From the Romans to the Greek to the Kush to the Egyptians, folklore has been handed down from generation to generation. In most cases this folklore transcends any one religion and carries over into the next. Much like the Romans adopting and perverting Greek folklore, so too has most every religion known to exist. Likewise, from most mythology come stories of great, monstrous beasts, like the kraken and Cerberus. Such beasts are the leviathan and the behemot of ancient Hebrew lore. These great creatures are mentioned in the book of Job, which is speculated to be the oldest book of the Bible. Many have chosen to simply write it off as outdated language, while others believe it may be a dinosaur, and still others believe it to have been created to be the king of the fish and animals, created by God on the fifth day. It is also thought to be ancient folklore that has been carried over from before monotheism. Such is the mystery of the leviathan and the behemot.

One question left to the creation myth is the existence of dinosaurs. There is overwhelming proof of these great lumbering beasts, but there is no direct reference to them in the Old Testament. These

One theory that does have ample support is that of the leviathan and the behemot being ancient relics of past polytheism. The history of these beasts is shadowed in interpretation. What is known biblically is obviously not the entire story. The background of these two monsters is far more curious than the descriptions given to them in Job. Historically the Hebrew nation spawned from a nomadic nation of polytheists. Originally the Hebrew god Yaweh was one among a plethora of gods worshipped by their people. Much like the cities of ancient Greece and Rome had patron gods, so too did each tribe of these peoples. The reason the god of the Hebrews came forward as almighty and omnipotent is that his prophets tended to be more accurate than others, Likewise, this god was far more active in their day to day lives. The belief was that he watched over his followers and became vengeful when he was not appeased. It is in this view that the leviathan and the behemot carried over from polytheism. Like the kraken of Neptune, the leviathan was seen as the guardian of the seas by early Hebrews. As the story goes, a pair of these sea monsters were created on the fifth day as well as the rest of the creatures of the seas. The creature was seen as the king of the fish and was no more than the plaything of God. Together this pair was unequaled in power by any other on the earth and therefore God killed the female to keep them from reproducing and destroying the world. The creature itself is marvelous in construction and is unparalleled in its magnificence. The purpose is that one day, the leviathan will be served as a rare meal to the religious community of the world and its skin shall be stretched across Jerusalem as a shield. Yet, the host of angels that are sent to slaughter the beast will flee in terror. In result God will pit the behemot against the leviathan. The fiercest battle in history will then ensue, but there will be no victor because these two beasts will bring about their own ends (Heritage). This theory may not be quite as farfetched as originally thought. The early Hebrews spent much time in Egypt and the Egyptian polytheism may very well have influenced the Hebrews, especially in the case of the leviathan. In holding with the theory that the leviathan was some sort of crocodile, there was ample evidence to support that the Egyptians had some sort of influence in that the crocodile was the symbol for the country and both it and the

Some common words found in the essay are:
Greece Rome, Nile River, Loch Ness, Kush Egyptians, Diplodocus Scott, Egypt Egyptian, Behemot Behemot, Hebrew Scott, Bible Dictionary, Originally Hebrew, leviathan behemot, smith's bible dictionary, grass ox, bible dictionary, ample evidence, fifth day, existence dinosaurs, verse 17, smith's bible, grass ox verse, leviathan behemot ancient, ox verse, book job,
Approximate Word count = 1662
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)