Antichrist and Satan, the Leviathan of the Old
fifth-century Sasanian seal (fig 150),67 suggests
Testament 59 The Pistis Sophia, which claims to
that the Sasanian representations of the serpent
record the teachings of Jesus during the eleven
biting its own tail may perhaps be based on con-
years following his resurrection, states:
ventional renderings of the dragon in contempo-
raneous star-maps inspired by astrological works
The outer darkness is a great dragon whose tail
of the Hellenistic east 68 In Hellenic astrology, the
is in its mouth, and it is outside the world, and
it surrounds the whole world
great celestial serpent (draco coelestis) dominated
60
the heavens, encompassing all the spheres of the
Significantly, in the apocalypse of the heavens
cosmos, coiling around the heavens and biting
the Sun appears as a great dragon accompanied
its tail 69 yet it is important also to consider the
by the seven planets and with the four horses61
reverse of the seal, which depicts a palm tree above
that in Greek mythology drew the chariot of the
a pair of outspread wings with small streamers
sun god Helios (sol invictus), while the Moon is
surrounded either by a decorative border or a
depicted as steered by a male and a female dragon
more stylised ouroboros 70 Since this represents
and drawn by two white bulls 62
a rare iconographic variant, Rika Gyselen ten-
Nevertheless, the ancient conceptions of the
tatively suggests a magical interpretation of the
serpent resurface in the Gospel of John in the New
seal 71
Testament (3:14) As noted earlier, the serpent
The motif of the paired encircling dragons also
lifted up by Moses is presented in the Epistle of
makes an appearance in the well-known legend
Barnabas as a symbol of Jesus and of Christian-
of the Ascent of Iskandar Certain editions of
ity 63 The formula, “I am the alpha and the omega,”
the romance of Pseudo-Callisthenes ( c fourth
meaning “in my beginning is my end and in my
century) describe how, as Iskandar is carried to
end is my beginning,” also leads to the imagery
heaven by eagles, he sees a field encircled by a ser-
pent which is explained as the world surrounded
of the ouroboros serpent, symbol of the unity and
by the ocean 72 The depiction of this scene also
eternal renewal of life 64
reflects the force and ongoing cultural resonance
The ouroboros motif reached its apogee during
which the Alexander Romance possessed at the
the Gnostic period, which lasted from the second
time; in particular, the meaning associated with
century bc to the third century ad, when the
this imagery It is portrayed on a small Byzantine
Greek and West Asian cultures were subsumed
enamel ed medal ion of the eleventh century from
by a form of pan-Hellenism 65 It is of significance,
the Pala d’Oro on the high altar of St Mark’s,
however, that the symbol had not been known in
now preserved in the Treasury of San Marco,
Classical Greek, Etruscan or early Roman cul-
Venice, representing the schematised composi-
ture 66 Thus the ouroboros symbol came to serve
tion of Iskandar’s view of the world as seen from
as an image for a complex of ideas that was known
on high (fig 151) 73 The plaque is decorated with
by a Greek name
a large central tree inhabited by birds and flanked
An ouroboros serpent that encircles a lion, sur-
by a pair of addorsed peacocks with their heads
mounted by a crescent and star, engraved on a
turned backwards The composition is encircled
59 Leisegang, 1955, repr 1979, p 218
65 Needham and Wang, 1965, p 376
60 Pistis Sophia, text ed Schmidt and tr Macdermot, 1978,
66 Eidem, p 376, n g
bk III, ch 126, p 635; cf Pistis Sophia, tr Mead, 1896, p 320,
67 Cf Gyselen, 1995, pp 52–3, fig 60 (photograph of seal
sec 319 See also Leisegang, 1955, repr 1979, p 218; Reitzen-
recto, verso)
stein, 1916, esp p 41; Merkelbach, “Drache,” RAC IV, 1959,
68 Bivar (1969, p 26) connects the ouroboros serpent
p 228; Sheppard, 1962, p 88; Beck, 2004, p 225
with the Egyptian serpent deity Āpep that is regarded
61 Pistis Sophia, text ed Schmidt and tr Macdermot,
as the cosmic antagonist of the Sun and the Moon Ac -
1978, bk IV, ch 136, pp 709–10; cf Pistis Sophia, tr Mead,
cording to Azarpay (1978, p 369 and fig 6) “representa-
1896, p 296, sec 359; Leisegang, 1955, repr 1979, p 218 and
tions of the ouroboros serpent on Sasanian seals of the
n 11; Sheppard, 1962, p 89; Beck, 2004, pp 225–6, n 72 The
fifth century suggest the currency of astrological notions
motif of the flying chariot driven by dragons apppears also in
about the ecliptic Dragon at an earlier period in Sasanian
the myth of Medea (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca I 146;
Persia ”
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History IV 50 6; Ovid, Metamor-
69 Leisegang, 1955, repr 1979, p 217
phoses VII 217, 350 and 391–3)
70 Bivar, 1969, p 26, pl 11, DL2; Gyselen, 1995, p 53,
62 Pistis Sophia, text ed Schmidt and tr Macdermot,
fig 60
1978, bk IV, ch 136, pp 709–10; cf Pistis Sophia, tr Mead,
71 Eadem, 1995, pp 52, 76–7
1896, p 296, sec 359; Beck, 2004, pp 225–6, n 72
72 Pseudo-Callisthenes II, ch 41, tr and ed Stoneman,
63 Tr Lake, 1914, vol 1, p 385
1991, p 123 Cf Millet, 1923, p 94, ch 102 See also p 55
64 Leisegang, 1955, repr 1979, p 229
73 Grabar, 1951, p 48, fig 10c (photograph)
vestiges of ancient dragon iconographies
151
by a pair of giant serpents with looped bodies
it rules over all denizens of the waters ”80 Islamic
and interlaced tails
cosmological notions speak of the “Lote Tree on
The significance of this imagery is underlined
the Boundary” (sidrat al-muntahā), also known
by Grabar who identifies it as highly character-
as ṭubā (“blessed”) 81 The Qurʾān describes how
istic of the Iranian repertoire of motifs, stating
when the Prophet was carried on his night jour-
that “this image of the Universe, a distinctly Ira-
ney (miʿrāj) up to the seventh heaven, he went
nian iconography, deserved to be introduced into
on as far as the sidrat al-muntahā beyond which
the family of medieval representations of the
no angel or any other being can pass This tree is
Cosmos ”74 Similarly the tree and the birds rep-
located to the right of the divine throne (ʿarsh)
resented on the plaque, as Grabar has observed,
and near the garden of the eternal abode ( sūra
represent “Iranian symbols of the garden of the
53, 14–5) 82
Earth; in the text of the legend they are docu-
An emblematic illustration of the city of Baby-
mented with the words: “fruits of the Earth ” ”75
lon in the manuscripts of Beatus’ Commentary
The Latin version of the text states: “orbis ter-
on the Apocalypse shows the theme of two giant
rarum sicut area, in qua conduntur fruges ”76 This
serpents enclosing a city Discussing this coinci-
form of imagery thus provides a bird’s eye view
dence of imagery John Williams comments that
of the terrestrial universe current in the medieval
“Christian culture shared iconographic traditions
Iranised Central Asian sphere The motif was here
associated with the Muslim world…”83 Babylon,
adapted to a Christian context and, as Grabar
which must have been notorious for its dragons,
notes, it is possible that the stylised cruciform
was also known in Iranian tradition as the loca-
motif on the apex of the tree represents a Chris-
tion of the giant dragon Dahāka 84
tian cross which served to “convert” this oriental
The illustration of the city of Babylon serves
representation of the universe into a Christian
as frontispiece for the Daniel Commentary (1 1
one 77 Evidently the motif had wide currency in
and 14 23) in two tenth-century manuscripts, the
the medieval world, both Muslim and Byzantine
Morgan Beatus, dated between c 940 and 945
The origin of this iconography may plausibly
(fig 152), and the Girona Beatus, dated 6 July
be seen to lie in the Zoroastrian cosmological
975,85 as wel as in one mid-eleventh-century man-
motif of the Saēna Tree, the perch of the great
uscript, the Saint-Sever Beatus from the monas-
mythical Saēna bird (Av saēna-mərəγa-, Mid
tery of Saint-Sever-sur-l’Adour (on which the city
Pers sēn murw, Pers sīmorḡ) 78 The tree on
is shown to be enclosed by two dragons whose
which the Saēna nests grows in the middle of
heads and tails entwine at top and bottom) 86
Lake Vārukasha (yasht 12 17) and is cal ed Vīspō
In the Morgan Beatus Babylon is shown as a
bish (the Gaokərəna-Tree, Mid Pers Gōkirn),
towering city with a large horseshoe arch-shaped
Tree of All Remedies, because it bears the seed of
main city gate framed by an inverted pair of
all healing herbs 79 According to the Bundahishn
small dragons, who touch at the tail tips, in such
the revered Vāsī Panchā sadvarā lives in the lake
a manner that their undulant bodies seem to form
(yasht 42 4) It appears to be a kind of sea dragon
an ogee arch-shaped enclosure around the gate
and is “so huge that if it were to rush swiftly along
The entire composition is encircled by a sequence
from sunrise to sunset it still would not have cov-
of two giant dragons demarcated by a fine spotted
ered as much ground as the length of its own body;
pattern in anti-clockwise arrangement, the gaping
74 Idem, p 48 Similar cosmological concepts referring to
Islamic eschatology as growing in Hell ( sūra s 37, 60–2; 44,
the gigantic tree and the mythical bird sent by God to aid the
43; and 56, 52)
hero are described in the Kitāb-i Samak ʿAyyār; see Gaillard,
83 Williams, 1994, vol 1, p 139
1987, p 113
84 Skjærvø, “Aždahā I,” EIr Cf yarshater, 1983a, p 426;
75 Grabar, 1951, p 48
Hintze, 1999, p 86, n 62
76 Cited after idem, p 48 Cf Millet, 1923, p 102
85 City of Babylon enclosed by two dragons, frontis-
77 Grabar, 1951, p 48, n 17
piece, Daniel Commentary The Girona Beatus Kingdom
78 See Boyce, 1975, repr 1996, pp 88–91, 137–8, 143
of Léon, probably Tábara Dated 6 July 975 Museu de la
79 Cf Janda, 2010, pp 320–1
Catedral de Girona, Num Inv 7 (11) Williams, 1994, vol 2,
80 Eadem, p 89
ill 376
81 On the Tree of Life in Islamic tradition, see Lechler,
86 City of Babylon enclosed by two dragons, frontispiece,
1939, pp 369–419; Wensinck, 1921, repr 1978, p 33; Wid-
Daniel Commentary The Saint-Sever Beatus Monastery of
engren, 1955, pp 103–4, 208–9, 212–3
Saint-Sever-sur-l’Adour Mid-eleventh century Paris, Bi -
82 The Qurʾān mentions also the Tree of Eternity (shajarat
blio thèque Nationale, Ms Lat 8878, fol 217 Williams, 1994,
al-khuld) ( sūra 20, 120–1) and another tree which appears in
vol 2, ill 466
152