Lotan or Lawtan is the seven-headed sea serpent or dragon of Ugaritic myths (Etymologically = the serpent of Law/Lot). He is either a pet of the god Yaw or an aspect of Yaw himself, who was also known as Yam (sea) or Nahar (river); the cosmic ocean of myth is often known as a great stream. In the Hebrew analogue Lotan is the Leviathan (i.e Serpent (Tan) of Levi). He represents the mass destruction of floods, oceans, and winter. He lives in a palace in the sea. He fights with Baal Hadad, who scatters him.

Lotan or Lotanu was also the name given by the Egyptians to the people, also known as the Retenu, and is cognate with the story of Lot, the nephew/brother of Abraham, whose daughters were the parents of the Moabites and Ammonites of the Bible.

See also

• Leviathan
• Dragons in Greek mythology for Ladon
• Lernaean Hydra
• Tiamat
• Zahhak
• Jörmungandr
• Tannin (demon)
• Rahab (demon)
• Book of Revelation#The Beast from the Sea for The dragon in Revelation

References

• Poem of Baal
• Day, John. 1985. God's Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0521256003.