The typical
Egyptian symbol from the lintel of a Theban temple of fifteenth
century B.C.
A Persian
variant.
An even
more conventionalized Babylonian form.
Two Central
American (Maya) lintels.
In the upper
one (from Ococingo) the reversal of the two wings has necessitated
a reinterpretation of the conventionalized head ( C ) and tail
( T ) of the Cobra in the original Egyptian design. (The latter
is taken form Dr.A.P. Maudslay’s representation of what
he calls the serpent-bird from the wooden lintel of a temple
at Tikal).
From comparative
studies of Maya art, Dr. Maudslay arrived at the conclusion
that the geometrical design above, and including the tail (
T ), represents a serpent’s head upside down – without
the jaw.
By comparison
with Indonesian designs, the writer arrived at the same conclusion.
The loss of the jaw in the conventionalization of the serpent
occurred in India and was emphasized in Java (Fig.49), and in
that form adopted in America.
From Human
History by G. Elliot Smith
