Fun Facts: Mystery of the mermaids

Mermaids are legendary creatures who are half human and half fish. Stories of these elusive water-dwellers can be found through the centuries in many cultures. The word ‘mermaid’ can be traced to Old English, when “mer” meant “sea” and “maid” meant “girl” or “young woman.
The ancient Babylonians (2000-1600 BC) worshiped a deity name Uan. (The ancient Greeks called him Oannes.) This deity had the upper body of a man, but from the waist down he had a scaly fish tail. Uan was a son of Ea, one of the top deities of the ancient Mesopotamians.
The ancient Syrian (c. 1000 B.C.) deity Atargatis (known as Derketo to the ancient Greeks) tragically caused her human lover to die. In despair and shame, she jumped into a lake with the intention of turning into a fish, but only half of her took that form.
Mermaids are said to have some amazing skills. They can raise storms or calm the winds. They use magical music, songs and riddles to lure foolish sailors astray. Like their close cousins the sirens (who were half bird and half woman), mermaids were said to lure ships off course and into dangerous waters. Mermaids have often been linked with bad luck and misfortune, but some are said to have saved, befriended or even married humans. The Fiji mermaid had the torso and head of a monkey sewn to the back half of a fish.
Believe it or not
There have been many fake mermaids over the years. 19th-century sideshows often displayed the remains of mermaids, but these exhibits were deceptions. Some were the upper body of a monkey combined with the tail of a salmon.
Mistaken identity
It is quite likely that some of the mermaid encounters reported by sailors and explorers were actually aquatic mammals (manatees or dugongs).
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