Dragons and dinosaurs

Africa and Arabia (c.900 AD)

Rhamphorhynchus. Copyrighted by Films for Christ.

The respected Greek explorer Herodotus described small flying reptiles in ancient Egypt and Arabia. These animals sound amazingly like the small Ramphorhynchus (RAM-foe-RING-kus). They had the same snake-like body and bat-like wings. Many had been killed near the city of Buto (Arabia). He was shown a canyon with many piles of their back-bones and ribs. ¹

Flying Reptile. Copyrighted by Films for Christ.

Herodotus said that these animals could sometimes be found in the spice groves. They were “small in size and of various colors.” Large numbers would sometimes gather in the frankincense trees. When workers wanted to gather the trees’ valuable juices, they would use smelly smoke to drive the flying reptiles away.

The well-respected Greek, Aristotle, said that in his time it was common knowledge that creatures like this also existed in Ethiopia. Similar animals (three feet long) were also described in India by the geographer Strabo.

NEXT — Are any dinosaurs alive today?

REFERENCES & FOOTNOTES

See the writings of Herodotus. (There are a variety of published translations available.)

Perle S. Epstein, MONSTERS: THEIR HISTORIES, HOMES, AND HABITS (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1973), p.43.

Herodotus lived during the fifth century B.C.

“The reliability of Herodotus as an accurate eyewitness is more and more being recognized. De Selincourt writes thus: ‘As to the reliability of Herodotus’s information about Egypt, one can safely say that he is accurate and trustworthy when he describes what he saw with his own eyes. …His turn of mind was skeptical; he was a born investigator. …Since Herodotus is said to have seen the flying serpents, it would follow that his account is ‘accurate and trustworthy’.” (William A. Springstead), “Herodotus, the Bible, and Flying Serpents,” Bible-Science News (May 15, 1971), p.5.