{"id":3923607,"date":"2026-01-19T09:05:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/a-mesopotamian-deity-worshipped-for-creating-humans-and-his-hybrid-dragon-in-the-bible\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T09:05:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:05:59","slug":"a-mesopotamian-deity-worshipped-for-creating-humans-and-his-hybrid-dragon-in-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/a-mesopotamian-deity-worshipped-for-creating-humans-and-his-hybrid-dragon-in-the-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mesopotamian deity worshipped for creating humans and his hybrid dragon \u2013in the Bible?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

YouTube Video Here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qi-Q1Vr7B8A?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1<\/a><\/p>\n

The ancient texts of Mesopotamia are undergoing a revival, as ancient astronaut theorists look at them for clues about our true origins. While the texts are dismissed as mere mythology by mainstream scholars, these theorists are looking at the words with fresh eyes and open minds.<\/p>\n

Perhaps there is more to these texts that scholars brushed aside too readily? Meanwhile, similar texts are viewed as unquestionable and Holy by millions of religious people today. As in the older stories, sometimes those texts feature stories of supernatural beings from other worlds, monstrous people and animals, not to mention advanced technology.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fascinating to look at the intersections of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Bible. The stories overlap, and when they do they are sometimes considered<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Apocrypha, or \u201chidden.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Previously, we looked at the story of 4 Baruch.<\/a> It\u2019s one such hidden story of an eagle messenger that could resurrect the dead. The story also features a clear case of time dilation similar to the famous American folklore of Rip Van Winkle.<\/p>\n

Now, we\u2019ll look at another story connected to \u201cthe most prestigious god of the Mesopotamian\u00a0<\/span>pantheon<\/span>,\u201d Marduk, and his dragon.<\/a> Now this story, also considered apocryphal, is \u201cBel and the Dragon\u201d in the extended Book of Daniel. The story considered apocryphal in the Protestant Bible but lived on in the King James Bible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Marduk
Marduk and his dragon, Mu\u0161\u1e2bu\u0161\u0161u, from a Babylonian cylinder seal, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Who is Bel?<\/h3>\n

The Bible story features an idol of Bel, or \u201clord\u201d whose name in ancient Mesopotamia was Marduk, son of the god of wisdom\u00a0<\/span>Enki<\/span><\/a>. This name should be familiar. Why? He\u2019s associated with Zeus by the Greeks. His temple may be quite famous in another Bible story. (See below)<\/span><\/p>\n

Marduk, who was later known as Bel, was worshipped almost in a monotheistic sense in Mesopotamia. Then, invading armies would do their best to erase all traces of him from history. His statue became so important that it was repeatedly stolen and restored<\/a> to ancient Babylon.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMarduk was regarded as the creator of the heavens and earth, co-creator with Enki of human beings, and originator of divine order following his victory over the forces of chaos led by the goddess Tiamat. Once he legitimized his rule, he conferred upon the other gods their various duties and responsibilities and organized both the world and the netherworld.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia:<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Marduk<\/span><\/a>\u00a0was the patron god of\u00a0<\/span>Babylon<\/span><\/a>, the Babylonian king of the gods, who presided over justice, compassion, healing, regeneration, magic, and fairness, although he is also sometimes referenced as a storm god and agricultural deity. His\u00a0<\/span>temple<\/span><\/a>, the famous ziggurat described by\u00a0<\/span>Herodotus<\/span><\/a>, is considered the model for the biblical Tower of\u00a0<\/span>Babel<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Greeks associated him with\u00a0<\/span>Zeus<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and the Romans with\u00a0<\/span>Jupiter<\/span><\/a>. He is depicted as a human in royal robes, carrying a snake-dragon and a spade. Marduk seems to have originated from a local deity known as Asarluhi, a farmer\u2019s god symbolized by the spade, known as a\u00a0<\/span>marru<\/span><\/em>, which continued as part of his iconography. Marduk\u2019s name, however, though linked to the\u00a0<\/span>marru<\/span><\/em>, translates as \u2018bull-calf,\u2019 although he was commonly referred to simply as Bel (Lord). Far from the local deity he sprang from, Marduk would become the most prestigious god of the Mesopotamian\u00a0<\/span>pantheon<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bel\u2019s dragon<\/h3>\n

Marduk\u2019s son, Nabu, became \u201cthe most important god of the Babylonians,\u201d and was associated with the Egyptian god, Thoth. Both Marduk and Nabu were associated with a snake-dragon known as the Mushussu Dragon. You can see the \u2018dragon\u2019 on the famous reconstructed Ishtar Gate<\/a> initially constructed by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II circa 575 BCE. It initially was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World along with the King\u2019s Hanging Gardens of Babylon,<\/a> which no longer exists.<\/p>\n

\"Ishtar
Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Berlin Museum via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mushkhushu\"
The Mushussu Dragon via Wikimedia Commons\u00a0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Mushussu Dragon was alive in the story from the Bible, while Bel was a statue considered protective and of great importance. The hybrid dragon was not as we would expect<\/a> a dragon to look. It has talons of an\u00a0<\/span>eagle<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>lion<\/span>-like forelimbs, a long neck and tail, a horned head, and a snake-like tongue, and a crest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The dragon wasn\u2019t like the fire-breathing kind we know from the movies but shared much in common with dragons from other ancient stories around the world. Some cryptozoologists suggest the dragon from this Bible story was a real-life creature, known as the now-extinct\u00a0<\/span>Sivatherium<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These strange creatures were an extinct genus of enormous\u00a0<\/span>giraffids<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that ranged throughout\u00a0<\/span>Africa<\/span>\u00a0to the\u00a0<\/span>Indian subcontinent<\/span>\u00a0that may have still been around until 8,000 years ago. The species seems to be a subject of cave paintings in Saharan Africa, and when you see what it looked like, it does look like Marduk\u2019s dragon. (see video below)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MEPAN
Sivatherium by Hiuppo<\/a><\/span>\u00a0via Wikimedia Commons CC BY 3.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

See much more about the fascinating Silvatherium from the Extinction Blog<\/em> below:<\/p>\n

YouTube Video Here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PKxQGe98UMs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bel and the Dragon<\/h3>\n

What happened to the dragon in the Bible<\/a> story? Well, nothing good, that\u2019s for sure. Daniel decides to kill it in a very peculiar way. First, Daniel convinces the Persian King (who had taken over) that worshipping Bel was wrong as idol worship. Bel\u2019s followers were secretly consuming food left for the statue, and this was so egregious that the King slaughtered them for it and destroyed the statue of Bel.<\/p>\n

See a cartoon version of Bel and the Dragon with the idol of Bel as a head from Easter Island (!).<\/p>\n

The news so distressed the people of Babylon that Daniel was thrown into a den of lions to die, which as you know he miraculously doesn\u2019t. The story becomes the familiar \u201cDaniel in the Lions\u2019 Den.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, the Bible tells the little-known story of the \u2018heroic\u2019 slaying of a seemingly harmless dragon, and the moral of the story that worshipping Bel was not the true religion. That narrative continues today, but in looking back, we see the ancient stories through a modern lens and with renewed interest. Instead of slaying the proverbial dragon, maybe it\u2019s time to take a closer look?<\/p>\n

In the second part of the video, we get to the dragon, which was not an idol but a real biblical creature -at least until Daniel was done with him.<\/p>\n

YouTube Video Here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MjwT7PP5sfQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Featured image: Dragon of Marduk by Kent Wang via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) <\/a>with Sivatherium by Hiuppo<\/a><\/span> via Wikimedia Commons\u00a0<\/a>CC BY 3.0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Go to Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n

YouTube Video Here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qi-Q1Vr7B8A?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1<\/p>\n

The ancient texts of Mesopotamia are undergoing a revival, as ancient astronaut theorists look at them for clues about our true origins. While the texts are dismissed as mere mythology by mainstream scholars, these theorists are looking at the words with fresh eyes and open minds.<\/p>\n

Perhaps there is more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3923607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ancient-code","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3923607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3923607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3923607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3923607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3923607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikedyess.info\/para\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3923607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}