( Imdugud ). In the Akkadian Empire that succeeded Sumer, early examples (from early 3rd millennium BC ) of lions with bird heads appeared on cylinder seals, shown pulling

1975-623: The 8th to 7th centuries BC, adapting the style of griffin current in Neo-Hittite art. It became quite popular in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, when the Greeks first began to record accounts of the "gryps" creature from travelers to Asia, such as Aristeas of Proconnesus. A number of bronze griffin protomes on cauldrons have been unearthed in Greece (on Samos , and at Olympia , etc., cf. fig. right). Early Greek and early Etruscan (e.g.

2054-535: The Barberini) examples of cauldron-griffins may have been of Syric-Urartian make, based on evidence (the "tendrils" or "tresses" motif was already touched upon, above), but "Vannic (Urartian) originals" have yet to be found (in the Orient). It has thus been controversially argued (by Ulf Jantzen  [ de ] ) that these attachments had always since the earliest times been crafted by Greek workshops, added to

2133-512: The Chebar Canal" and in 20:10, "They were the same creatures that I had seen below the God of Israel at the Chebar Canal; so now I knew that they were cherubs." In Ezekiel 41:18–20, they are portrayed as having two faces, although this is probably because they are depicted in profile. In rabbinic literature, the two cherubim are described as being human-like figures with wings, one a boy and

2212-471: The Hebrew name to Assyrian kāribu (diminutive kurību ), a term used to refer to intercessory beings (and statues of such beings) that plead with the gods on behalf of humanity. The folk etymology connecting cherub to a Hebrew word for "youthful" is due to Abbahu (3rd century). The Israelite cherubim are described as fulfilling a variety of functions – most often, they are described as bolstering

2291-537: The Israelite conception of the cherub ' s appearance may not have been wholly consistent. The cherubim are the most frequently occurring heavenly creature in the Hebrew Bible , as the Hebrew word appears 91 times. The first occurrence is in the Book of Genesis 3:24. Despite these many references, the role of the cherubim is never explicitly elucidated. While Israelite tradition must have conceived of

2370-503: The Kebar (or Chebar, which was near Tel Abib in Nippur ), they are not called "cherubim" until Ezekiel 10 . In Ezekiel 1:5–11 they are described as having the likeness of a man and having four faces: that of a man, a lion (on the right side), and ox (on the left side), and an eagle. The four faces represent the four domains of God's rule: the man represents humanity; the lion, wild animals;

2449-770: The Mesopotamian lion-griffin. There is also the Armenian term Paskuč ( Armenian : պասկուչ ) that had been used to translate Greek gryp 'griffin' in the Septuagint , which H. P. Schmidt characterized as the counterpart of the simurgh. However, the cognate term Baškuč (glossed as 'griffin') also occurs in Middle Persian, attested in the Zoroastrian cosmological text Bundahishn XXIV (supposedly distinguishable from Sēnmurw which also appears in

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2528-470: The Midrash is characteristic: When a man sleeps, the body tells to the soul ( neshamah ) what it has done during the day; the soul then reports it to the spirit ( nefesh ), the spirit to the angel, the angel to the cherub, and the cherub to the seraph, who then brings it before God". In early Jewish tradition there existed the notion that cherubim had youthful, human features, due to the etymologization of

2607-685: The ancient Greek Phoenix . The Bible mentions the Ziz in Psalms 50:11. This is also similar to a cherub . The cherub, or sphinx, was very popular in Phoenician iconography. In ancient Crete, griffins became very popular, and were portrayed in various media. A similar creature is the Minoan Genius . In the Hindu religion, Garuda is a large bird-like creature that serves as a mount ( vahana ) of

2686-463: The ant into his description of griffins. Later, Pliny the Elder became the first to explicitly state the griffins as having wings and long ears. In one of the two passages, Pliny also located the "griffons" in Æthiopia . According to Adrienne Mayor , Pliny also wrote, "griffins were said to lay eggs in burrows on the ground and these nests contained gold nuggets ". Apollonius of Tyana , who

2765-400: The cauldron Griffins. Benson's emphasis is that the Greeks attached a stylized "anorganic" topknot or an "inorganic" plug on the griffin's head (due to lack of information), while in contrast, a known oriental example (stone protomes from Nimrud ) is simple but more "plausible" (naturalistic), resembling a forelock. A cluster of "warts" between the eyes are also mentioned. One conjecture

2844-531: The chariots for its rider, the weather god. The "lion-griffin" on Akkadian seals are also shown as fire-belching, and shaggy (at the neck) in particular examples. The bronzeworks of Luristan , the North and North West region of Iran in the Iron Age , include examples of Achaemenid art depicting both the "bird-griffin" and "lion-griffin" designs, such as are found on horse-bits . Bernard Goldman maintains

2923-427: The cherubim appears with slight differences in details. Three of the four faces are the same – man, lion and eagle – but where chapter one has the face of an ox, Ezekiel 10:14 says "face of a cherub". Ezekiel equates the cherubim of chapter ten with the living creatures of chapter one in Ezekiel 10:15 "The cherubs ascended; those were the creatures ( Hebrew : הַחַיָּ֔ה , romanized :  ḥayā ) that I had seen by

3002-622: The cherubim as guardians of the Garden of Eden in which they guard the way to the Tree of life , they are often depicted as performing other roles; for example in the Book of Ezekiel , they transport Yahweh's throne. The cherub who appears in the "Song of David", a poem which occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible, in 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 , participates in Yahweh's theophany and is imagined as

3081-470: The cherubim were led by one of their number named Kerubiel. On the other end of the philosophical spectrum is Maimonides , who had a neo-Aristotelian interpretation of the Bible. Maimonides writes that to the wise man, one sees that what the Bible and Talmud refer to as "angels" are actually allusions to the various laws of nature; they are the principles by which the physical universe operates. For all forces are angels! How blind, how perniciously blind are

3160-485: The curtains of the Tabernacle and in Solomon's Temple , including two measuring ten cubits high. In Isaiah 37:16 , Hezekiah prays, addressing God as Hebrew : יֹשֵׁ֥ב כְּ֝רוּבִ֗ים , lit.   'enthroned above the cherubim', referring to the mercy seat . In regards to this same phrase, which appears also in 2 Kings 19 , Eichler renders it "who dwells among the cherubim". Eichler's interpretation

3239-473: The deity Vishnu . It is also the name for the constellation Aquila . Local lore on the gryps or griffin was gathered by Aristeas of Proconnesus, a Greek who traveled to the Altai region between Mongolia and NW China in the 7th century BC. Although Aristeas's original poem was lost, the gryps lore preserved in secondhand accounts by the playwright Aeschylus (ca. 460 BC), and later his contemporary, Herodotus

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3318-520: The god Apollo due to "syncretism between the two gods". At the Temple of Hera at Samos , a griffin-themed bronze "wine-cup" or "cauldron" had been installed, according to Herodotus. The vessel was attached griffin heads around the rim (like the protomes , described above): it was an Argolic or Argive krater , according to the text, standing on a tripod shaped like colossal figures. The notion that griffins lay stones or agate instead of eggs

3397-536: The gold which the griffins collected from various areas in the periphery (presumably including the Armaspi's territorial stream, the stream of Pluto "rolling with gold"). The equestrian Arimaspi would ride off with the loot, and the griffins would give pursuit. Aeschylus likened the gryps to "silent hounds of Zeus" That they are called dogs or hounds here has led to the conjecture that Aeschylus considered them wingless or flightless. Whereas Ctesias , had located

3476-454: The griffin's neck, carven on some of the Greek protomes. The tendril motif emerged at the beginning of the first millennium, BC., in various parts of the Orient. The "double spiral of hair running downwards from the base of the ear" is said to be a hallmark of Iranian (Uratrian) art. The Etruscan cauldron-griffins (e.g., from Barberini tomb  [ it ] , figure right ) also bear

3555-583: The griffins in India, and more explicitly classed them as beaked, four-legged birds. Herodotus also mentions elsewhere that there are gold-collecting ants in Kashmir , India, and this has been interpreted by modern scholars as "doublets or garbled versions" of the lore of gold-hoarding griffins. It appears that the accounts of griffins given by Pliny had been admixed with the lore of these gold-guarding ants of India, and later Aelian also inserted attributes of

3634-532: The heavenly worlds while sitting on a cherub. The cherub, however, is "something not material", and is carried by God, not vice versa. In the passages of the Talmud that describe the heavens and their inhabitants, the seraphim, ofanim, and living creatures are mentioned, but not the cherubim; and the ancient liturgy also mentions only these three classes. In the Talmud , Jose the Galilean holds that when

3713-514: The historian. Herodotus explains (via Aristeas) that the gold-guarding griffin supposedly dwelled further north from the one-eyed Arimaspi people who robbed the gold from the fabulous creatures. Aristeas is said to have been informed through the Issedones people neighboring region to the Arimaspi, in the northern extremes (of Central Asia). Aeschylus also concurs that the Arimaspi robbed

3792-537: The identifiable attested "accounts" presented in scholarship are largely not literary, but artistic, or numismatic . The griffin was naturally linked to Apollo, given the existence of the cultus of Hyperborean Apollo , with a cult center at the Greek colony of Olbia on the Black Sea . And even the main Temple of Apollo at Delphi featured a statue of the god flanked by griffins, or so it can be presumed based on

3871-401: The image of a griffin attacking a horse. Other Scythian artifacts show griffins attacking horses, stags, and goats. Griffins are typically shown attacking horses, deer, and humans in Greek art. Nomads were said to steal griffin-guarded gold according to Scythian oral traditions reported by Greek and Roman travelers. Several ancient mythological creatures are similar to the griffin. These include

3950-525: The kingdom of Macedon or a personal emblem of Antipater , one of Alexander 's successors. A golden frontal half of a griffin-like animal from the Ziwiye hoard (near Saqqez city) in Kurdistan Province , Iran resembles the western protomes in style. They were of Urartian workmanship (neither Assyrian or Scythian), though the hoard itself may have represented a Scythian burial. The animal

4029-500: The later lore that griffins deposited agate stone among the eggs in their nest. Pliny placed the griffins in Æthiopia , and Ctesias (5th century BC) in greater India . Scholars have observed that legends about the gold-digging ants of India may have contaminated griffin lore. In the Christian era, Isidore of Seville (7th century AD) wrote that griffins were a great enemy of horses. This notion may have readily developed from

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4108-562: The lion's ears, but are often elongated (more like a horse 's), and are sometimes feathered. The griffin of Greece, as depicted in cast bronze cauldron protomes (cf. below), has a squat face with short beaks that are open agape as if screaming, with the tongue showing. There is also a "top-knob" on its head or between the brows. There may also be so-called "tendrils", or curled "spiral-locks" depicted, presumably representing either hair/mane or feather/crest locks dangling down. Single- or double-streaked tendrils hang down both sides and behind

4187-500: The luster of burnished bronze." In Ezekiel and some Christian icons, the cherub is depicted as having two pairs of wings and four faces, the hayyoth : that of a lion (representative of all wild animals ), an ox ( domestic animals ), a human (humanity), and an eagle ( birds ). Later tradition ascribes to them a variety of physical appearances. Some early midrash literature conceives of them as non-corporeal. In Western Christian tradition, cherubim have become associated with

4266-476: The modern Persian language , the griffin has come to be called šērdāl ( Persian : شیردال ), meaning 'lion-eagle'. However, the practice of referring to ancient Iranian griffin objects or monuments as sherdal , is not followed by other current archaeological scholarship (e.g., here ). Possible Old or Middle Iranian names for the creature have been discussed. Middle Persian Sēnmurw in Sasanian culture

4345-480: The naive?! If you told someone who purports to be a sage of Israel that the Deity sends an angel who enters a woman's womb and there forms an embryo, he would think this a miracle and accept it as a mark of the majesty and power of the Deity, despite the fact that he believes an angel to be a body of fire one third the size of the entire world. All this, he thinks, is possible for God. But if you tell him that God placed in

4424-458: The name by Abbahu (3rd century). Before this, some early midrashic literature conceived of the cherubim as non-corporeal. In the first century AD, Josephus claimed: No one can tell, or even conjecture, what was the shape of these cherubim. A midrash states that when Pharaoh pursued Israel at the Red Sea, God took a cherub from the wheels of His throne and flew to the spot, for God inspects

4503-570: The other a girl, placed on the opposite ends of the Mercy seat in the inner-sanctum of God's house. Solomon's Temple was decorated with Cherubs according to 1 Kings 6 , and Aḥa bar Ya’akov claimed this was true of the Second Temple as well. Many forms of Judaism include a belief in the existence of angels, including cherubim within the Jewish angelic hierarchy . The existence of angels

4582-598: The ox, domestic animals; and the eagle, birds. These faces peer out from the center of an array of four wings; these wings are joined to each other, two of these are stretched upward, and the other two cover their bodies. Under their wings are human hands; their legs are described as straight, and their feet like those of a calf, shining like polished brass. Between the creatures glowing coals that moved between them could be seen, their fire "went up and down", and lightning burst forth from it. The cherubs also moved like flashes of lightning. In Ezekiel 10, another full description of

4661-428: The people might not be led to believe that they were the image of God. Cherubim are discussed within the midrash literature. The two cherubim placed by God at the entrance of paradise were angels created on the third day, and therefore they had no definite shape; appearing either as men or women, or as spirits or angelic beings. The cherubim were the first objects created in the universe. The following sentence of

4740-560: The physical descriptions are not very explicit. Thus even though they are sharp-beaked, their being likened to "unbarking hounds of Zeus" has led to the speculation they were seen as wingless. Pliny the Elder (1st century) was the first to explicitly state that griffins were winged and long eared. But Apollonius of Tyana wrote that griffins did not have true bird wings, but only membranous webbed feet that only gave them capability of short-distanced flight. Writers after Aelian (3rd century AD) did not add new material to griffin lore, except for

4819-409: The place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above. – 2 Chronicles 5:7–8 Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. – Ezekiel 10:14 In Medieval theology , following the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius , the cherubim are

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4898-728: The plain cauldrons imported from the Near East. Detractors (notably K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop ) believe that (early examples of ) the griffin-ornamented cauldron, in its entirely, were crafted in the East, though excavated finds from the Orient are scarce. In Central Asia , the griffin image was included in Scythian "animal style" artifacts of the 6th–4th centuries BC, but no writings explain their meaning. The Golden Pectoral from Tovsta Mohyla , interred in Scythian king's burial site, perhaps commissioned to Greek goldsmiths , who engraved

4977-445: The position that Luristan examples must be counted as developments of the "lion-griffin" type, even when it exhibits "stylization .. approaching the beak of a bird". The Luristan griffin-like creatures resemble and perhaps are descended from Assyrian creatures, possibly influenced by Mitannian animals, or perhaps there had been parallel development in both Assyrian and Elamite cultures. Bird-headed mammal images appeared in art of

5056-405: The representation struck on the tetradrachm coinage of Attica. Apollo rode a griffin to Hyperboria each winter, leaving Delphi, or so it was believed. Apollo riding griffin is known from multiple examples of red-figure pottery . And Apollo hitched griffins to his chariot according to Claudian . Dionysus was also depicted on a griffin-chariot or mounting griffin; the motif was borrowed from

5135-662: The same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gryphus&oldid=1184810721 " Category : Genus disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Griffin The griffin , griffon , or gryphon ( Ancient Greek : γρύψ , romanized :  grýps ; Classical Latin : grȳps or grȳpus ; Late and Medieval Latin : gryphes , grypho etc.; Old French : griffon )

5214-518: The same text). Middle Persian Paškuč is also attested in Manichaean magical texts (Manichaean Middle Persian: pškwc ), and this must have meant a "griffin or a monster like a griffin" according to W. B. Henning . The griffin was given names which were descriptive epithets, such as tštš or tesh-tesh meaning "Tearer[-in-pieces]" inscribed on a griffin image found in a tomb at Deir El Bersha ; and sfr / srf "fiery one", attested at Beni Hasan . The descriptive epithet "Tearer"

5293-401: The senses ... Thus the Sages reveal to the aware that the imaginative faculty is also called an angel; and the mind is called a cherub . How beautiful this will appear to the sophisticated mind, and how disturbing to the primitive. Maimonides says that the figures of the cherubim were placed in the sanctuary only to preserve among the people the belief in angels, there being two in order that

5372-400: The sides of the ark, there are no details about these cherubim specified in the text. The status of the cherubim as constituting a sort-of vehicle for Yahweh is present in Ezekiel's visions, the Books of Samuel , the parallel passages in the later Books of Chronicles , and passages in the early Psalms : for example, "and he rode upon a cherub and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of

5451-442: The sperm the power of forming and demarcating these organs, and that this is the angel, or that all forms are produced by the Active Intellect; that here is the angel, the "vice-regent of the world" constantly mentioned by the sages, then he will recoil. For he [the naive person] does not understand that the true majesty and power are in the bringing into being of forces which are active in a thing although they cannot be perceived by

5530-419: The stereotypical image of an angel . William F. Albright (1938) argued that "the winged lion with human head" found in Phoenicia and Canaan from the Late Bronze Age is "much more common than any other winged creature, so much so that its identification with the cherub is certain". A possibly related source is the human-bodied Hittite griffin , which, unlike other griffins, appear almost always not as

5609-414: The third rank in Kabbalistic works such as Berit Menuchah (14th century). The Christian work De Coelesti Hierarchia places them in the highest rank alongside Seraphim and Thrones . In Islam , al-karubiyyin "cherubim" or al-muqarrabin "the Close" refers to the highest angels near God , in contrast to the messenger angels. They include the Bearers of the Throne , the angels around

5688-415: The throne of Yahweh . Ezekiel's vision of the cherubim also emulate this, as the conjoined wingspan of the four cherubim is described as forming the boundary of the divine chariot. Likewise, on the " mercy seat " of the Ark of the Covenant , two cherubim are described as bounding the ark and forming a space through which Yahweh would appear – however, aside from the instruction that they be beaten out of

5767-407: The throne, and the archangels . The angels of mercy subordinative to Michael are also identified as cherubim. In Isma'ilism , there are Seven Archangels referred to as cherubim. As described in Ezekiel 1 , "[E]ach had four faces, and each of them had four wings; the legs of each were [fused into] a single rigid leg, and the feet of each were like a single calf’s hoof; and their sparkle was like

5846-416: The tradition that horseback-riding Arimaspians raided the griffin gold. The derivation of this word remains uncertain. It could be related to the Greek word γρυπός (grypos), meaning 'curved', or 'hooked'. Greek γρύφ (gryph) from γρύφ 'hook-nosed' is suggested. It could also have been an Anatolian loan word derived from a Semitic language; compare the Hebrew word for cherub כרוב kərúv . In

5925-519: The way of the tree of life. – Genesis 3:24 They were further described throughout the Old Testament , especially in the Book of Chronicles and Ezekiel respectively: And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims: For the cherubims spread forth their wings over

6004-503: The wind." The traditional Hebrew conception of cherubim as guardians of the Garden of Eden is backed by the belief of beings of superhuman power and devoid of human feelings, whose duty it was to represent the gods, and as guardians of their sanctuaries to repel intruders; these conceptions in turn are similar to an account found on Tablet 9 of the inscriptions found at Nimrud . Aside from Ezekiel's vision, no detailed attestations of cherubim survive, and Ezekiel's description of

6083-447: Was a fabulous composite creature, and Russian archaeologist Boris A. Litvinskij  [ ru ] argued for the possibility that the application of this term may extend to the griffin. The term Sēnmurw is recognized as the etymological ancestor of simurgh , which is generally regarded as a mythological bird (rather than a composite) in later medieval Persian literature, though some argue that this bird may have originated from

6162-491: Was introduced "at some in the evolution of griffin lore". Albertus Magnus (d. 1280) attributes to other writers the claim that "this bird places an ' eagle-stone ' ( echytem ) or agate ( gagatem ) among its eggs" to change the ambient temperature and enhance reproduction. Cherub In Jewish angelic hierarchy , cherubim have the ninth (second-lowest) rank in Maimonides ' Mishneh Torah (12th century), and

6241-604: Was nearly coeval with Pliny, gave a somewhat unique account of the griffin, claiming them to be lion-sized, and having no true wings, and instead had paws "webbed with red membranes", that gave them ability to makes leaps of flight of only a short distance. Pomponius Mela (fl. AD 43) wrote in his Book ii. 6: In Europe, constantly falling snow makes those places contiguous with the Riphaean Mountains .. so impassable that, in addition, they prevent those who deliberately travel here from seeing anything. After that comes

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