Dragon-like creatures appear in ancient Mesopotamian art, dragon train casino where they could be hostile or benevolent. It is roughly serpentine in form, and often possesses features drawn from different animals, such as wings and claws. A dragon is a mythical creature found in the folklore of cultures throughout the world.

The Azhdarchid group of pterosaurs are named from a Persian word for “dragon” that ultimately comes from Aži Dahāka. This creature, known in Akkadian as the mušḫuššu, meaning “furious serpent”, was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem. A slightly different lion-dragon with two horns and the tail of a scorpion appears in art from the Neo-Assyrian Period (911 BC–609 BC). A draconic creature with the foreparts of a lion and the hind-legs, tail, and wings of a bird appears in Mesopotamian artwork from the Akkadian Period (c. 2334 – 2154 BC) until the Neo-Babylonian Period (626 BC–539 BC).

In Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, the Iranian hero Rostam must slay an 80-meter-long dragon (which renders itself invisible to human sight) with the aid of his legendary horse, Rakhsh. Despite the negative aspect of Aži Dahāka in mythology, dragons have been used on some banners of war throughout the history of Iranian peoples. Nonetheless, in some texts, she seems to be described with horns, a tail, and a hide that no weapon can penetrate, all features which suggest she was conceived as some form of dragoness. She was traditionally regarded by scholars as having had the form of a giant serpent, but several scholars have pointed out that this shape “cannot be imputed to Tiamat with certainty” and she seems to have at least sometimes been regarded as anthropomorphic.