The history of serpents is a long one. Herodotus traveled for many months to reach the small city of Buto, in Arabia, not far from the eastern mouth of the Nile. There was a story, he said, that every year winged serpents gather together to invade Egypt. Groups of them huddled and lighted on the land, warming themselves, sunbathing on the Saharan sand and gradually pushing the people out.