4,300-year-old goblet shows earliest depiction of universe's creation
A 4,300-year-old silver goblet found in the West Bank is now considered the oldest known artwork showing how people imagined the universe began.
Called the Ain Samiya goblet, it's covered in carvings that tell a story of chaos turning into order—kind of like an ancient version of Genesis.
The study was published on November 13.
Why this old cup matters
The goblet was discovered back in 1970 in a Judean Mountains tomb and has been at the Israel Museum ever since.
Its detailed images—like bull-bodied figures facing a snake and a "boat of light"—show early ideas about how the sun and moon keep everything running smoothly.
As Dr. Eberhard Zangger put it, these symbols reflect how ancient people saw cosmic order and season changes, predating the Babylonian "Enuma Elish" by more than 1,000 years.