﻿art, 
  15 
  THE 
  DRAGON 
  GOD 
  OF 
  JAPAN 
  CASANOWICZ 
  6 
  

  

  that 
  we 
  have 
  in 
  this 
  incident 
  a 
  reminiscence 
  of 
  the 
  abolition 
  of 
  human 
  sacrifices 
  

   to 
  deities 
  in 
  the 
  shape 
  of 
  lower 
  animals. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  In 
  certain 
  stages 
  of 
  civiliza- 
  

   tion, 
  sacrifices 
  of 
  the 
  kind 
  are 
  practiced, 
  and 
  are 
  frequently 
  offered 
  to 
  water- 
  

   spirits 
  conceived 
  in 
  animal 
  form. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  It 
  may, 
  of 
  course, 
  be 
  that 
  the 
  

   monster 
  sent 
  to 
  devour 
  Andromeda 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  regarded 
  simply 
  as 
  the 
  personifica- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  water 
  or 
  of 
  specific 
  rivers 
  in 
  their 
  sinister 
  aspect. 
  

  

  Doctor 
  Aston 
  adds 
  then, 
  concerning 
  the 
  dragon 
  of 
  the 
  Japanese 
  

   story 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  circumstance 
  that 
  the 
  scene 
  of 
  this 
  episode 
  in 
  Susa 
  no 
  wo's 
  career 
  is 
  

   the 
  bank 
  of 
  a 
  river 
  is, 
  therefore, 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  immaterial. 
  Indeed, 
  we 
  may 
  

   plausibly 
  conjecture 
  that 
  the 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  serpent 
  with 
  its 
  eight 
  (or 
  many) 
  

   heads 
  and 
  eight 
  tails, 
  its 
  length 
  extending 
  over 
  eight 
  valleys 
  and 
  eight 
  hills, 
  

   its 
  body 
  overgrown 
  with 
  moss, 
  pines, 
  and 
  cedars, 
  and 
  its 
  propensity 
  for 
  de- 
  

   vouring 
  human 
  beings, 
  is 
  nothing 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  fanciful 
  representation 
  of 
  the 
  

   river, 
  with 
  its 
  serpentine 
  course, 
  its 
  tributaries 
  and 
  branches, 
  its 
  wooded 
  

   banks, 
  and 
  the 
  danger 
  by 
  drowning 
  in 
  its 
  pools 
  or 
  at 
  its 
  fords. 
  

  

  The 
  conception 
  of 
  a 
  stream 
  as 
  a 
  serpent 
  or 
  dragon, 
  or 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  

   animals 
  as 
  the 
  embodiment 
  of 
  a 
  water-deity, 
  is 
  widespread. 
  There 
  

   is 
  for 
  the 
  imagination 
  a 
  close 
  nexus 
  between 
  a 
  river 
  and 
  serpent. 
  

   The 
  sinuous, 
  often 
  winding 
  and 
  twisting 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  and 
  

   its 
  mysterious 
  movement 
  without 
  legs 
  represents 
  it 
  to 
  the 
  fancy 
  as 
  a 
  

   great, 
  long-stretched 
  serpent, 
  while 
  the 
  beautiful 
  wave-like 
  motion 
  

   of 
  the 
  latter 
  and 
  the 
  water 
  habitat 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  connects 
  

   it 
  with 
  rivers 
  and 
  streams 
  as 
  the 
  genius 
  loci. 
  

  

  Even 
  in 
  the 
  Rig 
  Veda 
  there 
  is 
  deification 
  of 
  the 
  cloud-snake. 
  In 
  later 
  times 
  

   they 
  (the 
  serpents) 
  answered 
  to 
  the 
  Nymphs, 
  being 
  tutelary 
  guardians 
  of 
  

   streams 
  and 
  rivers. 
  2 
  The 
  Arabs 
  still 
  regard 
  medicinal 
  waters 
  as 
  inhabited 
  

   by 
  jinn, 
  usually 
  of 
  serpent 
  form, 
  [and] 
  on 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  the 
  Arabian 
  field 
  we 
  

   have 
  the 
  sacred 
  fountain 
  of 
  Ephea 
  at 
  Palmyra, 
  with 
  which 
  a 
  legend 
  of 
  a 
  

   demon 
  in 
  serpent 
  form 
  is 
  connected. 
  3 
  A 
  dragon's 
  well 
  is 
  mentioned 
  in 
  Nehe- 
  

   miah 
  II, 
  13, 
  and 
  a 
  snake 
  river 
  in 
  Josephus, 
  Jewish 
  War, 
  V, 
  3, 
  2. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Babylonian 
  creation 
  myth 
  the 
  primeval 
  watery 
  chaos 
  is 
  

   symbolized 
  by 
  the 
  monster 
  Tiamat, 
  and 
  the 
  conflict 
  between 
  Bel 
  

   Marduk 
  and 
  Tiamat 
  is 
  a 
  favorite 
  theme 
  of 
  Assj^ro-Babylonian 
  glyptic 
  

   art. 
  Tiamat 
  is 
  there 
  pictured 
  either 
  as 
  a 
  composite 
  dragon 
  or 
  — 
  more 
  

   rarely 
  — 
  as 
  a 
  long-stretched 
  serpent. 
  Thus 
  on 
  a 
  cylinder 
  seal 
  in 
  the 
  

   Metropolitan 
  Museum 
  of 
  Art 
  in 
  New 
  York, 
  a 
  cast 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  on 
  

   exhibition 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  National 
  Museum, 
  Tiamat 
  is 
  repre- 
  

   sented 
  as 
  a 
  large 
  serpent 
  with 
  a 
  peculiar 
  horned 
  head 
  fleeing 
  before 
  

   Marduk, 
  who 
  pursues 
  her 
  with 
  a 
  sickle-shaped 
  scimitar. 
  The 
  per- 
  

   sonification 
  of 
  the 
  watery 
  chaos 
  by 
  the 
  dragon 
  or 
  serpent 
  Tiamat 
  

   may 
  have 
  been 
  suggested 
  to 
  the 
  Babylonian 
  fancy 
  by 
  the 
  waving 
  

   billows 
  of 
  the 
  agitated 
  sea. 
  

  

  Reminiscences 
  of 
  the 
  overthrow 
  of 
  Tiamat 
  by 
  the 
  sun-god 
  Marduk 
  

   may 
  be 
  traced 
  in 
  the 
  Old 
  Testament 
  where, 
  of 
  course, 
  not 
  Marduk, 
  

  

  2 
  E. 
  W. 
  Hopkins, 
  The 
  religions 
  of 
  India, 
  1895, 
  p. 
  376, 
  n. 
  3. 
  

  

  3 
  W. 
  Robertson-Smith, 
  Religion 
  of 
  the 
  Semites, 
  1889, 
  p. 
  153f. 
  

  

  