Dragon
Darkness has always been considered how shall we say bad, because it is night. At night nothing is seen and nothing will grow. So we will take a short look. This will be a place to discuss this mythical beast. And how it is associated with Led Zeppelin. I have spent a significant number of years studying mythology and theology. One primary focus has been the origin of the dragon and more specifically “The Dragon Of Darkness” or “Satan.” My focus has not been to judge religion on a sect by sect basis, but as a whole. The very best explanation and rationale behind “Darkness” being “Evil” or the “Dragon” being evil is not so much based in Theology as it is in History. First let’s get references to Tolkien by Led Zeppelin in Led Zeppelin lyrics out of the way. I wont touch on the movies besides saying I thought they were all too long and the books are way way better. Tolkien References In Led Zeppelin Lyrics The Theosophist studies religions as a whole. Examining Dragons Of Darkness Massey Etc. Theosophy/Devil/Darkness/Dragon. Editors note: Do note dragons were invented 3000-1000000 years before Christ. Historically, Luciferians point to the fact that the great ancient civilizations worshipped serpents and dragons for thousand of years, along with the sun, before Moses and the prophets wrote the Old Testament. Quoting the book Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky, it states that worship of the dragon and the sun were universal on the earthplane. “The tradition of the Dragon and the Sun is echoed in every part of the world.…There was a time when the four parts of the world were covered with the temples sacred to the Sun and the Dragon: but the cult is now preserved mostly in China and the Buddhist countries (p. 378-9, V. II).” The dragon, however, is not the middle age concept of a beast with wings breathing fire, but is, in reality, a snake. The Gentiles at that time did not consider the beasts that they worshipped evil, but were the symbols of wisdom, salvation and eternal life. In essence, the worshipers of Lucifer feel that Christendom has gotten the story backwards. The fallacy of this argument is that the Gentile nations attributed all the qualities of Elohim to beasts. Hence, to the ancient peoples the serpent became the embodiment of wisdom and life, and through their cultural view was not inherently evil.
Do people worship Lucifer today? Jimmy Page in Dragon Suit Dragons and Darkness from the Egyptian perspective! Ancient Egypt – the Light of the World God’s conflict with the dragon and the sea. Dragons in history Sumerians Have you ever been curious about the first Dragon in history? Where it was from, did it have a name? I know I was. I also realized that I would have to settle on the first Dragon in recorded history. Since time travel still eludes me. That is when I decided to do a little surfing, well, a lot of surfing and a lot of reading, as it turned out. Yes, I even hit the hard copy. At first I was instantly gratified, as I’m sure many have been before me. A lot of web sites that I went to all told me the same… my quest was over…it was Anzu of Babylon, a.k.a Zu, c.1st Millennium B.C. From “Ninurta vs. Anzu” or “The Myth of Anzu”. I read the descriptions, and with the exception of a few minor variations, it was this: Body and head of a lion, wings of an eagle (I didn’t realize they had eagles in Babylon), razor sharp talons, the beak of a bird with teeth, and an armor-plated breast. It to me was a bit of a let down. I don’t know about you, but to me Anzu sounds more like a griffin than a dragon. As I’m sure you will agree from the Babylonian depiction to the right. I also noticed a lot of copy and paste activity between a lot of the sites. So I decided to take a closer look, and actually read the original story as translated from the Babylonian clay tablets. At no time is Anzu referred to as a dragon. In other Babylonian text it is actual referred to as the Anzu Bird. In Sumerian text of the 3rd Millennium BC, Anzu was known as, the Zu-bird, a mythological creature which at times wrought mischief. From – Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the nether world – (Sumerian) : “In its branches, the Anzu bird settled its young.” So, as far as the Babylonians and I are concerned, not only is Anzu not the first dragon, but not a dragon at all, and deserves no further mention. I did feel I was on the right trail though, so I pushed on into deeper study of Babylonian text. My Reading and the views in other web sites brought me to an older “Dragon” in Babylonian and Assyrian text, Tiamat, creator of the gods and earth. c.2nd Millennium B.C. From the “Enuma Elish” or “The Seven Tablets of Creation”. The fact that Tiamat was a dragon is not clear. In fact she has about as many detractors as she does supporters. She is often described as a Serpent type Water Dragon. Except for that fact that she was said to have given birth to dragons, along with a host of other creatures; And hurricanes, and raging hounds, and scorpion-men, And mighty tempests, and fish-men, and rams; They bore cruel weapons, without fear of the fight. Her commands were mighty, none could resist them; After this fashion, huge of stature, she made eleven [kinds of] monsters.” the descriptive evidence in the tale leaves one wondering to the fact of her being a dragon. She is in fact called a woman in the text, and mention is made of her lips. The following are all the pieces of description contained in the text of the Enuma Elish for Tiamat: First: (Tablet 1) unto Tiamut, the glistening one Next: (Tablet 2) Tiamat, who is a woman, is armed and attacketh thee. … rejoice and be glad; The neck of Tiamat shalt thou swiftly trample under foot. … rejoice and be glad; Next: (Tablet 4) But Tiamat… , she turned not her neck, With lips that failed not she uttered rebellious words: Next: (Tablet 4) Tiamat opened her mouth to its full extent, Next: (Tablet 4) He seized the spear and burst her belly, Next: (Tablet 4) And the lord stood upon Tiamat’s hinder parts Tiamat a dragon? I leave that to you. I myself do not find enough evidence in the old text to support the fact, but likewise I do not find enough to dismiss her. But, as for being the first dragon, that I can dismiss. (For those of you who enjoy Creation Myths though, her story is the first Creation Myth in recorded history!) I was scratching my head. Here I was deep in the world that the Greeks called Mesopotamia, home of the Babylonians and Assyrian, the birth place of civilization, and writing, but where was my dragon! That’s when I smacked myself in the head. The region may have been the birth place of writing, but it wasn’t the Babylonians or the Assyrian that were the parents, they were but meir students…of the Sumerians! Mesopotamia, was originally Sumeria for over two thousand years! So I head for Sumeria! And that’s where I found it! The First Dragon written of, and the first dragon slayer story, and in the first written language Cuneiform! KUR Sumeria 3rd Millennium B.C. “Since the dragon-slaying theme was an important motif in the Sumerian mythology of the third millennium B. C., it is not unreasonable to assume that many a thread in the texture of the Greek and early Christian dragon tales winds back to Sumerian sources.” Samuel Noah Kramer, Sumerian Mythology, 1944 “Samuel Noah Kramer spent most of his life studying this literature, by piecing together clay tablets in far-flung museums.” Sumerian Mythology, 1944, revised 1961 We find mention of Kur in three myths from the 4th – 3rd Millennium B.C., (more than a millennium before Tiamat!), In the introductory prologue to the epic tale “Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World,”( written on eight tablets – seven excavated in Nippur and one in Ur), Where Enki, the water-god, fights Kur after he learns that The goddess Ereshkigal was carried off violently into the nether world, by Kur. Enki fought Kur from a boat, and Kur fought back savagely with stones of all sizes, and attacked Enki’s boat with the primeval waters which it controlled. Unfortunately for us, the author of this tale is so anxious to proceed with the Gilgamesh tale that he doesn’t finish the dragon part, and leaves us hanging. It is certain that Enki wins though because he is in the rest of the poem, Kur is not. See anything familiar; Damsel in distress, knight comes to the rescue and slays the dragon. The second version of the slaying-of-the-dragon myth can be found in “The Feats and Exploits of Ninurta.” (49 tablets) A significant version, due to the fact that it is evident that it was utilized by the Semitic redactors in the creation of the Babylonian Creation Myth featuring Tiamat. In this version, Ninurta, the warrior-god, is the hero of the story. His personified weapon, Sharur, kisses up to him in a drawn out speech extolling the heroic qualities and deeds of Ninurta to convince him to go after Kur, and attach and destroy him. What Sharur has against Kur is not written in the text that is available. Ninurta leaves to do as asked, but finds himself lacking and “flees like a bird”. Sharur though, won’t let it go and speaks, reassuring and encouraging Ninurta with his words. “Ninurta now attacks Kur fiercely with all the weapons at his command, and Kur is completely destroyed.” Things fall apart after that. The primeval waters of the nether world which Kur had been in control of rise to the surface so violently that no fresh water can reach the fields and gardens. The gods of the land in charge of irrigation and cultivation, are desperate. The Tigris does not flood as usual, and the river water is unfit for use. “Famine was severe, nothing was produced, The small rivers were not cleaned, the dirt was not carried off, On the steadfast fields no water was sprinkled, there was no digging of ditches, In all the lands there were no crops, only weeds grew. Thereupon the lord sets his lofty mind, Ninurta, the son of Enlil, brings great things into being.” Ninurta then piled up stones over the dead body of Kur, and kept piling them until he had a great wall in front of the land. The wall blocked and held back the raging primeval waters (mighty waters) stopping the waters of the lower regions (nether world) from rising to the surface of the earth. Ninurta gathered up the waters that had already flooded the land and lead them into the Tigris. Which can now over flow and water the fields. “What had been scattered, he gathered, What by Kur had been dissipated,He guided and hurled into the Tigris, The high waters it pours over the farmland.” The third version of the slaying-of-the-dragon myth can be found in “Inanna and Ebih.” A one hundred and ninety line poem. (12 tablets) The dragon-slayer in this version of the story is a goddess, Inanna, curiously known as both the goddess of love and also as the goddess of battle and strife, (She must have been married), and is also referred to in many Sumerian hymns as “The Destroyer of Kur.” Kur, is also referred to as The ‘mountain,’ in the Poem. Did I mention that Kur was also the first fire breathing dragon? It, the poem, begins with a long passage that extolls the virtues of Inanna. It is followed by a long speech by Inanna to An (the leading deity of the Sumerian pantheon.) (by the third millennium. B. C. though, Enlil, the air-god, had already taken Ans place. Placing this in the forth millennium B.C.) The meaning of her speech is sometimes hard to understand, her attitude is clear though; Either Kur, who appears unaware of, or perhaps is oblivious to, her power, glorifies her virtues, and becomes submissive, she will do violence to the monster. This is part of her threat: “The long spear I shall hurl upon it, The throw-stick, the weapon, I shall direct against it, At its neighboring forests I shall strike up fire, At its . . . I shall set up the bronze ax, All its waters like Gibil (the fire-god) the purifier I shall dry up, Like the mountain Aratta, I shall remove its dread, Like a city cursed by An, it will not be restored, Like (a city) on which Enlil frowns, it shall not rise up.” An responds by giving her a detailed account of all of Kurs mischief that he has wrought against the gods: “Against the standing place of the gods it has directed its terror, In the sitting place of the Anunnaki it has led forth fearfulness, Its dreadful fear it has hurled upon the land, The ‘mountain,’ its dreadful rays of fire it has directed against all the lands.” An continues with a description of Kurs power and wealth, and warns Inanna against attacking it. But Inanna doesn’t listen to Ans discouraging speech. Filled with anger and wrath she opens the “house of battle” she leads her weapons and aids and attacks and destroys Kur. She then stations herself upon Kur, and utters a paean of self-glorification. So there you have it, the first dragon in recorded history, given to us by the sumerians. From the book Sumerian Mythology: “The Sumerians were a non-Semitic, non-Indo-European people who lived in southern Babylonia from 4000-3000 B.C.E. They invented cuneiform writing, and their spiritual beliefs influenced all successive Near Eastern religions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam.” In closing let me say that the Sumerians gave us writing, they gave us culture, but most of all they gave us dragons. We should give them a moment of silence. Reference Material: Ninurta vs. Anzu, c.1st Millennium B.C., author; unknown Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the nether world, c.3rd Millennium B.C., author; unknown “Enuma Elish” or “The Seven Tablets of Creation, c.2nd Millennium B.C., author; unkown Sumerian Mythology, 1944, 1961, by; Samuel Noah Kramer DRAGONS IN HISTORY II (Gilgamesh) Stories of dragons have been handed down for generations in many civilizations. No doubt many of these stories have been exaggerated through the years. But that does not mean they had no original basis in fact. Even some living lizards look like dragons and it is easy to see how a larger variety of such an animal could frighten a community. Have you ever seen an old dinosaur film where they used an iguana in a miniature town set to create the illusion of a great dragon? In 2004 a fascinating dinosaur skull was donated to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis by three Sioux City, Iowa, residents who found it during a trip to the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota. The trio are still excavating the site, looking for more of the dinosaur’s bones. Because of its dragon-like head, horns and teeth, the new species was dubbed Dracorex hogwartsia. This name honors the Harry Potter fictional works, which features the Hogwarts School and recently popularized dragons. The dinosaur’s skull mixes spiky horns, bumps and a long muzzle. But unlike other members of the pachycephalosaur family, which have domed foreheads, this one is flat-headed. Consider some of the ancient stories of dragons, some fictional and some that might be authentic history of dinosaurs. Dragons are featured in the ancient Gilgamesh Epic, a Sumerian story from about 3000 BC. (Kramer, Samuel, History Begins at Sumer, 1959, pp.170-81.) Daniel was said to kill a dragon in the apocryphal chapters of the Bible. After Alexander the Great invaded India he brought back reports of seeing a great hissing dragon living in a cave. Later Greek rulers supposedly brought dragons alive from Ethiopia. (Gould, Charles, Mythical Monsters, W.H. Allen & Co., London, 1886, pp. 382-383.) Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia (“Dinosaur” entry) explains that the historical references to dinosaur bones may extend as far back as the 5th century BC. In fact, some scholars think that the Greek historian Herodotus was referring to fossilized dinosaur skeletons and eggs when he described griffins guarding nests in central Asia. “Dragon bones” mentioned in a 3rd century AD text from China are thought to refer to bones of dinosaurs. The Chinese have many stories of dragons. Some ornamental pictures of dragons are shaped remarkably like dinosaurs. Marco Polo reported in 1271 that on special occasions the royal chariot was pulled by dragons and in 1611 the emperor appointed the post of a “Royal Dragon Feeder.” Books even tell of Chinese families raising dragons to use their blood for medicines and highly prizing their eggs. (DeVisser, Marinus Willem, The Dragon in China & Japan, 1969.) To the right are pictures of fossilized Protoceratops dinosaur eggs (one is double-yoked) from China that are currently on display at Creation Evidence Museum. It is interesting that the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac are all animals–eleven of which are still alive today. But is the twelfth, the dragon merely a legend or is it based on a real animal– the dinosaur? It doesn’t seem logical that the ancient Chinese, when constructing their zodiac, would include one mythical animal with eleven real animals. “The interpretation of dinosaurs as dragons goes back more than two thousand years in Chinese culture. They were regarded as sacred, as a symbol of power…” (Zhiming, Doug, Dinosaurs From China, 1988, p. 9.) Shown here are dragons that were cast in red gold and embossed during the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD). Notice the long neck and tail, the frills, and the lithe stance. Evolutionists have brought forward some bizarre theories for how such realistic depictions could have been made. In medieval times, the Scandinavians described swimming dragons and the Vikings placed dragons on the front of their ships to scare off the sea monsters. The one pictured to the right is from approximately 1000 A.D. (From the book The Vikings, p.17.) Indeed Hans Egede, Missionary to Greenland, drew this sketch of the “sea monster” he saw off the coast of Greenland in 1734. Numerous such stories have been recorded from the age of sailing ships (1500-1900 A.D.). The familiar story of Beowulf and the legend of Saint George slaying a dragon, which are well-known in the annals of English literature, likely have some basis in fact. Indeed the “dragon” pictured to the left is the dinosaur Baryonyx, whose skeleton has been found in England. Dragons were even described in reputable zoological treatises published during the Middle Ages. For example, the great Swiss naturalist and medical doctor Konrad Gesner published a four-volume encyclopedia from 1516-1565 entitled Historiae Animalium. He mentioned dragons as “very rare but still living creatures.” (p.224) The city of Nerluc in France was renamed in honor of the killing of a “dragon” there. (Picture from Taylor, Paul, The Great Dinosaur Mystery, 1989, p. 40.) This animal was said to be bigger than an ox and had long, sharp, pointed horns on its head. Was this a surviving Triceratops? A famous naturalist of that era, Ulysses Aldrovandus, recorded the details of a peasant killing a small dragon along a farm road in northern Italy (May 13, 1572). He obtained the dragon carcass, thoroughly documented the encounter, and had it mounted and placed in a museum. (Aldrovandus, Ulysses, The Natural History of Serpents and Dragons, 1640, p.402.) A sketch of this dragon (on left) was included in Athanasius Kircher’s book Mundus Subterraneus written in 1678. The story is told of a tenth century Irishman who encountered a large clawed beast having “iron on its tail which pointed backwards.” It had a head similar to a horse. It also had thick legs and strong claws. Could this be a remaining Stegosaurus? (Ham, K., The Great Dinosaur Mystery Solved, p.33, 1999.) Ancient explorers and historians, like Josephus, told of small flying reptiles in ancient Egypt and Arabia and described their predators, the ibis, stopping their invasion into Egypt. (Epstein, Perle S., Monsters: Their Histories, Homes, and Habits, 1973, p.43.) The well-respected Greek researcher Herodotus wrote: “There is a place in Arabia, situated very near the city of Buto, to which I went, on hearing of some winged serpents; and when I arrived there, I saw bones and spines of serpents, in such quantities as it would be impossible to describe. The form of the serpent is like that of the water-snake; but he has wings without feathers, and as like as possible to the wings of a bat.” (Herodotus, Historiae, tr. Henry Clay, 1850, pp. 75-76.) John Goertzen noted the Egyptian representation of tail vanes with flying reptiles and concluded that they must have observed pterosaurs or they would not have known to sketch this leaf-shaped tail. He also matched a flying reptile, observed in Egypt and sketched by the outstanding Renaissance scientist Pierre Belon, with the Dimorphodon genus of pterosaur. (Goertzen, J.C., “Shadows of Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaurs in Ancient Egypt and Nubia,” Cryptozoology, Vol 13, 1998.) In medieval times, scientifically minded authors produced volumes called “bestiaries,” a compilation of known (and sometimes imaginary) animals accompanied by a moralizing explanation and fascinating pictures. One such volume is the Aberdeen Bestiary, written in the early 1500’s and preserved in the library of Henry VIII. Along with the newt, the salamander, and various kinds of snakes is the description and depiction of the dragon: “The dragon is bigger than all other snakes or all other living things on earth. For this reason, the Greeks call it dracon, from this is derived its Latin name draco. The dragon, it is said, is often drawn forth from caves into the open air, causing the air to become turbulent. The dragon has a crest, a small mouth, and narrow blow-holes through which it breathes and puts forth its tongue. Its strength lies not in its teeth but in its tail, and it kills with a blow rather than a bite. It is free from poison. They say that it does not need poison to kill things, because it kills anything around which it wraps its tail. From the dragon not even the elephant, with its huge size, is safe. For lurking on paths along which elephants are accustomed to pass, the dragon knots its tail around their legs and kills them by suffocation. Dragons are born in Ethiopia and India, where it is hot all year round.” Reliable witness reports of “flying dragons” (pterosaur-like creatures) in Europe are recorded around 1649. (Thorpe, B. Ed., The Anglo Saxon Chronicle, 1861, p.48.) “The woods around Penllyn Castle, Glamorgan, had the reputation of being frequented by winged serpents, and these were the terror of old and young alike. An aged inhabitant of Penllyn, who died a few years ago, said that in his boyhood the winged serpents were described as very beautiful. They were coiled when in repose, and “looked as if they were covered with jewels of all sorts. Some of them had crests sparkling with all the colours of the rainbow”. When disturbed they glided swiftly, “sparkling all over,” to their hiding places. When angry, they “flew over people’s heads, with outspread wings, bright, and sometimes with eyes too, like the feathers in a peacock’s tail”. He said it was “no old story invented to frighten children”, but a real fact. His father and uncle had killed some of them, for they were as bad as foxes for poultry. The old man attributed the extinction of the winged serpents to the fact that they were “terrors in the farmyards and coverts.” (Trevelyan, Marie, 1909, Folk-Lore and Folk Stories of Wales, 1909.) An example of an ancient dragon story is given to the right (click to enlarge and read some text.) The prolific 17th century writer Athanasius Kircher’s record tells how the noble man, Christopher Schorerum, prefect of the entire territory, “wrote a true history summarizing there all, for by that way, he was able to confirm the truth of the things experienced, and indeed the things truly seen by the eye, written in his own words: ‘On a warm night in 1619, while contemplating the serenity of the heavens, I saw a shining dragon of great size in front of Mt. Pilatus, coming from the opposite side of the lake [or 'hollow'], a cave that is named Flue [Hogarth-near Lucerne] moving rapidly in an agitated way, seen flying across; It was of a large size, with a long tail, a long neck, a reptile’s head, and ferocious gaping jaws. As it flew it was like iron struck in a forge when pressed together that scatters sparks. At first I thought it was a meteor from what I saw. But after I diligently observed it alone, I understood it was indeed a dragon from the motion of the limbs of the entire body.’ From the writings of a respected clergyman, in fact a dragon truely exists in nature it is amply established.” (Kircher, Athanasius, Mundus Subterraneus, 1664, tr. by Hogarth, “Dragons,” 1979, pp. 179-180.) Such bioluminescent nocturnal flying creatures are known in some regions still today. (See the Ropen page.) Might they not be the basis for the “fiery dragon” lore from ancient civilizations around the world? On April 26, 1890 the Tombstone Epitaph (a local Arizona newspaper) reported that two cowboys had discovered and shot down a creature – described as a “winged dragon” – which resembled a pterodactyl, only MUCH larger. The cowboys said its wingspan was 160 feet, and that its body was more than four feet wide and 92 feet long. The cowboys supposedly cut off the end of the wing to prove the existence of the creature. The paper’s description of the animal fits the Quetzelcoatlus, whose fossils were found in Texas. (Gish, Dinosaurs by Design, 1992, p. 16.) Could this be thunderbird or Wakinyan, the jagged-winged, fierce-toothed flying creature of Sioux American Indian legend? This thunderbird supposedly lived in a cave on the top of the Olympic Mountains and feasted on seafood. Different from the eagle (Wanbli) or hawk (Cetan) the Wakinyan was said to be huge, carrying off children, and was named because of its association with thunder and lightning–supposedly being struck by lightning and seen to fall to the ground during a storm. (Geis, Darlene, Dinosaurs & Other Prehistoric Animals, 1959, p. 9.) It was further distinguished by its piercing cry and thunderous beating wings (Lame Deer’s 1969 interview). The atheistic astronomer Carl Sagan once remarked: “The pervasiveness of dragon myths in the folk legends of many cultures is probably no accident” (Sagan, Carl, The Dragons of Eden, New York: Random House, 1977, p. 149). Indeed he felt compelled to address the similarity to the great reptiles of the Jurassic era and “explain them away.” How could Sagan do this? Peter Dickinson stated, “Carl Sagan tried to account for the spread and consistency of dragon legends by saying that they are fossil memories of the time of the dinosaurs, come down to us through a general mammalian memory inherited from the early mammals, our ancestors, who had to compete with the great predatory lizards.” (Dickinson, Peter, The Flight of Dragons, New York: Harper and Row, 1979, p. 127). Thus Carl Sagan believed that we evolved not merely our physical bodies, but also memories “uploaded” from our mammalian ancestors! ANCIENT DINOSAUR DEPICTIONS To the right is a picture of a dinosaur fighting a mammoth from the book Buried Alive by Dr. Jack Cuozzo (click to enlarge). It was taken by the author in the Bernifal Cave, one of the caverns in France that is renowned for Neanderthal artifacts. The cave has been closed to the public. Science News was given the opportunity to publish the remarkable photo, but declined. It seems that evidence against the prevailing paradigm of naturalistic origin was selected against. It is buried alive by the scientific establishment. As Cuozzo says, this is natural selection in the most literal sense! “Fran Barnes, a recognized authority on rock art of the American South-West, writes, ‘In the San Rafael Swell, there is a pictograph [picture symbol] that looks very much like a pterosaur, a Cretaceous flying reptile’…” (Swift, Dennis, “Messages on Stone,” Creation Ex Nihilo, vol. 19, p. 20). This figure, about 7 feet long from wing-tip to wing-tip, is actually painted with a dark-red pigment. Indians of the Fremont culture are thought to have inhabited the “Swell” between 700 and 1250 A.D. Black Dragon Canyon is named for the pictograph which resembles a large winged reptile with a headcrest. On the left is shown a photo of one of the curious “dinosaur” petroglyphs near Middle Mesa at the Wupatki National Park. This particular petroglyph is called “Puff the Magic Dragon,” and appears to be a depiction of a fire-breathing dinosaur. Though there is no certain way to date such petroglyphs, it is believed to be at least several hundred years old. In 600 BC, under the reign of King Nebuchanezzer,a Babylonian artist was commissioned to shape reliefs of animals on the structures associated with the Ishtar Gate. Centuries later, in 1887 AD, when German archaeologist Robert Koldeway stumbled upon the blue-glazed brick, that gate was rediscovered. The animals appear in alternating rows with lions, fierce bulls (rimi or reems in Chaldean), and curious long-necked dragons (sirrush). The lions and bulls would have been present at that time in the Middle East. But, on what creature did the ancient Babylonians model the dragon? The same word, sirrush, is mentioned in the book of Bel and the Dragon, from the Apocrypha. Both the description there and the image on these unearthed walls (see right), which are now displayed in the Berlin Vorderasiatisches Museum, appear to fit a sauropod dinosaur. (Shuker, Karl P.N., “The Sirrush of Babylon,” Dragons: A Natural History, 1995, pp. 70-73.) The ancient Sumatrans produced multiple pieces of art depicting long-tailed, long-necked creatures with a headcrest. Some of these animals resemble hadrosaurs. This particular work (Ethnographical Museum, Budapest) depicts a creature that bears a striking resemblance to a Corythosaurus which is being hunted by these ancient Indonesian peoples. (Bodrogi, Tibor, Art of Indonesia, plate #10, 1973.) Asian stories and stylized dragon depictions are fairly common. But an unusual beaked dragon statue came up on the antiquities market and is now in the Genesis Park collection. The bronze styling on this artifact suggests it is from the Zhou Dynasty (1122 B.C. – 220 B.C.) or possibly from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.). It displays numerous characteristics of the beaked dinosaurs (like the oviraptor depicted alongside for comparison): tridactyl feet configuration, metatarsal stance, scale-like representation all over the body (except for the horn which has a striated pattern), long (albeit slender) tail, elaborate head crest and a long neck. Another fascinating Chinese artifact is the Late Eastern Zhou Sauropod (Fang Jian) Ornamental box. Displaying a tridactyl foot, a long neck and a head that resembles a brachiosaur, this depiction is compelling. (Fong, Wen ed., The Great Bronze Age of China, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980, p. 285.) Next we consider a Shang dynasty (B.C. 1766-1122) dragon artifact that was advertised on the Chinese antiquities market as a dinosaur depiction. It displays relief lines in a scale-like pattern, a broad beak, a dermal frill, and a headcrest that is strikingly like the dinosaur Saurolophus (shown on the right). This jade statute, now in the Genesis Park collection, is made of white colored nephrite with differential weathering, cleaving veins and earth penetration, demonstrating authenticity. (Click to enlarge.) The February 26, 2000 issue of Science News contained an article that commenting on an artifact housed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts that has come to be known as the Hesione vase (Hesman, 2000). Pictured on this ancient Greek vase is a series of somewhat unusual paintings, including one that portrays a monster that possesses the head of a dinosaur. This pottery was created around 550 B.C., and depicts the Greek hero Heracles rescuing Hesione from this “monster of Troy.” Forced to concede the amazingly realistic dinosaurian depiction, Science News concluded that the paintings on this unusual vase simply prove that ancient people dug fossils, too. To the left is an urn from Caria, which was located in Asia Minor (Turkey). This artifact (described in Thomas H. Carpenter’s 1991 book Art and Myth in Ancient Greece: A Handbook) is estimated to be from 530 BC. It depicts what appears to be a mosasaurus with several known sea creatures. The animal behind the sea serpent is a seal, while an octopus is below the sea serpent along with what seems to be a dolphin. The thick jaws, big teeth, large eyes, and positioning of the flippers on this creature match a mosasaurus skeleton very well. Some mosasaurus species also had a narrow cranial crest behind the eye that may have had a fin attached the way it is depicted on the Carian urn. Other artifacts of interest from this region came to light after the deluge and landslide of 1971 in the small village of Girifalco. A lawyer named Mario Tolone began investigating. Tolone asserts to have found dinosaurian representations in this area of Caria with hundreds of other ancient artifacts, of a pre-Greek civilization of Calabria, that is at least 3000 years old. Shown to the left is a terracotta statue measuring about 18 cm long, shaped remarkably like a dinosaur with plates on its back. The plates are triangular, and continue along the back until reaching the tail. In the view from above (right) the object reveals a strange curving of the plates, as if the animal had been represented in motion on the land. The legs are large and awkward, as if carrying great weight, not at all like those of a lizard. There is also a clear representation of a stegosaurus on a piece of broken pottery. The art below is from a Mesopotamian cylinder seal dated at 3300 BC. (Moortgart, Anton, The Art of Ancient Mesopotamia, 1969, plate 292.) The animal on the right is an artists conception from a skeleton of an Apatosaurus. There are many striking similarities between these two depictions. The legs and feet on the Egyptian art clearly fit the sauropods better than any other type of animal. The biggest difference is at the head. Cartilage forming the shape of a frill or ears may be stylized or accurate (since there is no way to know from the skeletons we have today). As for the musculature, the Egyptian artist draws with stunning realism. One has to ask where the artist got the model to draw so convincingly the trunk of a sauropod? An Egyptian seal with the cartouche (official name inscribed within an oval) of Tutmosis III (appx. 1400 B.C.) depicts a Sauropterygia-like animal (type of plesiosaur). The anterior and posterior flippers are distinctively represented with the narrow connection to the rotund body of the creature. The seal is from the Mitry collection and is of unquestioned authenticity. The ancient Egyptians are known for their keen observation and accurate zoological representations, particularly with regard to sea creatures. Other such seals in the Mitry collection appear to have dinosaurian representations as well. The world famous gold throne of King Tut (right) has winged serpents forming the arm rests. Known as Wadjet, the winged serpent of Egypt, protected the Pharaohs and controlled the waters of the Nile. In fact, winged snakes are depicted on many of the coffins from ancient Egypt. To the lower right is a picture of a winged serpent like a “covering saraph” protecting the god Osiris. There is even a hieroglyphic symbol for the winged serpent that appears in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. (Note the hieroglyphic in the picture on this limestone pendant to the lower left.) The January 2003 issue of National Geographic magazine presents an artifact described as a “cosmetic palette . . . from a cemetery of the first dynasties in Manshaat Ezzat.” These long-necked creatures displayed on page 78 fit the pattern of other ancient dinosaur-like depictions, including arching, muscular necks and stout bodies. Known as the “Two Dog Palette,” this artifact depicts many lifelike animals (including a giraffe on the reverse). To the right are displayed slate palettes from Hierakonpolis showing the triumph of King Nar-mer with long necked dragons and an ancient palette depicting a pair of “dinosaur-like” creatures along with numerous clear representations of living animals (taken from p. 93 of Pritchard’s book The Ancient Near East in Pictures). The preponderance of these long-necked depictions in ancient art (note also the Egyptian wand depiction) motivated archaeologists who do not believe men and dinosaurs coexisted to invent a name for this particular creature. It is called a “serpopard,” supposedly a mosaic of a serpent and a leopard. But for those who believe that man was created in the beginning alongside the great reptiles, these palettes seem to be an attempt to depict a sauropod dinosaur. Note the “Four Dogs Palette” with the “serpopard” cut out for clarity. To the right is a Roman mosaic from about 200 AD that depicts two long-necked sea dragons. Paul Taylor, author of The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible, likens them to the web-footed Tanystropheus shown beside. To the left is another beautiful mosaic that was one of the wonders of the second century world. Called the Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, it depicts Nile scenes from Egypt all the way to Ethiopia. Scholars now believe this is the work of Demetrius the Topographer, an artist from Alexandria who came to work in Rome. The top portion of this remarkable piece of art is generally believed to depict African animals being hunted by black-skinned warriors. These Ethiopians are pursuing what appears to be some type of dinosaur. The Greek Letters above the reptilian animal in question are: KROKODILOPARDALIS which is literally translated Crocodile-Leopard. The picture shown here is only a small portion of the massive mosaic. It also contains clear depictions of known animals, including Egyptian crocodiles and hippos. (Finley, The Light of the Past, 1965, p. 93.) “An ancient Mayan relief sculpture of a peculiar bird with reptilian characteristics has been discovered in Totonacapan, in northeastern section of Veracruz, Mexico. José Diaz-Bolio, a Mexican archaeologist-journalist responsible for the discovery, says there is evidence that the serpent-bird sculpture, located in the ruins of Tajín, is not merely the product of Mayan flights of fancy, but a realistic representation of an animal that lived during the period of the ancient Mayans – 1,000 to 5,000 years ago. If indeed such serpent-birds were contemporary with the ancient Mayan culture, the relief sculpture represents a startling evolutionary oddity. Animals with such characteristics are believed to have disappeared 130 million years ago.” (Anonymous, “Serpent-Bird of the Mayans,” Science Digest, vol. 64 November 1968, p. 1) The picture to the right (click to enlarge) was drawn by North American Anasazi Indians that lived in the area that has now become Utah approximately 150 B.C. – 1200 A.D. Even noted anti-creationists agree that it resembles a dinosaur and that the brownish film which has hardened over the picture, along with the pitting and weathering, attests to its age. One evolutionist writes, “There is a petroglyph in Natural Bridges National Monument that bears a startling resemblance to a dinosaur, specifically a Brontosaurus, with a long tail and neck, small head and all.” (Barnes and Pendleton, Canyon Country Prehistoric Indians – Their Culture, Ruins, Artifacts and Rock Art, 1995.) Clearly a native warrior and an apatosaur-like creature are depicted. Horned and flying serpent figures are prominent in the mythology of most Native American peoples, often associated with rain and thunder. An example is the Algonquin pictograph of a flying serpent known as Mishipizheu. Yet another Native American rock pictograph found in Utah (see left) seems to depict a sauropod dinosaur. The native American Coclé culture of Panama was discovered by A. Hyatt Verrill. He noticed the oddly pterosaur-like representations on Coclé pottery and suggested it was so realistic that these native Americans must have been influenced by fossil discoveries. He describes the depiction (see left) as having “beak-like jaws armed with sharp teeth, wings with two curved claws, short, pointed tail, reptilian head crest or appendages, and strong hind feet with five-clawed toes on each.” The Coclé civilization dates from AD 1330-1520. But Verrill theorizes that such drawings were based on “accurate descriptions, or even drawings or carvings, of fossilized pterodayctyls” (Verrill, A. Hyatt, Strange Prehistoric Animals and their Stories, 1948, pp. 132-133.) Another petroglyph (carved rock drawing) has been found in Arizona’s Havasupai Canyon (photo taken by Dr. DeLancy). In the far right picture, Paul Taylor compares this ancient drawing to the Edmontosaurus. There are stories of a plesiosaur-like creature seen in Queensland, Australia. Both aboriginal peoples around Lake Galilee and tribes farther up to the north tell of a long-necked animal with a large body and flippers. “Elders of the Kuku Yalanji aboriginal tribe of Far North Queensland, Australia, relate stories of Yarru (or Yarrba), a creature which used to inhabit rain forest water holes. The painting [left] depicts a creature with features remarkably similar to a plesiosaur. It even shows an outline of the gastro-intestinal tract, indicating that these animals had been hunted and butchered.” (CEN Technical Journal, Vol.12, No. 3, 1998, p. 345.) There are some clearly ancient engravings in dolerite and gneiss that have been found in Bushmanland, South Africa. Amongst the many depictions, dinosaur footprints, and other artifacts in this region; two are of special interest. One resembles a sauropod dinosaur and the other looks like an attempt to depict a pterosaur. An Egyptian seal (right) depicts a large pterosaur hunting a gazelle (Giveon, R., “Scarabs From Recent Excavations in Israel,” Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 83, 1988, p. 70.) The leaf shaped tail vane of the pterosaur is unmistakable. The long reptilian head has the double crest of a Scaphognathus above it. The two wings even exhibit the unique corrugated features seen in the Solnhofen Rhamphorhynchus fossil and the claws of a pterosaur. The level of detail is similar to that for the gazelle. The seal dates from 1300-1150 B.C. and is now in the Tel Aviv University’s Institute of Archaeology. Similarly, an Egyptian statue residing in a Berlin museum depicts legs with toes and claws, three wing claws; a prototagium (a portion of the wing above the arm known from pterosaur fossil impressions); and a tail vane. That pterosaur is shown hunting a falcon and also appeared to have the dental structure of a Scaphognathus. (Goertzen, John, “The Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaur Scaphognathus crassirostris: A ‘Living Fossil’ Until the 17th Century,” 1998 ICC Paper.) Deep in the jungles of Cambodia are ornate temples and palaces from the Khmer civilization. One such temple, Ta Prohm abounds with stone statues and reliefs. Almost every square inch of the gray sandstone is covered with ornate, detailed carvings. These depict familiar animals like monkeys, deer, water buffalo, parrots, and lizards. However, one column contains an intricate carving of a stegosaur-like creature. But how could artisans decorating an 800 year old Buddhist temple know what a dinosaur looked like? Western science only began assembling dinosaurs skeletons in the past two centuries. (Pictures are courtesy of Don Patton.) European reports of flying serpent living in Egypt persist through the 1600’s. The Italian naturalist Prosper Alpin wrote a fascinating natural history of Egypt in the 1580’s. He describes their crest, a small piece of skin on the head, their tail being “thick as a finger,” their length being “as long as a palm branch,” and their leaf-shaped tail. (Alpin, P., Histoire Naturelle de l’Egypte, tr. by R. de Fenoyl, 1979, pp. 407-409.) All is precisely like modern fossil reconstructions. A French wooden image, dating from the 16th century, also displays remarkable features of a pterosaur. There are two wings that clearly appear to have ribbed membranes rather than feathers. There appears to be a small head crest above and slightly in front of the eyes, the distinctive tail vane, and a hint of the twin skin flap above and behind the bony crest that is quite like the Egyptian seal. The next drawing is from a 17th century German tract about the dangers of witches and witchcraft. Witches are accused of causing houses to spontaneously combust. The pterosaurs depicted flying in the background, with characteristic headcrests and tails, were apparently associated with witches. (Trevor-Roper, “The Persecution of Witches,” 1965.) Many accounts from that time period describe creatures that sound suspiciously like pterodactyls. An official government report from 1793 states: “In the end of November and beginning of December last, many of the country people observed dragons appearing in the north and flying rapidly towards the east; from which they concluded, and their conjectures were right, that…boisterous weather would follow.” (“Flying Dragons at Aberdeen,” A Statistical Account of Scotland, 1793, p. 467.) A dragon was said to live in the wetlands near Rome in December of 1691. This creature lived in a cave and supposedly terrorized the local population. A sketch of the skeleton has survived in the possession of Ingegniero Cornelio Meyer (right). The most remarkable thing about the animal is the clear head crest and the dual piece of skin from the crest. Five digits were clearly visible for each foot, of the proper length and with the first shorter and offset from the rest as is proper for the Scaphognathus. There is a hint of a wing claw on the far wing where it curves forward. The membraned wings are in front of the legs, on the vertebrae, matching the fossils. The femur is properly shown as a single bone. The tibia and fibula, the twin lower leg bones, are visible too. Although some have suggested that it could be a fossil or a faked composite, it is much too accurate to be a fabrication. The survival of the skin suggests that it is not a fossil since it includes accurate wing features, a head crest, and the ears. (Goertzen, John, “The Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaur Scaphognathus crassirostris: A ‘Living Fossil’ Until the 17th Century,” 1998 ICC Paper.) “A fantastic mystery has developed over a set of cave paintings found in the Gorozomzi Hills, 25 miles from Salisbury. For the paintings include a brontosaurus – the 67-foot, 30-ton-like creature scientists believed became extinct millions of years before man appeared on earth. Yet the bushmen who did the paintings ruled Rhodesia from only 1500 b.c. until a couple of hundred years ago. And the experts agree that the bushmen always painted from life. This belief is borne out by other Gorozomzi Hills cave paintings – accurate representations of the elephant, hippo, buck and giraffe. The mysterious pictures were found by Bevan Parkes, who owns the land the caves are on. Adding to the puzzle of the rock paintings found by Parkes is a drawing of a dancing bear. As far as scientists know, bears have never lived in Africa.” (Anonymous, “Bushmen’s Paintings Baffling to Scientists,” Evening News, January 1, 1970, London Express Service, printed in Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, January 7, 1970.) To the left is just such a rock painting from a cave at Nachikufu near Mpika in northern Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). It shows three long-necked, long-tailed creatures sketched in white. (Clark, Desmond J., The Rock Paintings of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, in Summers, Rogers, Rock Art of Central Africa, 1959, pp. 28-29, 194.) Iron sculptures made by the Bambara peoples of Mali Africa in the 1800’s display a three-horned creature with what appears to be a neck frill. The specimens shown here, part of Genesis Park’s collection, exhibit dinosaurian characteristics. One shows top horns pointed forward and the neck frill extending halfway down the animal’s back, much like the ceratopsian dinosaur Chasmosaurus. The long tail, squat arched body, and sprawled legs also give it the appearance of a ceratopsian dinosaur. The second, entitled “dinosaurian sculpture,” by the exhibiting gallery shows a four-legged creature with a long neck and tail like a sauropod dinosaur. The neck has a slight widening and a ridged frill that makes it a fascinating depiction. Another African tribe from the Mali region is known for producing dinosaurian objects in the mid-1800’s . This is the same timeframe when Sir Richard Owen coined the term dinosaur in England. The bronze artifact to the left shows a Dogon tribesman riding a long-necked, long-tailed reptilian creature. The oddly bird-like head with strong jawline is reminiscent of the “duck bill” on certain Ornithopod dinosaurs. The diamond-shaped pattern on the skin matches fossilized skin impressions discovered on a hadrosaur in southern Utah. In 1924 some Roman style lead artifacts were excavated near Tucson, AZ (see right). Described on p. 331 of David Hatcher’s book The Lost Cities of North & Central America is the unique carvings on these implements, particularly a clear dinosaur depiction on a sword. The Arizona Historical Society still has the sword. A plated and horned creature has also been discovered in Cree Indian art (far left) on the Agawa Rock at Misshepezhieu, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Also to the left is pictured an Inca Ceremonial Burial Stones that is likely from the Nazca culture. In 1571 the Spanish conquistadors brought back stories that there were stones with strange creatures carved on them found in this region of Peru. Today, over 1100 such stones were found by Dr. Javier Cabrera. In the early 1930’s, his father found many of these ceremonial burial stones in Ica’s numerous Peruvian tombs and noted that dinosaur-like creatures were represented on some of them. Retired from the University of Lima, Dr. Cabrera had focused upon validating these finds within the scientific community. His credibility was strengthened by long-necked creatures displayed on pottery in the museum of Lima and beautiful tapestries from the Nazca tombs (ca 700 AD) with a repeating pattern that looks like dinosaurs. Indeed, the depictions on some of the Ica Stones show the sauropod dinosaurs with a crest of spines much like that discovered by Paleontologist Stephen Czerkas. “Recent discovery of fossilized sauropod (diplodocid) skin impressions reveals a significantly different appearance for these dinosaurs. The fossilized skin demonstrates that a median row of spines was present… Some are quite narrow, and others are broader and more conical.” (Geology, “New Look for Sauropod Dinosaurs,” December, 1992, p. 1,068.)” Also, of interest is the fact that the skin of many of the carved dinosaurs resembled bumpy rosettes. Some scientists had pointed to this as evidence that these stones were not scientifically accurate. However, more recent discoveries of fossilized dinosaur skin and embryos have silenced these same critics. For example, Luis Chiappe and colleagues discussed certain sauropod dinosaur embryos found in South America: “The general skin pattern consists of round, non-overlapping, tubercle-like scales…. A rosette pattern of scales is present in PVPH-130″ (Chiappe, et al., 1998, p. 259). Not far from the South American Nazca sites are the Moche Indian archaeological locations. These Moche tribes inhabited northern Peru about 100-800AD. Among the artifacts currently in the Lima museum are the Mocha stirrup-spout pots and vases. Their main artistic medium was the red & white ceramic pots, which depict with singular realism medical acts, combative events, musical instruments, plants and animals. In the Larco Herrera Museum in Peru there are vases that clearly depict dinosaurs. Some of these same types of dinosaurs are shown on the Ica stones, including the dermal frills. The pictures here were taken by Dr. Dennis Swift. In 1945 archeologist Waldemar Julsrud discovered clay figurines buried at the foot of El Toro Mountain on the outskirts of Acambaro, Mexico. Eventually over 33,000 ceramic figurines were found in the area and identified with the Pre-classical Chupicuaro Culture (800 BC to 200 AD). The authenticity of Julsrud’s find has been challenged because the huge collection included dinosaurs. In 1954 the Mexican government sent a team of archeologists to investigate. In 1955 Charles Hapgood, professor of Anthropology at UNH, conducted an elaborate investigation including extensive radiometric dating and thermoluminescent testing by the University of Pennsylvania. In 1990 an investigation was conducted by Neal Steedy, an archeologist who works with the Mexican government. Thus Julsrud’s work has survived numerous tests and the Mexican government has even imprisoned two men for selling these artifacts on the black market. Moreover, the dinosaurs are modeled in very agile, active poses, fitting well with the latest scientific evidence and lending credence to the artists having actually observed these creatures. Like the Ica Stones, some sauropod’s are depicted with a distinctive spinal frill. There was extinct ice-age horse remains, the skeleton of a woolly mammoth, and a number of ancient human skulls found at the same location as the ceramic artifacts, validating the antiquity of the site (Hapgood, Charles, 2000, p.82). Further evidence of the authenticity of Julsrud’s finds is the Iguanodon dinosaur figurine. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Iguanodon was completely unknown. No hoaxer could have known of the Iguanodon’s existence, much less made a model, for it wasn’t until 1978 or 1979 that skeletons of adult Iguanodons were found with nests and babies. “In the 1960’s, a leading jewel designer called Emanuel Staub was commissioned by the University of Pennsylvania…to produce replicas of a series of small gold weights obtained in Ghana. …So well crafted were they that the animals that they depicted could be instantly identified by zoologists–all but one, that is, which could not be satisfactorily reconciled with any known animal, until Staub saw it.” (Shuker, Dr. Karl P.N., In Search of Prehistoric Survivors, 1995, p. 20.) Originally photographed resting on its hind legs (as if bipedal), this enigmatic Ashanti gold figurine was difficult to identify. Once properly positioned, Staub noted that the mysterious artifact bears a striking resemblance to a dinosaur. Perhaps this figurine was an attempt to model the sauropod Mokele-mbembe creature that is said to inhabit remote regions of equatorial Africa still today. At a museum in Manitou Springs, Colorado, there is an unusual carved artifact. It is an Indian prayer stick (see below left), roughly a foot long, with a crested head, eyes on both sides, and beaked mouth. The beautiful artistic work stands out as strikingly like a pterodactyl! This portrayal from a Saxon shield mount reveals a pterosaur-like creature at rest. The wings are folded back along its scale-like sides, a long beak full of teeth, crest, and an unmistakable tail vane all make the depiction compelling. The wings are folded back along its scale-like sides, a long beak full of teeth, crest, and an unmistakable tail vane all make the depiction compelling.The flying reptile widfloga (or far-ranging flyer) was known to the Saxons and this shield-boss came from the Sutton Hoo burial site. It is displayed at the British Museum (click to enlarge). Some of the beautiful French chateaus built at the close of the Middle Ages and early 1500’s have dramatic dragon illustrations carved into their walls, ceilings, and furniture. These include Château de Chambord, Château de Blois, and Château Azay-le-Rideau. Note the similarities in the dinosaurian-like dragons and their resemblance to the dinosaur Plateosaurus. The Château Azay-le-Rideau also displays a fascinating tapestry depicting what looks like a pterosaur fighting a lion (click to enlarge). A tapestry at Château de Blois portrays a dragon (and its baby) with gnarly horns on its head that are reminiscent of the dinosaur Dracorex hogwartsia (click to enlarge). Another pterosaur-like depiction from the Middle Ages is shown in Athanasius Kircher’s 1678 book Mundus Subterraneus. This drawing is so compelling that Peter Wellnhofer (The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs, 1991, p. 20.) suggests it might have been based on fossil finds. But it is more likely based on even more ancient reports. In Kircher’s book, the character Winkelried was supposed to have killed the dragon in Switzerland during the earliest days of his particular settlement. The most obvious anatomical discrepancy with pterosaurs (the front feet) was a more recent addition to dragon depictions. G. E. Smith’s 1919 book The Evolution of the Dragon explains that ancient notions only included a snake-like body, leathery wings like a bat, and two legs. The front legs were not added till the 16th century. Kircher also includes a picture of a dragon (on left) that resembles the rhamphorynchoid pterosaurs. According to the Greek mythology a heroic figure named Jason, son of Aeson, captured a golden fleece that was guarded by a hissing dragon. This legend of Jason charming the Dragon is memorialized in a beautiful painting (see left) by the multi-talented European artist Salvator Rosa (1615-1673). It is remarkable in its likeness to a pterosaurian. From where did Rosa get this inspiration? In 1496 the Bishop of Carlisle, Richard Bell, was buried in Carlisle Cathedral in the U.K. The tomb is inlaid with brass, with various animals engraved upon it (see right). Although worn by the countless feet that walked over it since the Middle Ages, a particular depiction is unmistakable in its similarity to a dinosaur. Amongst the birds, dog, eel, etc. this clear representation of two long-necked creatures should be considered evidence that man and dinosaurs co-existed. One would think that such hard evidence would be highly problematic for evolutionary theory. Indeed Dr. Philip Kitcher, in his anti-creationist book Abusing Science, claims that solid evidence that dinosaurs and man co-existed would “shake the foundations of evolutionary theory.” (1998, p. 121) Likewise, Strahler insists that “it is conceivable that a scientist will some day discover human bones among dinosaur bones in such a relationship that it is judged highly likely that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time. Such a finding would deal a crushing blow to the widely favored hypothesis of a unique evolutionary sequence. In Popper language, the hypothesis of evolution would be falsified.” (Strahler, Arthur N., Science and Earth History: The Evolution /Creation Controversy, 1999, p. 17.) Unfortunately the history of Darwinian theories suggests that all such evidence would quickly be assimilated into evolution theory. But one can at least hope that as more evidence comes to light, the credibility of the evolutionary story-tellers will at last wear thin!
There are a number of places where it appears that dinosaurs or other similar creatures are mentioned in the scriptures. Remember that the Bible was translated into English long before the word “dinosaur” was coined. However, the word “dragon” appears 21 times in the Old Testament alone. “You shall tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under feet” (Psalm 91:13). From the context it is clearly speaking about a real creature that it would be impressive and intimidating to step on! Jeremiah 51:34 tells, “he has swallowed me up like a dragon…” which brings to mind the way many carnivorous reptiles swallow their prey whole. Both dragons of the sea (Psalm 74:13) and field (Isaiah 43:20) are mentioned. Indeed, Genesis 1:21 can best be translated: “And God created great sea monsters…” One such sea monster became sufficiently well-known to the ancients to be given the special name “Rahab” (Isaiah 51:9). The prophet Ezekiel likens Pharaoh to a sea monster that invaded the Nile river and stirred up the mud (32:2). The Hebrew word, “Tannin,” is from the root meaning “to extend.” The language conjures up an image of a long-necked plesiosaur-like creature paddling up the river and stirring up mud from the Nile delta with its flippers. Just such a creature is depicted by the ancient Egyptians who may have netted one just as Ezekiel describes in verse 3. See the plesiosaur-like hieroglyphic (to the left) currently displayed in the London Museum. Job is the oldest book in the Bible. This book is very interesting from a scientific perspective because of the many natural phenomena that are addressed by God, Job, and his friends. Along the way, God points Job to two special creatures. The first, mentioned in Job 40:15, is usually translated “behemoth” in the English Bible. Some commentators have suggested that behemoth was a hippo or elephant. But the passage makes clear that this herbivorous animal was “chief of the ways of God.” Certainly the hippo and elephant (which had other Hebrew names) don’t qualify as the biggest land animal, nor does their anatomy fit the clear language of verse 17. A cedar tree brings to mind a dinosaur’s huge tail! In fact, pygmy peoples in equatorial Africa tell stories of a ferocious dinosaurian creature that occupies their swamps and rivers and lashes its opponents with its tail. It becomes fascinating, as one considers the tail as an offensive weapon, to review the description of Satan as a dragon: “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon …And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:” (Revelation 12:3-4). Job 41 portrays yet another awe-inspiring creature: Leviathan. While clearly one of the fiercest creatures that God made, it is difficult to establish exactly what Leviathan was. The Bible describes a sharp-toothed, scaled creature whose habitat is the mire and deep waters. Ken Ham suggests the ferocious kronosaur as a candidate. Others have suggested that this fire-breathing monster was a land-dweller that merely spent much of its time in the water. Perhaps leviathan was a dinosaur with armor or claws whose “sharp stones” were employed to destroy ancient weapons. Maybe we have yet to discover the remains of a leviathan! The “unicorn,” mentioned nine times in the KJV Bible, is the Hebrew word “Re-em.” The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) translated it “Monokeros” (one-horn) which was used in Bibles until the 19th century when Akkadian and Ugaritic records were found that mentioned the “Re-em” being hunted like a wild ox. However, their early pictograph for the “Re-em” shows an animal head with three horns, like a Triceratops. In Psalm 92:10 the “Re-em” has but one horn, while the language or Deuteronomy 33:17 implies two horns. Although most commentators and modern versions translate it as a bull or rhino, some have theorized that “Re-em” might be a Monoclonius (single horned dinosaur like Triceratops). In Job 39:9-12 God asks, “Will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or abide by your crib? Can you bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after you? Wilt you trust him, because his strength is great?” This passage shows that the unicorn, whatever it was, could not be tamed to be used in farming, as could an ox. In his classic work Naturalis Historia the first century author Pliny the Elder described “an exceedingly wild beast called the Monoceros [one-horned]. …It makes a deep lowing noise, and one black horn two cubits long projects from the middle of its forehead.” He describes it as like an elephant in length, but with much shorter legs. Other classical authors like Aelian, Oppian, and Martial also mention a “nose-horn” creature (a “Rinokeros”). Some claim that the “Rinokeros” sharpens his horn on a rock and utilizes it in fighting elephants. This is the root word from which we get the modern name rhinoceros. But a rhino does not stab with its horn, which is actually composed of keratin (hair). The correlation between the classical authors and some modern cryptozoological reports is striking. Dr. Roy Mackal’s explorations in the Congo brought back reports of a rare, single-horned animal called “Emela-ntouka” or “killer of elephants.” In a recent expedition, pygmies in Cameroon identified the horned creature (there called “Ngoubou”) with a Ceratopsian dinosaur and claimed it could sport from one to four horns. Indeed, modern researchers believe that the ceratopsian dinosaurs likely did use their great horn for combat (Dodson, Peter, The Horned Dinosaurs:A Natural History, 1996, p.123.) In the Authorized version of scripture we find Isaiah twice mentioning the “fiery flying serpent.” Egypt is called the place of the “lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent,” (30:6). This fits with classical authors describing pterosaur populations in Egypt and Arabia. Goertzen notes: “The Hebrew word, m’opheph Jpvfm, is a polal participle; a form used only by Isaiah when describing the reptilian saraph. The polal indicates an intensive of the root pvf ooph that means to fly or flutter. The imperfect form of the polal is found in Genesis 1:20, ‘flying creatures that flutter to and fro’ and Isaiah 6:2 ‘seraphim’ (the same word as the reptiles here used for angelic creatures) that fly to and fro.’” (Goertzen, John, “The Bible and Pterosaurs,” 1998.) This same word is employed in Numbers 21:6 to describe the poisonous reptiles that bit the murmuring Israelites. Indeed it is easier to envision an attack of nimble flying snakes (pterosaurs) killing many of the children of Israel rather than them being surprised and killed by snakes on the ground. The pterosaur becoming a type of Christ (John 3:14) seems more appropriate than the snake, which from Genesis to Revelation is a symbol of Satan. In addition, the spread wings on the top of the pole would form a cross. In fact, a plate found with Sennacherib’s booty at Calah (from the conquest of Palestine) depicts such a winged serpent on a pole that would seems to match the Nehushtan or brazen saraph of Moses that had become a symbol of worship by Hezekiah’s reign (II Kings 18:4). The “fiery” flying snake even matches some cryptozoological reports from New Guinea, which attribute to alleged living pterosaurs a bioluminescent capability like a firefly. While some of this remains merely speculation, it becomes clear that some very fascinating animals have become extinct since Biblical times. But some might object to using arguments from the Bible, claiming that it is not a reliable resource. There are several lines of evidence that the Bible is God’s Word. Skeptics respond that there are supposed to be a great many contradictions in the Bible. Again the facts come down on the side of God’s Word being consistent, entirely without error in the original, and remarkably preserved. CRYPTOZOOLOGY Although cryptozoology is not yet taught as an official discipline in universities, the word “cryptozoology” can be found in scientific articles, and in many encyclopedias. A cryptozoologist is one who systematically seeks to track down species or sub-species that are still unknown to science. French cryptozoologist Michel Raynal developed from Heuvelmans a methodology for how the existence of a particular kind of plant or animal can be established on testimonial evidence (sightings), circumstantial evidence (indirect evidence), or even autoptical evidence (which anybody can see). While skeptics are dubious of this kind of evidence, it would be well to remember that it was not that many years ago that the elusive creature we now call Okapi (right) was only known to science through the stories of tribal peoples. Cryptozoologists not only seek to establish the existence of famous “hidden creatures,” like the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot, but also pursue stories of common animals in unexpected places and new varieties of plants.
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Darkness Repaired! As a poetic term, darkness can also mean the presence of shadows, evil and demons!
“She set up vipers and dragons, and the monster Lahamu,
“The dragons of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles which inhabited the earth long before man is supposed to have appeared on earth. Dragons were generally evil and destructive. Every country had them in its mythology.” (Knox, Wilson, “Dragon,” The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 5, 1973, p. 265)
Cryptozoology is literally “the study of hidden creatures.” The word was coined by a zoologist, Bernard Heuvelmans. There are a number of species that were thought to be extinct that have been found in recent history. Some of these formerly “hidden creatures” include the megamouth shark and the coelacanth (below). In 1976, a naval research vessel working in the Hawaiian Islands caught a previously unknown animal when it hauled in its large anchor. The 1,653 pound shark was called “megamouth” because of its large, toothy mouth. The coelacanth was supposed to have been extinct for 70 million years until a fisherman caught one in 1939. In the last decade new species of deer, lemur, and marmoset have been found. Only discovered by western science in 1992, the Saola, or forest-dwelling ox, is so different from any currently known species that a separate genus has had to be constructed. The giant squid that attacked sailing ships in the annals of ancient maritime lore was believed by many to be mythological. Numerous modern research efforts have tried to substantiate its existence. But in the fall of 2004 a live giant squid (Architeuthis) measuring roughly 25 feet (8 meters) long attacked a baited fishing line off the Ogasawara Islands. (Owen, James, National Geographic News, September 27, 2005.) Japanese scientists released still pictures of the bus-sized creature with eyes as large as dinner plates.
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