World Tree

The world tree is a widespread ancient Near Eastern image of a single great tree standing at the center of the world. Its top reaches into heaven and its roots descend toward the underworld, making it the axis that connects the realms of the cosmos. Mesopotamian texts often place this tree on a divine mountain inside a sacred garden watered by life-giving springs. Hebrew Bible authors draw on the same imagery when they describe Eden, the cedar of Lebanon, the towering tree in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and the temple river that nourishes fruit-bearing trees on its banks. Later Jewish texts such as 1 Enoch, the Aramaic Targums, and Genesis Rabbah develop the tradition further by enlarging Eden's tree of life into a cosmic tree at the very center of the earth.