Short answers, pulled from the story.
The muškhushu appears on the Ishtar Gate of Babylon as a protective emblem for deities like Marduk and Nabu during the Neo-Babylonian period between 626 BC and 539 BC. This creature combines the body and neck of a snake with the forelegs of a lion and the hind legs of a bird.
David E. Jones proposed that humans inherited instinctive reactions to snakes much like monkeys do based on a study finding approximately thirty-nine people out of one hundred fear snakes even where they are rare. He argued this innate fear explains why draconic creatures appear in nearly all cultures worldwide.
Apep resided in the Duat as a giant serpentine creature whose roar caused thunderstorms and earthquakes while his attack on the sun boat resulted in solar eclipses. The Bremner-Rhind papyrus written around 310 BC preserves an account where Ra descends to battle this eight-man-high serpent.
Chinese dragons governed rain the sea and other forms of water according to beliefs dating back to the Han dynasty onwards. They became emblems of imperial power allowing only the emperor to display them on clothing houses or personal articles until 1911 when the last Chinese emperor was overthrown.
Ancient Greek myths include Zeus battling Typhon who had hundred serpent heads breathing fire and Heracles slaying the Lernaean Hydra dwelling swamps of Lerna. Apollo used poisoned arrows to slay Python causing death and pestilence around Delphi while Jason killed the Colchian dragon surpassing breadth length fifty-oared ship stealing Golden Fleece together Medea.