Azhi Dahaka (Avestan Great Snake) is a dragon or demonic figure in the texts and mythology of Zoroastrian Persia, where he is one of the subordinates of Angra Mainyu. Alternate names include Azi Dahak, Dahaka, and Dahak. Aži (nominative ažiš) is the Avestan word for "serpent" or "dragon. [45] The Avestan term Aži Dahāka and the Middle Persian azdahāg are the sources of the Middle Persian Manichaean demon of greed "Az", Old Armenian mythological figure Aždahak, Modern Persian 'aždehâ/aždahâ', Tajik Persian 'azhdahâ', Urdu 'azhdahā' (اژدها), as well as the Kurdish ejdîha (ئەژدیها). Viserys, like Bayan, was no king. The Dothraki khal, Drogo, made sure he knew this to be true before the end. Like Bayan’s Borijin braggadocio, Viserys embodied all the bravado of the Targaryen dynasty—the name, the claim, but none of the fire. That fire was instead the birthright of his sister. Viserys acted with all the arrogance of leadership and tried to reclaim his birthright but died forgotten, despised even by those who might have loved him. No doubt that it is an impressive creation, but with minimal research we discovered the true origins of this beast.

Another reason rulers should emulate dragons is that the creature was considered one of the four most intelligent animals (along with the phoenix, unicorn, and tortoise). One famous myth tells of a dragon actively helping a ruler, Yu the Great (c. 2070 BCE), the legendary founder of the Xia dynasty, who was helped by a dragon (or actually was a dragon) and a turtle to manage the floodwaters which were devastating his kingdom and so control them into a better irrigation system. Undergarment clothing with long, broad sleeves was worn under the outer coat. Genghis Khan (1158–1227) oversaw the widespread use of strong silk for this undergarment. She wasn’t a Borijin, but she captured the spirit of the Great Khan in ways no other ruler had in two hundred years. Unlike the abstract C-shaped design, this mussel shell dragon exhibits a higher degree of realism, with minute details painstakingly carved into the shells’ surfaces. C-shaped jade dragon, Hongshan Culture, ca. 4500-3000 BCE. Credit: David Owsley Museum

In Albanian mythology and folklore, stihi, ljubi, bolla, bollar, errshaja, and kulshedra are mythological figures described as serpentine dragons. It is believed that bolla, a water and chthonic demonic serpent, undergoes metamorphosis passing through four distinct phases if it lives many years without being seen by a human. The bollar and errshaja are the intermediate stages, while the kulshedra is the ultimate phase, described as a huge multi-headed fire-spitting female serpent which causes drought, storms, flooding, earthquakes, and other natural disasters against mankind. She is usually fought and defeated by a drangue, a semi-human winged divine hero and protector of humans. Heavy thunderstorms are thought to be the result of their battles. [169] [170] Diderot, Denis (8 August 2008). "Dragons". Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert – Collaborative Translation Project. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015 . Retrieved 1 April 2015. Malone, Michael S. (2012), The Guardian of All Things: The Epic Story of Human Memory, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 978-1-250-01492-4 This mussel shell dragon differs greatly from the previously discovered C-shaped jade dragon of the Hongshan Culture in terms of carving techniques and styling. It is more delicate and realistic, and the teeth, tail and other parts of the carving are subtle.

With ear flaps and a broad flap brim that was reversible in winter, the helmet was an ideal piece of armor. Helmets for the less well-off Mongol troops were often constructed of leather. Contemporary Accounts The Yuan warrior’s helmet and armor from the time of the Mongol conquest of Japan. Image: Wikimedia. Babr-e-Bayan". Encyclopedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019 . Retrieved 5 May 2019. The unearthed items, which were found alongside the fragments of two pottery wares, are typical of the Hongshan Culture.Hornung, Erik (2001), The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West, Ithaca, New York and London, England: Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-3847-0 This fur-lined robe-like clothing had a button closure a few inches below the right armpit and was closed by crossing the left flap over the right. Anti-Arrow Silk Clothing A Mongolian warrior with a traditional coat. One of the figures of mounted Mongol Yuan soldiers from the excavation of Hesheng Tomb in Qindu District, China. (Image: 三猎) Main article: Chinese dragon A dragon from the Nine Dragons Scroll by Chen Rong, 1244 AD. Illustration of the dragon Zhulong from a seventeenth-century edition of the Shanhaijing Dragon art on a vase, Yuan dynasty

The following is a description of the Mongol arsenal from the Ystoria Mongalorum by Giovanni da Pian del Carpine (1183–1252), the oldest European source about the Mongols: When you think about archaeology, archaeology is the only field that allows us to tell the story of 99 percent of our history. The first to be in a Xiongnu TombCipa, Shawn (2008), Carving Gargoyles, Grotesques, and Other Creatures of Myth: History, Lore, and 12 Artistic Patterns, Petersburg, Pennsylvania: Fox Chapel Publishing Inc., ISBN 978-1-56523-329-4

The Chinese scholar Wen Yiduo suggested that this fantastic collection of beastly parts was actually based on the political union of several different tribes, each with a different animal as their totem. The dragon was, therefore, a symbolic representation of the assimilation of these tribes into a single nation. An interesting hypothesis, it does not, however, explain the appearance of dragons long before any such political associations existed in early Chinese communities. Powers & Associations At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exist countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained. The Chinese dragon ( simplified Chinese: 龙; traditional Chinese: 龍; pinyin: lóng) is the highest-ranking creature in the Chinese animal hierarchy. Its origins are vague, but its "ancestors can be found on Neolithic pottery as well as Bronze Age ritual vessels." [59] A number of popular stories deal with the rearing of dragons. [60] The Zuo zhuan, which was probably written during the Warring States period, describes a man named Dongfu, a descendant of Yangshu'an, who loved dragons [60] and, because he could understand a dragon's will, he was able to tame them and raise them well. [60] He served Emperor Shun, who gave him the family name Huanlong, meaning "dragon-raiser". [60] In another story, Kong Jia, the fourteenth emperor of the Xia dynasty, was given a male and a female dragon as a reward for his obedience to the god of heaven, [60] but could not train them, so he hired a dragon-trainer named Liulei, who had learned how to train dragons from Huanlong. [60] One day, the female dragon died unexpectedly, so Liulei secretly chopped her up, cooked her meat, and served it to the king, [60] who loved it so much that he demanded Liulei to serve him the same meal again. [60] Since Liulei had no means of procuring more dragon meat, he fled the palace. [60] The dragon came to have a certain significance in some of the more formal Chinese religions, too. In the paintings of Chan Buddhism, a dragon appearing from behind clouds was a symbol of truth and the difficulties in seeing it clearly. For Taoists, the dragon was even more important and represented the central omnipresent force known as the 'Central Way' or Tao. The four dragon kings of the Four Seas were also adopted by Taoists. Finally, the dragon is the fifth sign of the Chinese zodiac or shengxiao and associated with one of the 12 years in the calendar cycle, the most recent 'year of the dragon' being January 2012 to February 2013. Dragon RobesZhang, Q. "From "Dragonology" to Meteorology: Aristotelian Natural Philosophy and the Beginning of the Decline of the Dragon in China." Early Science and Medicine, Vol. 14, No. 1/3, (2009), pp. 340-368. In folk-tales, there was a race of dragons led by their Dragon-king Lung-Wang. With scaly bodies, four legs, and horns they could take on human form and whisk away young girls. They are similar to Nagas, the snake-like creatures of Hindu folklore which protect water sources. In Chinese art, these dragons often possess a magnificent pearl whose iridescent sheen is reminiscent of a rainbow and which may represent the idea of treasure connected with that phenomenon. Sproul, Barbara C. (1979). Primal Myths. HarperOne HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 978-0-06-067501-1.