[Buddha-l] angels

[jkirk]

Winged humanoids seem to stem from the Middle Eastern/Central Asian areas
and AFAIK first appeared in Zoroastrian symbolism. Winged animal/men  and
animals (often bulls or lions) appear in Achaemenid sculpture. From there
the idea migrated to Greece and also into Biblical traditions, and later to
Europe via Christianity.
Here are some sources, but the literature is probably vast. These come from
a quick LC search and LC does not have lot of stuff, especially on art. I
seem to recall having seen a reference to a dissertation or book on the
angel figure in comparative arts but it would take a good univ. lib. search
to find it.
Best, Joanna
=======================

Pettinato, Giovanni.
Angeli e demoni a Babilonia : magia e mito nelle antiche civiltà
mesopotamiche / Giovanni Pettinato.
Milano : Mondadori, 2001.
337 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
---------------------------
: Génies, anges et démons, Égypte, Babylone, Isra¯el, Islam ...
Paris, Éditions du Seuil [1971]
430 p. illus. 20 cm.

------------------
Gignoux, Philippe.
Man and cosmos in ancient Iran / Philippe Gignoux.
Roma : Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente, 2001.
147 p. ; 24 cm.
---------------
Hammond, Philip C.
The Temple of the Winged Lions, Petra, Jordan, 1973-1990 / Philip C.
Hammond.
Fountain Hills, Ariz. : Petra Pub., c1996.
xxi, 237 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.
----------------
Berquist, Jon L.
Judaism in Persia's shadow : a social and historical approach / Jon L.
Berquist.
Minneapolis : Fortress Press, c1995.
vi, 282 p. ; 23 cm.
----------------------