Here Be Dragons

This is the third and final installment in a series on the Hebrew Creation Myths found in the Old Testament. In this post, I address a Hebrew Creation Myth that many aren’t aware of. Unfortunately, this myth hasn’t survived completely. Parts of it can be found in Psalm 74: 13 – 17 and Job 41, which can be read at the Bible Gateway.

To summarize Psalm 74:13-17, these passages reference God crushing the heads (note that it’s not singular) of a sea-serpent called Leviathan and distributing the body to those residing in the desert. It also states that God opened streams, dried up rivers, and created Day, Night, Sun, Moon, Earth, Summer, and Winter.  

In Job 41, Yahweh gives a long diatribe critical of Job and bragging about His dominance over Leviathan. In it, He describes Leviathan as having shields of armor on his body, powerful limbs, breathing fire and smoke from its mouth and nostrils, and lightning flashing from its eyes. (In Job 25: 13, Yahweh is described as piercing a “fleeing serpent,” which likely was Leviathan.)

Destruction of Leviathan by Gustave Doré

 

Both of these passages are remnants of a long-lost ancient Israelite Creation myth. This original Hebrew myth was a variant of a Canaanite myth, which should not be a surprise since the ancient Israelites were Canaanites. In the Ugaritic Canaanite myth, Leviathan is called Lotan and is defeated by another storm god, Baal. 

This 3rd Creation Myth resembles myths other than just the Ugaritic Baal myth. In the Babylonian Creation myth, Marduk battles and defeats the sea-serpent Tiamat and creates the universe from her body. We find similar elements in the Greek myth of Zeus versus Typhon. It’s not limited to the ancient Near East and the ancient Mediterranean. In Norse mythology, Thor battles the world serpent Jörmungandr. These myths likely indicate a common Proto-Indo-European source.

Series Conclusion
In my book The Philosophy of Dark Paganism, I define Contemporary Paganism as “an umbrella term for various contemporary spiritual paths of Western esotericism inspired by pre-Abrahamic concepts, tropes, and mythology.” In these three myths, we catch a glimpse of another pre-Abrahamic polytheist mythology.