Cherub (Assyrian type, 9th century BCE), lion-bodied, winged, engages a winged god with sword, perhaps "protecting" the stylized "Sacred Tree" ( A Palm Tree). Perhaps this motif underlies Genesis' Tree of Life" which some Jewish traditions identified as a Palm Tree. (cf. p.62, fig. 160. Heinz Demisch. Die Sphinx, Geschichte ihrer Darstellung von den Anfangen bis zur Gegenwart. Stuttgart. Verlag Urachhaus Johannes M. Mayer. 1977. ISBN 3-87838-219-7)
