The Ancient Vampire
The myth of the vampire has been in existence for over seven thousand years and in almost every culture of the world. From ancient times to modern, however, the myth of the vampire has greatly changed. The origin of the vampire myth is not known. Evidence of the vampire tale can be found with the ancient Chaldeans in Mesopotamia and with Assyrian writings on clay or stone tablets. Around 5000 BC, vampirism had spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin, China, Tibet and India. In 2000 BC, Egyptians built a Tomb of the Vampires in Giza. In 28 AD, Jesus reputedly healed vampires. In ancient India and Nepal, ancient paintings on the walls of caves depict blood drinking creatures. From Greece and Rome the superstition spread throughout Austria, Hungary, Lorraine, Poland, Romania, Iceland and the British Isles, reaching its height in the period from 1723 to 1735, when a vampire fever or epidemic broke out in the south-east of Europe, particularly in Hungary and Serbia. It spread even to Africa. The belief in vampires was prevalent also in Babylon and Assyria. The ancient Greeks believed in the vampire lamiae, a murderous beauty who tantalized men to devour them for their youthful blood. Some believed she had the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a serpent. In Egyptian mythology the supreme god, Ra, sent the goddess Sekhmet to earth to punish mankind for mocking him. Drunk on the blood of mortals, Sekhment began a frenzied slaughter of every human.
Ancient Vampires Around the World China ~ kiang shi (source: Karg, Barb, Arjean Spaite, Rick Sutherland. The Everything Vampire Book. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2009.) |
  Rakshasa - ancient Hindu vamire. (source: www.vampires.com)  The Malaysian Vampire, the Penanggaten, a human head with entrails that left its body and searched for the blood of others, especially infants.  Sekhment, an Egyptian goddess that slaughtered and drank the blood of mortals. (source: www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk)  Lamiae, beautiful reanimated corpses of ancient Greece that tantalized men to devour them for their youthful blood. (source: www.draculas.info) |
