From: jpark@jarthur.claremont.edu (Jae H. Park)
Subject: Re: Bahamut the Dragon
Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 07:49:21 GMT

For all of you who replied... thanks.
But there are a couple of things that I should point out, and found out.
First of all, Bahamut has NOTHING to do with Behemoth, NOTHING.
In all the references, Behemoth was a totally different creature.
According to legend, Behemoth, which means "gigantic beast", was just that,
a gigantic beast. The hebrew language uses a different word for "dragon"--
which Bahamut is. Behemoth has been represented in a variety of different
forms, among which the most widely accepted is the bull-like figure.
Behemoth was NEVER depicted as a dragon.
On the other hand, Bahamut was ALWAYS depicted as a dragon.( I mean, is there
anybody who says that Tiamat was not a dragon? No, right? Just like that,
Bahamut was, is, and always will be a dragon. )

I also talked about this with a hebrew expert at our school, and he confermed
that Bahamut has no relationship whatsoever with Behemoth. And I must state
that many people do get mixed up, though, because they do sound similar.

Second, about Baphomet, I must admit I did not know about this diety(?) 
until after I posted, but now I do know what it is, thanks to one of the
replies and some info from one of my friends.
Anyway, I had a discussion with him and we both agreed that this had nothing 
to do with Bahamut either.
Here's why:
As stated above, Bahamut was a dragon, nothing else, but Baphomet was not.
Rather, Baphomet was depicted as a demon with beastly-features. 

More importantly though, is that Baphomet was evil in nature( or so he was
depicted ), but Bahamut was "holy and good". And also, Behemoth, as great
a creature that it was, it was still a creature, an animal. But Bahamut,
was more of a diety( just as Tiamat is a diety ), not just a "natural" dragon.
So there are some major differences in either case.

So you're saying "Who said they were the same? One could just be derived from
another."
One of the repliers( I can't remember your name -- sorry. ) said that D&D 
could have just made him up -- mentioning the examples of halflings.
Remember though, halflings aren't really "made up" -- they're based on
hobbits, and are VERY similar to them. But Bahamut has no similarities with
the other diety/creatures mentioned( other than similar pronounciation ).
And, although D&D sometimes "makes" their own creatures, they have never
attempted to "make up" a MAJOR character in their series. By major character,
I mean great, very, very, very, very powerful dieties/creatures that are
almost always unique( there is only one in the universe. ). As another of the
repliers( I don't remember your name either, sorry again-- you're the one who
agreed with me. )stated, the first publications of D&D were based extremely
well upon original legends, and Bahamut was in the earliest editions.

Also, just so you don't think I'm basing this entirely on D&D, I stated that
I encountered Bahamut in other rpg's, many of which were Japanese. And in
the Japanese rpg's, they have a lot of their own creatures and stuff, but
they always put in major-league dieties/creatures from elsewhere( like Odin,
the Greek gods, major Indian gods, leviathan, even behemoth!; and many more.)
And in all the games that I've encountered ol' Baham, he was ALWAYS the same
creature -- The King of Dragons. That's a little coincidental if D&D just made
him up. Even in D&D's "Dragon Manual" he is named "Bahamut: King of Dragons",
and Tiamat is named "Queen of Evil Dragons", and they are considered great
enemies.( No, don't even think about Bahamut being connected in any way with
Marduk, the Babylonian diety. He was NEVER, EVER a dragon. Although his mother
was. Oh yeah, one of you spelled Marduk with an "e" at the end, this is 
incorrect. It should be spelled M-A-R-D-U-K. 
Marduk is clearly a diety of Humanoid form. )

Well, I think that is a long enough passage, so......

Based on what I have stated, Bahamut is definitely a seperate diety( and a 
major one at that! ), I just couldn't find out where his origin is.
And since a lot of people don't seem to even know who he is, I'll continue 
my search, and as soon as I find out something, you'll be the first to know.

                                  Thanks.

P.S : Thanks again for all the replies.
      Although it ended up with me having to explain, rather than me getting
      info( though I did get some info from some people.).
      At least a lot of people showed interest in the subject.


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