Sign In
Register
Help
Board Index
Quote
"The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate may be one of Cryptozoology's strangest, yet best-documented, ancient crypids. This two and a half millennium old depiction is so unusual that many treat it as a chimera, an impossible combination of animals that could never have existed in nature.
But the people of ancient Babylon knew and accepted the 'dragon' as real, as real as the bulls and lions that also share the walls"..... Dragon of the Ishtar Gate by David G Stone.
In 1902, German archaeologist Robert Koldewey unearthed the fabled Ishtar Gate in the ruins of Babylon. The gateway dated from the time of King Nebuchadnezzar (about 600 B.C.) and was decorated with bas-reliefs.
The animals depicted on the Gate were known to the Babylonians - two of the animals depicted were lions and rimi (aurochs, a type of wild ox). Of the three animals depicted, one could not be identified.
It seemed to show a mythical animal, which seemed out of place with sculptures depicting known animals that were contemporary with the Babylonians.
The animal, which Koldewey recognized as a sirrush (dragon; the word mushrushu or mushhushshu is the commonly-accepted modern form, based on a retranslation of the original word) can be described as having ...a slender body covered with scales, a long slender scaly tail, and a long slim scaly neck bearing a serpent's head... [from the mouth] a long forked tongue protrudes.
But the people of ancient Babylon knew and accepted the 'dragon' as real, as real as the bulls and lions that also share the walls"..... Dragon of the Ishtar Gate by David G Stone.
In 1902, German archaeologist Robert Koldewey unearthed the fabled Ishtar Gate in the ruins of Babylon. The gateway dated from the time of King Nebuchadnezzar (about 600 B.C.) and was decorated with bas-reliefs.
The animals depicted on the Gate were known to the Babylonians - two of the animals depicted were lions and rimi (aurochs, a type of wild ox). Of the three animals depicted, one could not be identified.
It seemed to show a mythical animal, which seemed out of place with sculptures depicting known animals that were contemporary with the Babylonians.
The animal, which Koldewey recognized as a sirrush (dragon; the word mushrushu or mushhushshu is the commonly-accepted modern form, based on a retranslation of the original word) can be described as having ...a slender body covered with scales, a long slender scaly tail, and a long slim scaly neck bearing a serpent's head... [from the mouth] a long forked tongue protrudes.
The article continues to compare the Ishtar Dragon with dragons portrayed in Chinese dynastic art, Egyptian heiroglyphs, as well as other ancient sources.
Quote
MASSOSPONDYLUS, A Possible Candidate?
ANATOMY
Massospondylus was an early herbivore about 13 feet (4 m) long and 3 feet (1 m) tall. It had a long neck, very long tail, a small head, peg-like teeth, and large, five-fingered hands with a large thumb claw.
Massospondylus may have been able to use its hand for grasping in addition to walking. Its back legs were only a little bit larger than its front legs. It was a very common dinosaur.
WHEN MASSOSPONDYLUS LIVED
Massospondylus lived about 205 to 194 million years ago, during the early Jurassic period.
ANATOMY
Massospondylus was an early herbivore about 13 feet (4 m) long and 3 feet (1 m) tall. It had a long neck, very long tail, a small head, peg-like teeth, and large, five-fingered hands with a large thumb claw.
Massospondylus may have been able to use its hand for grasping in addition to walking. Its back legs were only a little bit larger than its front legs. It was a very common dinosaur.
WHEN MASSOSPONDYLUS LIVED
Massospondylus lived about 205 to 194 million years ago, during the early Jurassic period.
Massospondylus
Source
Quote
Detroit Institute of Arts Excerpt
Dragon of Marduk
The mythical Dragon of Marduk with scaly body, serpent's head, viper's horns, front
feet of a feline, hind feet of a bird, and a scorpion's tail, was sacred to the god
Marduk, principal deity of Babylon.
The striding dragon was a portion of the decoration of one of the gates of the city
of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar, whose name appears in the Bible as the despoiler
of Jerusalem (Kings II 24:10-16, 25:8-15), ornamented the monumental entrance gate
dedicated to Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, and the processional street
leading to it with scores of pacing glazed brick animals: on the gate were
alternating tiers of Marduk's dragons and bulls of the weather god Adad; along the
street were the lions sacred to Ishtar. All of this brilliant decoration was
designed to create a ceremonial entrance for the king in religious procession on
the most important day of the New Year's Festival.
Dragon of Marduk
The mythical Dragon of Marduk with scaly body, serpent's head, viper's horns, front
feet of a feline, hind feet of a bird, and a scorpion's tail, was sacred to the god
Marduk, principal deity of Babylon.
The striding dragon was a portion of the decoration of one of the gates of the city
of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar, whose name appears in the Bible as the despoiler
of Jerusalem (Kings II 24:10-16, 25:8-15), ornamented the monumental entrance gate
dedicated to Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, and the processional street
leading to it with scores of pacing glazed brick animals: on the gate were
alternating tiers of Marduk's dragons and bulls of the weather god Adad; along the
street were the lions sacred to Ishtar. All of this brilliant decoration was
designed to create a ceremonial entrance for the king in religious procession on
the most important day of the New Year's Festival.
Dragon Ishtar Gate, Dragon of Marduk
Source
Top
MultiQuote
Don't try to read it.
