That we have in the Mosaic account of the “fall” a Phallic legend, is evident also from the introduction of the serpent on the scene, and the position it takes as the inciting cause of the sinful act. We are here reminded of the passage already quoted from Clemens Alexandrinus, who tells us that the serpent was the special symbol of the worship of Bacchus. Now this animal holds a very curious place in the religions of the civilised peoples of antiquity. Although, in consequence of the influence of later thought, it came to be treated as the personification of evil, and as such appears in the Hebrew legend of the fall, yet originally the serpent was the special symbol of wisdom and healing. In the latter capacity it appears even in connection with the Exodus from Egypt. It is, however, in its character as a symbol of wisdom that it more especially claims our attention, although these ideas are intimately connected—the power of healing being merely a phase of wisdom. From the earliest times of which we have any historical notice the serpent has been connected with the gods of wisdom. This animal was the especial symbol of _Thoth_ or _Taaut_, a primeval deity of Syro-Egyptian mythology,[46] and of all those gods, such as _Hermes_ and _Seth_, who can be connected with him. This is true also of the 3rd member of the Chaldean triad, _Héa_ or _Hoa_. According to Sir Henry Rawlinson, the most important titles of this deity refer “to his functions as the source of all knowledge and science.” Not only is he “the intelligent fish,” but his name may be read as signifying both “life” and a “serpent,” and he may be considered as “figured by the great serpent which occupies so conspicuous a place among the symbols of the gods on the black stones recording Babylonian benefactions.”[47] The serpent was also the symbol of the Egyptian _Kneph_, who resembled the _Sophia_ of the Gnostics, the divine wisdom. This animal, moreover, was the _Agatho-dæmon_ of the religions of antiquity—the giver of happiness and good fortune.[48] It was in these capacities, rather than as having a Phallic significance, that the serpent was associated with the sun-gods, the Chaldean _Bel_, the Grecian _Apollo_, and the Semitic _Seth_.