The origin of Cherub (1)

Summary
Hebrew cherubim derives from Mesopotamian name for the winged guardian spirit.

Text
The ‘cherubim’ who ‘stood on the right side of the house when the man went in’ and by the throne of God in Ezekiel 10:14 are known in Akkadian as kurību, a generic term meaning ‘blessed’ which refers to the winged, guardian spirits of the kinds that stood to left and right of monumental entrances at Assyrian courts. They were composite creatures with attributes from bulls, lions, men, and eagle’s wings, and they were made of gold, silver, copper, and stone. Gigantic in architectural positions, they were used also in miniature for decorative fixtures on pieces of furniture, both in Canaan, Phoenicia, and Egypt, as well as in Mesopotamia. They have come down to us in the word cherubs, which now denote the cheerful winged toddlers who adorn so much art in Christian Europe.

Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Ezekiel 10:14

Bibliography

Stephanie Dalley

URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0000626.php