From: pmanne@math.uio.no (Per Manne)
Subject: Early history of dragons
Followup-To: sci.archaeology
Organization: Math dept. University of Oslo, Norway
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 13:51:56 GMT

I have lately become interested in the early history of dragons (for 
convenience, let's say before 1200 AD), and since the parts which
currently seems most interesting to me has to do with ancient trade
routs and cultural influence, this seems to be the right newsgroup
to post my questions.

Please note that I do not claim any authority on any of the questions
which I discuss here. If there are any inaccuracies in my descriptions
(I'm sure there are lots of them) I'd be very happy to see them
corrected.

The dragon is undoubtedly Chinese in origin. Early forms of the
Chinese character for dragon can be found already on oracle bones
from the Shang dynasty about 1300 BC, and there are pictures on
Shang bronzes from the same time. These pictures are not very detailed
and leave much to the imagination, probably due to the difficult
medium the artisans have worked with. (No detailed pictures of any
kind from this period exist, right?) Anyway, from the Han dynasty
(roughly 200 BC - 200 AD) several tombs with wall paintings and
engravings in stone can be found. Here the dragon exists in its
modern form, and there is a well documented history of how this
form has been used in China from this time and until today.

Now dragons and dragon-like figures appear in other parts of the
world as well. The Swedish explorer Sven Hedin visited Babylon
during the first world war, where he was shown around by the German 
archeologist Koldewey, and he describes the sirrusch or dragon
which was engraved in the walls of the palace of Nebukadnezar
(604-561 BC). It is also called the walking serpent, and a picture
shows it having a scaled body, a long and slender neck, and a small 
head with a curled horn (?) on the top. The legs and the proportions
of the body are much more like those of a bull or a horse, and
from a distance this animal looks more antilope-like than dragon-like.
Am I correct in assuming that this is a totally different animal,
unrelated to the dragon? As far as I understand, no connections
between Babylon and China had been established by this time.

In Europe, dragons appear on some of the ships of the vikings.
(Also, there is the Norse myth of the 'Midgardsorm' which encircles
the whole world and bites its own tail.) I would guess that there
are examples dating back to about 900 AD, although this is guesswork.
Are there any evidence that this is or is not a European version
of the Chinese dragon? How far back can the European history of
this dragon be traced? Are there any non-Scandinavian examples? If 
this is the Chinese dragon, then it has presumably been introduced
to Europe by traders travelling along the silk road. This ancient
trading route was open during the Han dynasty (roughly 200 BC - 200 AD)
and during the Tang dynasty (roughly 700 AD - 900 AD). Can it be
ascertained during which of these periods the dragon migrated westward?

In concluding, let me say that I am in general interested in cultural 
influence between China and other early civilizations, also in matters 
unrelated to dragons.
--
Oslo,
Per Manne