Adam and Eve Carpet

In biblical times, proper names expressed some thought or feeling. Here, Eve (life) offers Adam (man) the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve, tempted by Satan, has already eaten the fruit; Adam is about to eat it, and man’s separation from the Almighty is about to begin. Both figures are kneeling. Mankind is about to acquire free will and womankind is to be blamed forever after. The dominion of mankind is established by the scale of the human figures in relation to the lion and antelope lying down near them, surrounded as they are by flowers depicting the bliss and the innocence of other life forms at Creation, (Genesis 2:8, 9:16 and 17:3:1-6). The triangular shapes in the border create a zigzag serpentine form echoing the central figure. Opinion on the tree itself is divided, some authorities hold it was the citron, some the fig, others the grape, and yet others believe it to be an apple tree.