"How far the religious systems of the great nations of antiquity were
affected by the record of the creation and fall preserved in the opening
chapters of Genesis, it is not, perhaps, possible to determine. There
are certain points of resemblance which are at least remarkable, but
which we may assign, if we please, either to independent tradition, or
to a natural development of the earliest or primeval period. The trees
of life and of knowledge are at once suggested by the mysterious sacred
tree which appears in the most ancient sculptures and paintings of Egypt
and Assyria, and in those of the remoter East. In the symbolism of these
nations the sacred tree sometimes figures as a type of the universe, and
represents the whole system of created things, but more frequently as a
tree of life, by whose fruit the votaries of the gods (and in some cases
the gods themselves) are nourished with divine strength, and are
prepared for the joys of immortality. The most ancient types of this
mystical tree of life are the date palm, the fig, and the pine or
cedar."

By way of illustration, it may be noted that the ancient Egyptians had
their legend of the "Tree of Life". It is mentioned in their sacred
books that Osiris ordered the names of souls to be written on this tree
of life, the fruit of which made those who ate it become as gods.[15]
Among the most ancient traditions of the Hindoos is that of the tree of
life--called Soma in Sanskrit--the juice of which imparted immortality;
this marvellous tree being guarded by spirits. Coming down to later
times, Virgil speaks of a sacred tree in a manner which Grimm[16]
considers highly suggestive of the Yggdrasil:

"Jove's own tree,
High as his topmost boughs to heaven ascend,