Tannin

dragon · Syria · Middle East and North Africa

Tannin is the sea-dragon or chaos-monster of ancient Northwest Semitic tradition, appearing in Ugaritic and biblical texts as a raging serpent of the deep, cognate with Lotan (Leviathan). Yahweh crushes the tannin (Isaiah 51:9; Psalm 74:13), a victory over primordial chaos tied to the Levantine coast. The word passed into Arabic (tinnīn) for 'dragon' or 'sea-serpent'.

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