Ancient Snake Worship of the Hebrews

Nehushtan

Moses lifts up the brass snake, curing the Israelites of snakebites. Hezekiah called the snake 'Nehushtan'.

In the biblical Book of Numbers, the Nehushtan (or Nohestan) (Hebrew: נחושתן or נחש הנחושת) was a bronze serpent on a pole which God told Moses to erect to protect the Israelites who saw it from dying from the bites ^[1] of the "fiery serpents" which God had sent to punish them for speaking against God and Moses.

King Hezekiah later instituted a religious iconoclastic reform and destroyed "the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; [it was called|and he called it] Nehushtan".