(Epic of Gilgamesh) a very old book!
A possible interpretation of the cylinder seal (to right) is that the seated deities are Inanna and either her husband Dumuzi or Gilgamesh: both were kings of Uruk and both were deified and made into gods.
Inanna plants a Huluppu tree (a willow tree?) in her holy garden at Uruk and wants to make furniture of it, a throne to sit on and a bed to lie upon but is prevented by a snake living at its base. Gilgamesh drives away the snake, slaying it with his axe, then uproots it so it can be made into a throne (and bed) for Innana. ****
The cylinder seal's two thrones (?) might be an allusion to the myth about the Huluppu tree's being chopped down and made into a throne after Gilgamesh slays and removes the tree's guardian, the serpent? The extended hands of the god and goddess pointing to the tree might allude to it being the source of the wood for the thrones they sit upon? *****
Kramer on the Huluppu tree, describing it as being formed with the earth's creation:
A precursor of Hercules, Gilgamesh also is known for his lion prowess and invincibility
"In the first days,
in the very first days,
In the first nights,
in the very first nights,
In the first years,
in the very first years,
In the first days when everything needed was brought into being...
When earth had separated from heaven,
And the name of man was fixed...
Enki, the god of wisdom...
At that time, a tree, a single tree, a huluppu tree
Was planted by the banks of the Euphrates...
A woman who walked in fear of the word of the sky God...
Plucked up the tree from the river and spoke:
'I shall plant this tree in Uruk, I shall plant this tree in my holy garden.'
Inanna cared for the tree with her hand...
She wondered: 'How long will it be until I have a shining throne to sit upon?' 'How long will it be until I have a shining bed to lie upon?'
The years passed... Then a serpent who could not be charmed
Made its nest in the roots of the huluppu tree. How Inanna wept! (Yet they would not leave her tree.)...
Gilgamesh the valiant warrior... Lifted his bronze ax... He entered Inanna's holy garden.
Gilgamesh struck the serpent who could not be charmed...
Gilgamesh then loosened the roots of the huluppu tree;
And the sons of the city, who accompanied him, cut off the branches.
From the trunk of the tree he carved a throne for his holy sister
From the trunk of the tree Gilgamesh carved a bed for Inanna"
(pp. 4-9. "The Huluppu-Tree." Diana Wolkstein & Samuel Noah Kramer. Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth, Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer. New York. Harper & Row, Publishers. 1983)
