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Egypt
Egyptian Dragons come in many forms and sizes. Most, however, are more snakes than actual dragons by the classical definition of "dragons". But don't let that dissuade you from reading the stories. As you'll find out in many other sections, there's not much consistency about what is a "dragon", and over time adventurers and wanderers have seen snakes and called them dragons, or they've seen dragons and called them snakes and monsters. It makes for a confusing history, but an interesting one. You may notice that some of these dragons aren't the stereotypical reptile with wings. But most of these do form the basis for other dragons in Europe and even as far east as Asia. Egyptians believed that the heart (sometimes meaning the mind) was very powerful and some say that this is the reason heroes would eat a dragon's heart. (Source: China and Japan, pg 77) Osirus is also occasionally referred to as a dragon - because of his part in season rejuvenation. Dragons would also assume the same role as Set because of the water relationship and it's not until it migrates into Earth Mother and/or Tiamat that chaos and evil come into its personality. (Source: Nature of Spirit, Spirit of Nature pg 8 and Dragons and Dragon Lore pg 26). The dragon saga may be traced to the tales of "The Destruction of Mankind, "The Story of the Winged Disk {symbol of Horus}" and "Conflict Between Horus and Set". (Source: Dragons and Dragon Lore pg 18). Demons were often a combination of disfavored gods and dragons - for example, Set. "The Egyptian belief about the power of the 'heart' [which to the Egyptians also means mind], lies behind the stories regarding heroes eating dragons' hearts." (Source: China and Japan, p77) The oldest version of the Egyptian Melusine story is at the Petrograd collection and dates from circa 2000 BC, the Twelfth Dynasty. (Source: China and Japan, p98) |