17. Running in the circle of
the sun
A very important motif on Persian
coins is the “Persian king running” armed with spear and bow[1].
A running god is also seen on the cloak of an Assyrian king above[2].
Frankfort thinks that
the central running figure is chained, but it is the symbol of the snake coil
that surrounds his feet and legs. A Syrian seal shows the hunter, his sister
and a naked man running with the sun and a snake-coil on his breast[3].
Ausstellungskat.
Der Univ. Tübingen, nr. 11, Der Rollsiegel, p.53.
A similar running
person can be seen on a coin from Melos[4]
also running on a kind of entwined structure. A seal from Bet Shan[5]
shows a man running in the so-called “Knielauf”. He is seen running in a route
marked out by a similar structure: the
stylised snake-coil. He has the tree of life in his hand.
Punic god from the temple in Pyrgi.