Nehushtan

He also broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until that time, the Israelites had been offering sacrifices to it; it was called Nehushtan.

[4] Snake cults had been well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age: archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo,[5] one at Gezer,[6] one in the sanctuary of the Area H temple at Tel Hazor[7] and two at Shechem.

[15] Regarding the passage in 2 Kings 18:4,[15] M. G. Easton noted that "the lapse of nearly one thousand years had invested the 'brazen serpent' with a mysterious sanctity; and in order to deliver the people from their infatuation, and impress them with the idea of its worthlessness, Hezekiah called it, in contempt, 'Nehushtan', a brazen thing, a mere piece of brass".

In the latter narrative, Alma tells the people of Antionum that many of the Israelites died because they lacked the faith to look at the brazen serpent.

In the course of time, however, the people lost sight of the symbolical meaning and regarded the serpent itself as the seat of the healing power, and they made it an object of worship, so that Hezekiah found it necessary to destroy it (2 Kings 18:4; see also Ber.

They answered it in a very simple way: Asa and Joshaphat, when clearing away the idols, purposely left the brazen serpent behind, in order that Hezekiah might also be able to do a praiseworthy deed in breaking it (Ḥul.

[24] Old Testament scholar H. H. Rowley proposed that Nehushtan, as it was known during Hezekiah’s reign, had no origins in Yahwism despite being regarded as a symbol of Yahweh at the time of its destruction.

[28] This theory is supported by acknowledging the standard Egyptian practice of using the image of a serpent as to defend themselves against snake bites,[29] in a form of sympathetic magic.

Rowley states that had Nehushtan been brought into Jerusalem at any time as a genuine relic, there would be a documented record of its arrival or transfer.

In his argument, Rowley also inserts that the arrival of Moses's sacred rod would be a public spectacle with an honorary procession, which would be well documented.

[30] Instead, he proposes that the bronze serpent became associated with Nehushtan through process of religious syncretism, citing that the gradual fusion of Canaanite and Israelite beliefs and customs.

Kennett also theorized that should Nehushtan truly date back to the time of Moses, it was either maintained by priests after fleeing to Nob from Shiloh or accompanied the Ark as it was carried off by the Philistines.

[33] There is a Brazen Serpent Monument on Mount Nebo in Jordan created by Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni.

Moses lifts up the brass snake in a photograph of the stained glass window at St Marks Church, Gillingham
The Brazen Serpent (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot )
The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan has a Roman column and, on top of it, a bronze serpent donated by emperor Basil II in 1007. It may be the origin of the biscione / bissa symbol of Milan. [ 11 ]
A modern monument of the bronze serpent (which Moses erected in the Negev desert) on Mount Nebo , in front of the church of Saint Moses (2018).
In 1508 Michelangelo 's image of the Israelites deliverance from the plague of serpents by the creation of the bronze serpent, on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel .