Ancient goblet found in West Bank holds oldest image of the universe’s birth: study

A 4,300-year-old silver goblet unearthed in the West Bank is engraved the earliest known depiction of the universe’s creation — a scene strikingly similar to the Book of Genesis, a new study revealed.

The three-inch-tall silver cup — known as the Ain Samiya goblet — is etched with mythological carvings of snakes, chimeras, gods, celestial symbols and a mysterious “boat of light,” imagery researches believe shows the universe shifting from pre-creation chaos to newly forged cosmic order.

The study, published Thursday in the peer-reviewed Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society “Ex Oriente Lux,” argues the goblet holds the oldest known visual record of the cosmos being born — predating the stone-inscribed Babylonian “Enuma Elish” by more than 1,000 years.

“The goblet does not tell of a violent struggle between gods, but of a peaceful process of cosmic ordering,” said Daniel Sarlo, who co-authored the study, The Telegraph reported.

“It shows how the Sun is born, banishes chaos and renews the world.”

One side of the goblet — dug up in a tomb within the Judean Mountains of the West Bank in 1970 — shows a human torso clutching palm fronds fused to two bull bodies, floating above a tiny sun and staring down a menacing snake, according to the study.

The other side depicts two figures carrying a crescent-shaped object — believed to represent the sun and moon — sailing across the sky, with the same serpent lying defeated beneath them.

“The boat has a practical purpose: it’s a vehicle that transports celestial bodies across the sky, and this was considered the explanation why the Sun and the Moon are moving,” Swiss geoarchaeologist Dr. Eberhard Zangger, senior author of the study, said, the outlet reported.

“This boat of light makes sure that the celestial forces and rhythm work the way they do, so that there is day and night and the annual seasons and the moon phases. The goblet gives us this very detailed picture of what people in 2300 BC had in mind about what the cosmos looked like before the creation.”

The ancient artifact has been on display at the Israel Museum for decades.