In the Bible there are several references to the sea monster - Leviathan. In addition, Leviathan is mentioned both in numerous legends of folklore (for example, Jormunand in Scandinavian mythology), and in modern literature (as a synonym for the word "monster"). Sometimes identified with Satan.
In the Ugaritic mythological cycle, Leviathan (Latanu) is a many-headed sea monster, a companion of the god of the sea Yama, together with the latter defeated by Baal.
The Egyptians in ancient times said that their country was guarded from the south and west by impassable deserts, from the north - by powerful fortresses, and the eastern border (Nile) was guarded by crocodiles. According to Boris Sharov, the ancient Jews could have meant them when describing Leviathan. And in the future, in order to explain to a simple peasant that there are things more terrible than drought or floods, they exaggerated the size, power and strength of the beast tens and hundreds of times and equated it with the fiery Gehenna.
Leviathan is mentioned in the books of the Old Testament: in the Book of Job, the Book of Psalms and in the Book of Isaiah, and is also mentioned in the interpretative literature of the Old Testament tradition.
Midrash Bereshit Raba: "The verse indicates Leviathan" And God created the great fish and every soul of the creeping animals, which the water produced, after their kind "(Genesis 1:21) (in another translation," And God created sea monsters (tannin) according to their kind “): Rabbi Pinchas, on behalf of Rabbi Idi, said: It is written: tannins are a hippopotamus and a leviathan, which have no pair. This gives rise to an interpretation that attributes the monsters to mythical unpaired creatures. According to parallel Haggadic traditions (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 75), the Creator, having created male and female monsters, then destroyed the female, since their reproduction could be destructive for the created world. According to other interpreters (Resh Lakish), the female exists, but the reproduction process has been stopped."
Midrash Vayikra Rabba: "Leviathan will join the 'wild bull' in a battle in which both will die."
Treatise Bava Batra: "From the meat of the leviathan killed by the archangel Gabriel, God will arrange a feast for the righteous, which they will enjoy sitting in a tent made of leviathan skin."
John Milton defines Leviathan as a sea-beast and localizes it in the sea near the "Norwegian rocks".
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During excavations in Peru, in the Ica desert, scientists have found the remains of an ancient sperm whale, which supposedly lived in the oceans about 12-13 million years ago. The body length of the animal was over 17 meters, its teeth were up to 36 centimeters long and 12 centimeters wide. He was given the name "Leviathan", or rather - Livyatan melvillei. The first part of the name is taken from the Old Testament, while the second part of the name was attributed to the monster in honor of Herman Melville - the author of the novel "Moby Dick" about the giant sperm whale.