An Ancient Egyptian Legend
A condensed version of an ancient Egyptian legend goes like this: “The wise sailor tells his master how he survived a shipwreck and landed on a mysterious island. There he encountered a talking giant serpent, who called himself the King of Punt. Everything good was on the island, and the sailor conversed with the serpent until a ship was summoned, and he returned to Egypt.”
This “Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor” is a legend that can be traced back to the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 BCE). Although it is a legendary tale, some fragments of rumors lead to interesting considerations. 
First, the size of this mysterious reptile is the initial shock. The surviving sailor narrates his misfortune:
“The trees were cracking, the ground was shaking. I opened my mouth and saw the serpent approaching me. The doorway was thirty cubits long. His beard was over two cubits long. His scales were of gold, his eyebrows of lapis lazuli, his body was curved upwards.”
This serpent in the myth is quite fascinating. There are indications that he had a thick beard and eyebrows, resembling the dragons in Chinese mythology. However, in Egypt, small beards were occasionally depicted on sacred serpents. The ancient Egyptian and East Asian traditions about giant reptiles seem to stem from the same source.
The second unusual thing mentioned in the legend is a star that led to the death of the entire serpent family. A serpent tells the sailor:
“Since you have survived this accident, let me tell you a story of a disaster that happened to me. I used to live on this island with my family—seventy-five serpents in total, not including an orphan girl who was brought to me by chance, my beloved. One night, a star fell from the sky, and they all burned. It happened when I was not with them—I was not among them. Only I survived. Look, I am now alone here.”
What kind of star could incinerate seventy-five giant creatures simultaneously? Let’s recall the size of the serpents, how precise and effective the strike was, and how powerful the impact must have been to lead to such a result.
Giant Serpents
In the story, the surviving sailor describes waves eight cubits high, estimating the length of the serpent to be thirty cubits. These are key pieces of information for estimating size:
“Now the wind was getting stronger, the waves were eight cubits high. Then the mast fell into the waves, the ship was lost, and no one survived except me.”
Based on this account, the serpent was at least three times the size of the waves. But with a swift strike from a “star,” this vast “snake pit” of seventy-five giant serpents was entirely eradicated. Clearly, an explosion produced enormous energy.
What attacked the wise serpent? Could it have been the result of a “mad” asteroid hitting Earth?
Undoubtedly, as ancient mythological texts, there are usually many elements of fiction. However, giant serpents or dragons appear in many different cultures. As one of the most popular mythological creatures, it can live in the air, sea, or land. Mythologists believe it originated from the discovery of dinosaur bones by ancient people. Today, we see many variations of this creature in literature, but the fascination with these giant reptiles began long ago.
Giant Serpents in Ancient Legends
One of the oldest recorded might be the Mušḫuššu, dating back to 2100 BCE. “Mušḫuššu” is translated into Chinese as “Angry Snake.” Mesopotamians described these creatures as scaled animals with the hind legs of an eagle, the forelimbs of a lion, a slender body, a horned head, and a serpent-like tongue. They were the children of the primordial water goddess Tiamat and the god of chaos, Enki.
The Mušḫuššu were associated with the god of vegetation and the underworld, Ningishzida, who killed them. They were also the sacred animals of Marduk, the patron god of the city of Babylon. The powers of Mušḫuššu included bringing good luck and divine protection against evil. Now, carvings of Mušḫuššu still exist on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate in Babylon, used to protect the city.
Another giant serpent appears in an ancient Egyptian myth. The legend tells of the terrible eye of the god Ra, Sekhmet, cutting off the head of the giant serpent Apep. Apep was considered Ra’s greatest enemy and thus was given the title of “Enemy of Ra” and “King of Chaos.”
Apep, also known as Apophis in Greek, was actually the Egyptian god of chaos, the adversary of light and order. It was said to be 15 meters long, with a head made of flint. Myths usually interpreted Apophis as the result of Ra’s birth, rather than a primordial being, formed from Ra’s umbilical cord.
According to the myth, every night, Ra and Apep would meet and battle during the sun god’s journey across the sky. The rising of the sun the next morning represented Ra’s victory, but the arrival of the next night indicated that Apep could not be killed.
In Greek mythology, there is a giant serpent, the child of the Titan Gaia. Gaia resided at the center of the Earth, guarding the Delphic Oracle. This creature was said to have been born from the mud left after the primordial flood. Hera sent this serpent to pursue another of Zeus’s many loves, the mother of Artemis and Apollo.
Apollo, to avenge the serpent for tormenting his mother, shot the serpent with a hundred arrows and took over the Delphic Oracle. To purify himself of his sin, Apollo established the Pythian Games at Delphi. Named after the killed giant serpent, these games were the second Panhellenic games after the Olympics.
Leviathan or Livyatan is a primordial fire-breathing sea serpent in Jewish mythology. This creature was described as a multi-headed serpent killed by an archangel, providing food for the starving Hebrews in the wilderness. The Hebrews also associated Leviathan with the enemies of Israel. Its siblings were the earth giant Behemoth and the aerial monster Ziz.
When Christianity adopted the Old Testament, Leviathan’s name was changed to Leviathan. At the same time, this creature also became a symbol of the devil and general evil. In Catholicism, Leviathan is the name of the sin of envy. Over time, Leviathan transformed into a serpent-like demon rather than a powerful celestial spirit.
It can be said that giant serpents or dragons might be the oldest animals in history. Over the centuries, their physical characteristics, powers, and stories have evolved, but the enthusiasm for telling these tales has not waned.
Did these creatures ever exist? If so, what caused their extinction? Was it the result of an asteroid impact?
