to Pharaoh or to Elgypt (I**- ^h 9; Ezek. xxlx, 8; xxxii, 2 ; perhaps Psa. Ixxiv, 13), and in that case, es- pecially as feet are attributed to it, it most probably refers to the crocodile as the well-known emblem of Eg}'pt. When, however, it is used of the king of Babylon, as in Jer. li, 84, the same propriety would lead us to suppose that some great serpent, such as might iiihabit the sandy plains of Babylonia, is in- tended. See Leviathan.
8. In the New Test, dragon (jSpoKuv) is only found in the Apocal}-pse (Rev. xU, 8, 4, 7, 9, 16, 17, etc.), as applied metaphorically to "the old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan," the description of the "dragon" being dictated by the symbolical meaning of the im- age rather than by any refierence to any actually ex- isting* creature. Of similar personification, either of an evil spirit or of the powers of material Nature as distinct f^om God, we have traces in the extensive prevalence of dragon-worship, and existence of dragon- temples of peculis^ serpentine form, the use of dragon- standards both in the East, especially in Egypt, and in the West, more particularly among the Celtic tribes. Tho most remarkable of all, perhaps, is found in the Greek legend of Apollo aa the slayer of the Python, and the supplanter of the serpent-worship by a higher wisdom. The reason, at least of the scriptural sym- bol, ia to be sought not only in the union of gigantic power with craft and malignity, of which the serpent is the natural emblem, but in the record of the ser- pent's agency in the temptation (Gen. iii). For the ancient allusions to these fabulous or monstrous ani- mals, see Smith's Did. of Clou. Antiq. %, v. Draco. A well-known story of one of these occurs in the me- dinval legend of " St. George (q. v.) and the Dragon," and a still earlier one is named below. See Moksteb.
DRAGON AT Babylon. In the Sept. version of Daniel there occurs, as chap, xiv, an account entitled Bel and the Dragon (q. v.), which states that at Baby- lon, under Cjtus, an enormous dragon (dpcucwv fuyag) was worshipped (? by lecHttemia^ i. e. by spreading vi- ands on a couch as an offering). This serpent-worship, however, is certainly not of Babylonian origin (see Sel- den, De dm Syr, ii, Jl7, p. 866 sq,), since the two silver serpents mentioned by Diodorus Siculus (ii, 9) as be- ing in the temple of Belus (q. v.) were not forms of divinities, but only emblems of the gods there repre- sented ; yet possibly the conception had reference to the Persian symbol of the serpent, which signified Ahriman {ZendavesttL, by Kleuker, i, 6). Accordingly the serpent appears also in later Jewish representations as an evil dasmon (Rev. xli, xiii ; comp. (}en. iii). See Serpent.
DRAGON -WELL Cl'^P?5 T?* «y» hat4anmn\ fountain of the dragon; Sept. rniyrl tCjv (wniHw ; Vulg. fons draoonis\ the name of a fountain situated oppo- site or near the valley gate of Jerusalem (Neh. ii, 13). It is probably identical with the modem ^^ Upper Pool ofCVion" on the north-western side of the city, and also with the ^^ Serpent^ » PooT* mentioned by Josephus ( War, V, iii, 2). (See Strong's Harmony and Expos, of the Gospels, Append, ii, p. 8.) See Jerusalem.
Dragon (in symbolism). The dragon, in Christian art^ is the emblem of sin in general and of idolatry in particular. Its usual form is that of a gigantic winged crocodile. " It is often represented as crushed under the feet of saints and martyrs, and other holy person- ages. Sometimes its prostrate attitude signifies the triumph of Christianity over paganism, as in pictures of St. George and St. Sylvester ; or over heresy and schism, as when it was adopted as the emblem of the Knights of the order of the Dragon in Hungary, which was instituted for the purpose of contending against the adherents of John Huss and Jerome of Prat^ue." —Chambers, Encydopadia, s. v. ; Jamieson, Sacred and Legendary Art^ i, 26.
Dragon, Order of the» was founded in 1408 by
DRAGONNADES
884
DRAWER OF WAl
the emperor Sigismand, chiefly for fighting against the infidels. The members wore on the breast a cross, on which hung a kUled dragon.
Dragonnades, or Dragoonings. one of the modes of persecution employed against the Protestants of France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XI V ; so called because the chief soldiers en- gaged in the service were dragoons. See France; Persecutions.
Dram (1 Chron. xxix, 7; Ezra ii, 69; viii, 27; Neh. vii, 70, 71), or Draohm (Tobit v, 14 ; 2 Mace, iv, 19 ; xii, i'S). The term rendered thus in our ver- sion (Sept. S(>axfiTi and xP^^^^^y ^^Ig. drachma and aolidut; Q-^3it33'1?, darkemommf, Ezra il, 69; Neh. vi, 70-72; or with a letter prefixed D'^Si^'^i'lK, adar. konim'j 1 Chron. xxix, 7; Ezra viii, 27) is usually thought to denote the daric (iaptiKo^) of the Persians (from the Persic dara^ a king, whence perhaps the title J)arius\ and seems to be etymologically connect- ed with the Greek drachma (cpaxfiii). The daric is of interest not only as the most ancient gold coin of which any specimens have been preserved to the pres- ent day, bnt as the earliest coined money which, we can he sure, was known to and used by the Jews ; for, independently of the above passages, it must have been in circulation among the Jews during their sub- jection to the Persians. It even circulated extensive- ly in Greece. The distinguishing mark of the coin was a crowned archer, kneeling on one knee, stamped on one side, and on the other a deep irregular cleft.