Chinese dragon: Did you mean...?

While ancient Chinese warfare was often characterised by large armies in pitched battles, siege warfare and the sacking of cities were also regular features. Huge earth walls with towers and encircling ditches or moats became the normal strategy...

Kublai Khan (Qubilai-Qan) was the ruler of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294. His accomplishments include establishing Mongol rule in China under the name of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), thus becoming the first non-Chinese to rule the...

With zinging arrows, powerful crossbow bolts, stabbing swords, and swinging axes all a staple feature of the Chinese battlefield, it is not surprising that soldiers sought to protect themselves as best they could with armour and shields...

Cadmus Slays the Dragon, oil on canvas by Hendrick Goltzius, between 1573 and 1617. Koldinghus, Kolding, Denmark.

Wooden screen depicting the Shinto god Susanoo defeating the dragon with eight heads, 19th century. Susanoo was the god of storms and Yomi, the underworld. Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas, Texas.

Porcelain bowl decorated with dragons chasing pearls. From the noted porcelain centre of Jingdezhen, Ming dynasty, 1573-1620. Height: 9.4 cm. Diameter: 14.9 cm. The British Museum, London.

A Chinese jade dragon. Zhou Dynasty, 5th-4th century BCE. Height: 9 cm. The British Museum, London.

Detail from the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, built in 6th century BCE by king Nebuchadnezzar II; part of the Gate is now reconstructed in Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

The book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John of Patmos is one of the most famous books in the New Testament. Written near the end of the 1st century CE, it is the only apokalypsis (Greek: "unveiling of unseen realities") that was included...

The Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE) was among the most culturally significant of the early Chinese dynasties and the longest lasting of any in China's history, divided into two periods: Western Zhou (1046-771 BCE) and Eastern Zhou (771-256 BCE...