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Dragons in Ancient RealmsRecently, a very good history question has been brought to my wizardly attention. A young man named Chris wanted to know when Dragons become part of the Chinese culture. It's a very good question, and one not answered easily. We all know what a dragon is, or at least have some idea of it. But where did dragons come from? When did they become part of our world? When are they first noted in History? To this end, I did some research and here's what I found:First Dragons in Europe?Not by a long shot. The best we could dig up there is a couple thousand years at best.During the European time referred to as the Middle Ages (about 400 AD), Dragons were evil, sinister creatures who hoarded gold and feasted on virgins. They set villages alight, ate farm animals and when not terrorising villages, they slept atop their treasure heaps in caves high in mountainsides. That's the European dragon in a nutshell... Seeing as China's history is much longer and better documented than that of its European counterparts, that's where I went next. First Dragons in China?As you probably know, China's histories are separated into dynasties, theearliest being the Xia dynasty ca. 2000-1500 B.C. This dynasty is the earliest of China's dynasties and for all practical uses it is considered prehistoric. I found out that Xia social organization was based on the clan. But apparently even back then, the dragon motif is common at Xia sites. The major clan totem of the Xia was (you guessed it) the dragon. First Dragons in Sumeria?Ok, from Chinese culture, we can tell that dragons are old, but we already knew that. So now we go to Sumeria, perhaps the pre-Egyptians can help us on our task.Here we find the ancient tale of Zu and Enlil. This story dates all the way back to 5000 BC. And here it is in condensed form. Zu was a clever and sneaky dragon that stole the Tablets of Law from the god Enlil, who was once the river god but now also the god of dry land. Enlil wore these tablets on him, and they held the universal laws upon them. Ninurta, the sun god, was sent after Zu. For the most part, he completed the task, and managed to slay him. Hrm … 5000 B.C. wow, but we're not done yet. First Dragons in Australia?Believe it or not, it seems that Dragons make their first real appearance in Australia. The Australian Aboriginal Dragons were beneficial and revered creatures; the Rainbow Serpent was the Aboriginals 'main' Dragon, and was involved with the creation of the landscape and man in the Dreamtime. The legend of the Rainbow Serpent first came to surface at around 40 000 BC, although estimates range from 65 000 BC - 35 000 BC.Let me repeat that, 40,000 BC Now we're getting to the good stuff. In ConclusionSo I guess what I've found so far is that from the looks of the histories, thedragon has been a part of our culture just about as long as, well, just about as long as WE have! That's all for now! Greyth@DragonHame.com If you have any other info I have missed, or would like to add email me here. ~Greyth |