The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

We know when the word "vampire" was used for the first time and in what context.
I wonder what is the oldest image of the vampire.
A painting for the modern vampire or a drawing maybe for the ancient one?
Please add a link, an url or an image with what you think is the oldest vampire image.
Also please name the author if it`s possible and tell us why you think it`s the oldest vampiric image.

Difficult one. I really don't know but maybe some advice:
Go to an art museum and ask them. They know a lot about art in the early years.
I think there will be a lot of "vampire" images but than they are called "demons" but look like the vampires like we drawn them now.

Good luck with the search.

One of the best known early depiction of a vampire was Edvard Munch's "Vampire" in 1895. It is popular even today and is probably his most famous work other than "The Scream". This was by no means the first depiction of a vampire, but most earlier works were either engravings or ink. Munch's work represents one of the early paintings of what we consider the modern day vampire. Todays modern day fantasy art has much of its roots in comic book illustrations.

Artwork can be found here:

Dark Romance

The Egyptians, the ancient Greeks, the Mayans, the Aztecs, all had vampire like creatures in their folklore, as well as Sumeria. The Vampire myths under many names have been widespread across the entire planet.

the first images we find are of the sumerian Akhkharu as the offspring of Az the witchqueen.

However we also find that the dark god Ahriman also has incarnations of undead legions of the same name.

Below is a photograph of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory. She was a serial killer in Hungary who killed, and drained the blood out of over 600 virgins. This isn't the oldest I'm sure. but it's old.

Here's Edvard Munch's painting, "The Vampire":

Ive heard that even ancient man drew pictures of a creature resembling the vampire, but I'm not sure what the creature was refered to as, does anyone else know what the creature was originally called? It may make it easier to find some history on them.

like a manitou, or manitee..something like that.. im not sure though..

Well I know that Dracula is long for "Dracul" whic i think means blood drinker. That is how Vlad Tepes got the nickname Dracul, which later Bram Stoker turned into Dracula.

I'm not sure the oldest is around.

People say Lilith was the first vampire. People also say it was Kain.


Who really was the first vampire I'm sure no one knows nor do I think for pictures would be same.

Dragonrogue---

you might try reading "Vampires: The Occult Truth"

it mentions vampiric lore throughout all the ancient cultures, and you might find the oldest culture mentioned in that book, I don't really know

I just saw that painting Edvard Munch's painting, "The Vampire" in the database! I really like it. It is from the late 1800s. To me, it doesn't necessarily seem like a vamp picture. It's nice.

here is Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler. he was responslbie for the sluaghter of an entire nation. They were killed by impalement. And he is believed to have been a vampire. He is where Dracula is derrived from.

darkxwhisper -


You're incorrect there. Vlad Dracula wasn't a vampire. Just a viscious ruler. However I won't go into that here. There's a thread around somewhere about it.

As MasterEmannuelo and Infernalmage have already said. there are vampire myths and legends from all cultures with imagry as far back as the begining of labguage.



(As for Vlad Dracul. He can not be judged by his actions outside of his time. He was no different from anyother warlord of that era. Only made famouse by a flight of fancy author who used his name and needs to add a darker nature to a rather flat character. )

It seems that this is a perplexing subject to find where our original origins come from. The oldest image would be a hard one to find. I know that Vampires a re mentioned int eh Necronomicon and original Sumurian texts that date far beyond the time of Babalon, as well as far before the christian bible that some would say is the oldest book in human history, not my belife, but some would argue as such. The Lilith comment I would prolly say is the oldest of our kind but then again I havent really seen much information on her andthe only things i can find state that she was the first wife of Adam, the supposed first human male.... im gonna look around and see what I can find.

Thank you all for your time and for posting here!

I have some observations to make though...
Untill now this is a curious thing.... nobody knows what is the oldest painting/drawing that represents a vampire as a mythlological creature.
It`s obvious that Vlad Tepes and countess Erszebet Bathory weren`t really vampires, and they can be called only metaforically vampires(although their motivation were very different , but that`s a subject for another thread).
Also, Munch`s image was named like that not by the painter himself.That should represent a woman trying to sooth the inner pain of her lover...
So, it`s interesting, but we are a lot of "vampires" here, but nobody knows what`s the oldest image of this strange creature... and we still don`t even have a hint I think...
:)

I Think It Would Be the Last Supper,
Jesus Said Drink From My Cup It Is My Blood

You are right Dragonrouge. I have been trying to look into ancient cave paintings and statues, but have found none that are of what modern society would deam a vampire. I have seen statues of Jaguars drinking the blood victims, as well as aztec priests using blood in prayers. Blood has played an important role in many cultures around the world throughout time. But as for the first images of undead blood drinkers, I have not found. >;]

I'd have to go with the ancient Sumerian (?) carving of Lilith, where she has wings, fangs, and bird legs.

The oldest known document with a reference to a 'vampire-like" being is a 2400 BC tablet known as "The Sumerian King List if this helps any...

But not even Sumer can be definitively credited as coming up with the first vampire. Why? Because Sumer is also the first civilization to develop cuneiform, a form of writing which uses word sounds rather than pictures. Consequently, there is no written histories prior to Sumer.....

Thanks jdviper, I think you are right!
It`s a possible answer!

As about Lilith image:
I think you were talking about this one:

Image removed for TOS violation

There is a diety of the mayan culture, Camazotz. He has the body of man and head of the bat..Most importantly he too sucks blood...

Here is a better link but I am not sure how to translate it from french, but the first images of vampires in an ancient civilization

http://www.morsure.net/spip.php?article19

I want to make a response to a couple of things. Bathory did not drink the blood...she bathed in it and it was because she was obsessed with staying young...she was not a vampire, she was insane. As for the Draculs...Vlad the father became a member of the Order of the Dragon in 1431 and he was given that name, Dracul upon membership, it was only a nickname. Adding the "a" just means son of. His son joined around that time also but he was not a founder of the organization. The Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund was the founder nor were either of these men founding members. Vlad Tepes was only a minor after thought in writing the book Dracula...all of that is an urban legend and not true. The book was ready for printing and was set in Austria originally. The name was similar to another phrase in Gaelic which is prounounced Drakola. According to Elizabeth Miller and other authorities on the book, the idea that Vlad Tepes was the inspiration because he changed the locale of the story and used the spelling of his name and stereotype is hogwash. I have studied this...It was a last minute epiphany and nothing more. I think it was to promote sales. It came from information from a guide book to Transylvania he ran across. He even put in the word Nosferatu which isn't a real word at all because the lady heard it wrong and the only place it was ever known to appear outside of the book was in her book. That started another false legend out of that book. The only reason they used that name for a movie was because it was actually another version of the book Dracula and they didn't have permission. Bram Stoker had died but his wife was alive and she sued them. Eventually they talked her into letting it release here. There is a lot of false information floating around. Vampire is just one word for this type of creature from one area. It will not be the same in other languages. There are stories all over the world of these types of creatures and not all of them drank blood. It depends on which one you are speaking about in regards to first drawings and such. Seems here you are speaking of Eastern European or do you mean any culture by any name?

The Necronomicon is a fake...all versions but one have had those involved in the creation of it state this is so. The Simon version is known to be a fake as well because people who were there when it was put together have stated how it was written but they didn't all come out and state it was fake exactly. Simon wrote another book and was conversing online some months ago and admitted it was a nome de plume. All these books are known fakes. We even know Peter Lavenda was the original Simon although sometimes when they had book signings when he wouldn't come, Alan Cabal would stand in. It was a lark by a few members of the first OTO in New York associated to a book store there. The owner had it published much to their chagrin and it sold like hotcakes and they then didn't want to tell it was all trash. It was made for their magickal students for them to find the loopholes in the ideas proposed in the book. Someone got greedy is all because they knew the public could be duped. It has some real things in it but very little and they don't apply how they are used. It was made that way to try and fool the students. What does it have to do with vampires or their imagines. If they go back as far as the Dragoncourt states there will be no really old images unless they are woodcuts I would think. Besides those that say they are hereditarily the vampire race would just look like anyone else except differences in dress for the time period. It appears to be in the genes and some have tested for the two genes involved. I know some don't like the idea of genetics being involved and I won't say it is a fact but there are those who have gotten the tests that go from a long family line and their DNA is essentially not human as standards go. So I guess there might be drawings in certain areas which lump all creatures who do certain types of things together. They didn't have cameras back then so unless its a painting like a portrait I don't think it would be very reliable.

There are writtings of vampires from over 4,000 years ago form Ancient Egypt on scripts in pyramids. There are even drawings of vampire like creatures.

yes that is true, somewhat. Vampire like creatures, but not the vampires we know today. The modern imaging of a vampire is far different than what it was in ancient times.

modern-day vampyres look no different from average humans. old-day vampyres used to have fangs, but in modern day, donors simply cut themselves for us, thus evolution figured we don't need fangs, though some rare occasions occur where you do find them, like my friend reks in my profile.
bus, i figure in the olden days they would believe vampires where in very gothic clothing, extremely pale, fangs, who had the ability to transform into bats.

Thank you Sacha for the precious info!There are interesting infos on that French site!


Lady Dancer I was referring at any culture... I`m sorry that my specification a:" a painting for the modern vampire or a drawing maybe for the ancient one" was not specific enough.

Although Litlth has been considered a vampire also heard her to be Adam's first wife from the bible.. .... I think darkXwhisper has it right.. I think his Dracula image is the oldest known painting. Munch's painting is definitely not the oldest image..

well that sounds right and I also feel that there could actually be some older ones in Europe if one could actually go looking and find them. :0 just an opinion is all.

I believe the Mitchlin Vampires to be the oldest, but I have yet to find an image.

i remember reading something that the cavemen used to draw pictures of humans that would ravage other people just so they could eat. im not sure if its a vampire or just a cannibal

To me that Edvard Munch painting is stunning, with a hint of irony as it emanates such warmth, tenderness and compassionate qualities.

I think alot of the carvings from the past and imagies on the walls would probably be the first depiction of vampires, yet more an likely they would depect bats with human arms and legs.

All we really have is what has not been destroyed through time. There are still many things that are lying under sand, under water, and things unearthed to be revealed. It would be rather difficult to say and the very first of anything would be a rarity to find , if at all. :)

Like all forum questions, it depends on what you personally use the term vampire to describe ... but here's a few old ones

The Nepalese "Lord of Death" was shown in ancient wall paintings holding a blood-filled goblet in the form of a human skull while standing in a pool of blood. If you think of a vampire as any supernatural creature that drinks human blood, it fits the bill

Also in India you have cave paintings of the Bhuta (they were the undead, changed into bats and lived in cemeteries but were mostly harmless) or the Brahmaparusha (who were like the Bhuta but had intestines wrapped round their heads and drank blood from a goblet)

Some of these wall paintings are as old as 3000 BC

Then you have the Rakshasas (had fangs, lived in cemeteries, attacked people) which are sketched in the Indian Holy Writings called the Vedas from around 1500 BC - the Vedas dates much further back than that (compiled about 3500 BC but the Rakshasas featured around 1500 BC)

Ok the first image of a vampire was of a woman she was mortal but did some fun thing like when she was trying to get pregnant she would drink wolfs milk and the story starts there it was also the reason Bram's Stoker's wrote his book Dracula. He had writing it about a Vampire Queen but change it The story of Vampires did not start in Tranvilla but in Hungry if I am not worng

I watch a show on the Histroy Channel about it

Hope this helps

I just wanted to add my two cents on one of the paintings posted here. Edvard Munch's painting was not originally entitled "The Vampire". It was actually called "Love and Pain". A critic named Stanislaw Przybyszewski mistakenly interpreted as being vampiric in both theme and content. It became known as "The Vampire" after his wrong interpretation. The woman in the painting is not drinking the blood of a victim, but rather consoling her lover.

As for the images of Lilith, while they are indeed old, she was not really considered a vampire. She was a demon.

Lilith (Hebrew לילית) is a mythological female Mesopotamian storm demon associated with wind and was thought to be a bearer of disease, illness, and death. The figure of Lilith first appeared in a class of wind and storm demons or spirits as Lilitu, in Sumer, circa 4000 BC. Many scholars place the origin of the phonetic name "Lilith" at somewhere around 700 BC despite post-dating even the time of Moses. Lilith appears as a night demon in Jewish lore and as a screech owl in the King James version of the Bible.--Wikipedia

According to this she was not a traditional vampire. However, there are several connections between Lilith lore and other vampiric lore. A similar demon to Lilith was the Greek demon known as Lamia, also a child stealing demon. I'm sure some of you are familiar with the term Lamia when it concerns vampires.

Lamia had a vicious sexual appetite that matched her cannibalistic appetite for children. She was notorious for being a vampiric spirit and loved sucking men’s blood.--Wikipedia

Often both Lilith and Lamia were thought to have the upper body of a female and the lower body of a serpent. Following are two paintings that convey this idea:

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"Lilith" from Michelangelo's "The Temptation of Adam and Eve". A common iconographic depiction of the serpent of Eden in late Medieval and Renaissance art.

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Adam, Lilith, and Eve,c. 1210 AD, Base of trumeau, left portal, West Façade, Notre Dame, Paris.

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Lamia by John William Waterhouse (1909); note the snakeskin about her waist.

Do you also notice the connection between the serpentine body and the story of Adam and Eve? Some say that Lilith was the snake and some say that she summoned the snake.

I'm sorry. I could go on and on about Lilith and all her counterparts. Thus the reason for my Coven. lol :)

*All images and their captions were taken from Wikipedia.

I guess that would depend on exactly what you are looking for since the term vampire did not exist in English language until 1734 according to the Oxford English dictionary, thats less than 300 years ago. The French began using the term vampyre shortly before that and vampir appeared in German and Austrian around 1718. It is believed that vampir has its origin in different Slavic and Russian languages as words pronounced upir or similar that date back as far as 1047. Are you looking for an image of someone or something that would now be considered a vampire or an image that the artist intended to be a vampire? There is a very big difference between the two. By some, even "the devil" is considered a vampire which by some accounts would make "the devil" the first vampire. There is probably a drawing in a cave somewhere of a creature or person that today we might consider a vampire. If you are looking for a image though that the artist specifically set out to draw or paint a vampire even if you go with the term upir the image would be within at the most the last 1000 years and more than likely within the last 200-300 years.


All of the information I listed I got from Wikipedia.com

Wolvie is right. the problem is that the curent association of the term Vampire is undefined. It has come to encompass so many different ideas. When you go through history, myth, and legend, there are many creatures and even dieties the show some quality that we associate with Vampires, but most are just refered to as Demon, Monster, or God/dess. So whether these images inspire the idea of Vampires, or if Vampires inspired these myths and legends. I believe we shall never truely know.

I believe the original "Vampire" were considered fallen angels that were cursed into purgatory, basically left to be un-judged, not dead or undead, there is more to the paradox but I am unable to find the words to describe much more, other than they are neither Good or Evil, but serve a purpose of balance.

That would kind of go along with the idea of "the devil" being the first vampire since "the devil" was supposed to be the first angel cast out of heaven. But the real issue here is the oldest image of a vampire not who was the first vampire, because the oldest image may not be of the first vampire or even the 100th vampire.

The problem I have found with researching vampism in older records is if you look at the language itself it doesn't always mean what people think. Sometimes it means any spirit after death like Stregoi which does not mean vampire. Usually they borrow the Slavic word, "vampir." The thing is I found that some of these words have been used to mean werewolf as well as vampire and in some cultures they believe when a werewolf is killed they turn into a vampire. When you start researching into the Scythians you find many interesting things pertaining to vampirism. There is some connection between Greek Arcadians, the Sythians and the Annunaki. I am researching all of this and it all pertains to werewolves and vampires and it goes way back. You will never find records that will authoritatively identify a first vampire. I don't believe in Lilith having anything to do with vampires myself because she comes from very old myths and was added into Midrash as an explanation of two verses in the Old Testament that conflicted. One said that the woman was created at the same time as Adam and the other said from his rib. They dropped the same time and added her tale into their writings as an explanation. This is a topic that can't be resolved but its fun to talk about those that are written about providing it isn't just superstition. I am even finding from some researches that some people who fall under this umbrella in legend didn't do a lot of things that I even thought they did because I hadn't looked deeper...like Bathory bathing in blood...appears that is an urban legend. It would be the same for this category. Folklore changes as it is passed down and then finally written down long after it happened and even with people like Jospehus and others that wrote about everything it would depend on their own personal biases.

Dragonrouge: can you please state exactly what you are looking for? Is it an image of (someone or something) now considered to be a vampire or an image that the artist intended it to be a vampire. When Vlad Tepes and Elizabeth Bathory were alive they were not considered vampire because the word did not exist yet. If an artist painted a portrait of them while they were alive the artist they would not have had the intent to paint a vampire. If someone painted a portrait of them now the artist might be intending it to be of a vampire.

The Infamous Blood Countess
her story can be found here on
http://paranormalinsider.com/2008/01/the_infamous_blood_countess.php
Elizabeth Báthory was a beautiful woman of noble birth who came into this world on August 7, 1560. We call her the Blood Countess. Between the years of 1585 and 1610, she allegedly tortured over 600 girls and young women, killing them all.
Short summery and a couple of weeks ago GHI(Ghost Hunters International) Did visit her castle ruins.
Did they find it haunted? No evidence was found.
Is it haunted?I would think so creepy to think 600 people died in 20 years of her living there.

well after reading the posts here I feel alot of it has to do with how one percieves the term Vapirism and vampire. I mean every country and every religion has a myth / belief/story to tell the world so as for actually finding the 1st picture or statue or anything that has to do with vampires or Dracula you would have to first decide what country and what belief it is you want it from.

So amny different versions out there who is to actually say what is first or not, just an observatiom is all

I am searching for any old image related to the myth of vampires.
This is not only a quest but a motive to search through history of painting and drawing for any imagery related to this myth, no matter the language or the term used for blood drinking creatures who can be bond today with the accepted definition of a vampire.
Anything who can be related with vampire imagery goes!


In the same time I would prefere if your posts will be sustained with images.In fact that`s why I made the thread.Don`t let us search for the images. Post it here yourselves.Maybe some of us will see some surprising images related with the myth that are not so familiar yet to the ones who love the vampires.

India and Egypt!Very interesting suggestions!
Do you have some pics with those vampirelike creatures?

I found this on photobucket. I don't know who painted it or where it came from but it looks really old. Does anyone knoe what it is?


Image removed for TOS violation

china had some sort of vampire myth that
slept in the water
the indian vampire sort of is called BrahmarākŞhas a
having hard time finding the pictures,
also native americans had some vampire storys...
what about South America,
one of the largest blood religions ever
with the Mayans and Aztecs they drank blood in religious ceremony's all the time and
regarded blood as very sacred

also:

Algul

The Algul is an Arabian vampire, and appears
as a female. The name literally translates
to “blood-sucking jinn” or “horse-leech”.
While it sucks blood like more mainstream
vampires do, it differs in that it is a jinn, or demon,
and was never human to begin with.
Unkillable by most means, Algul can
be destroyed by fire and sometimes magic.

Pennaggolan and Brahmaparusha

The Malaysian pennaggolan and
Indian brahmaparusha lead the pack
as far as sheer hideousness.
In the interests of decency,
I’ll refrain from describing them here.
Should you be curious as to what these are
and why they makes Hollywood’s Count Dracula
look like Jeeves the Butler, there’s always Google.
The literal meaning of Pennaggolan is “head with dancing intestines”. Enough said.

More on Indian vamps:

Plagiarism is not allowed on VR. If you use someone else’s words in your post, you must cite the source.

It would depend on what culture and what area of the world. there are many places where stories were passed down as oral traditions and nothing was drawn or pictured until centuires later

Not that i have a lot to say about this matter except for it was a good read with everyones different opions. All that I can say is there was an thread like this in Members Articles some time back.

im not exactly sure whos the first but ive heard it might have beeneither kain or marcus

I think to learn about the oldest vampire image is to go to a local bookstore or library and look in their History section, theie has to be something about the oldest one in the early B.C or A.D. I have a history book here however and its called Civilization in the West, I wonder if I can find anything about this in that book. The Authors names are Mark Kishlansky, Patrick Geary, and Patricia O'Brien

hmmm i think the oldest image would back into time be that of some type of carnivore..... animal or some sort

here's another I found.

Well, the older "vampire" image would be Dracula, seeing as hollywood claims him to be the first vampire.

The above disc was discovered in the Minoan Palace of Phaistos in Crete. It is believe to be created in 1600 B.C.

This information is from the following link:

www.stygianlabyrinth.net

I heard of a mesopatamian myth of a vampyre but I forgot the name and am having trouble locating it again... Some research into this ma be helpful as I am sure it would prove to be the oldest vampyre story in the world....