Adamah

Adamah is a word, translatable as ground or earth, which occurs in the Genesis creation narrative. The etymological link between the word adamah and the word adam is used to reinforce the teleological link between humankind and the ground, emphasising both the way in which man was created to cultivate the world, and how he originated from the "dust of the ground". Because man is both made from the adamah and inhabits it, his duty to realise his own potential is linked to a corresponding duty to the earth. In Eden, the adamah has primarily positive connotations, although Adam's close relationship with the adamah has been interpreted as likening him to the serpent, which crawls upon the ground, thus emphasising his animal nature.