   Gargoyles were originally created to adorn buildings, and at the same time to act as decorative water spouts, to throw rainwater clear of the walls and help prevent their erosion. Gargoyles first began appearing over 2000 years ago, in Ancient Greece and Egypt. The Egyptians, whose religion included a large number of deities, were the first to use grotesque non-human figures in their sculpture. The Greeks modified these creations to fit their own beliefs, and their ideas have been copied down through the centuries; as a result, gargoyles often resemble centaurs, griffins, and chimeras. Later, such sculptures also often depicted real animals, such as lions, reptiles, or monkeys, or sometimes people.  The term 'gargoyle' was derived from French gargouille meaning 'throat', which originated from the Latin gurgulio meaning 'gullet'. Gargoyles were used to decorate buildings, and to provide a spout for rainwater run-off. But they also served as an educational tool to illustrate religious motifs for the mostly illiterate population. In addition, since many were small and located in not easily visible locations, they were probably added to buildings just because it was the fashion to do so. Another reason for including gargoyles on a building could have been to ward off evil spirits and provide protection to the occupants; this might explain why so many gargoyles are rather horrible in appearance. Some seem to personify the devil.Pictured at the right are a pair of often-photographed gargoyles perched atop Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.  Some animals carved as gargoyles had a symbolic meaning. The ram symbolized priests leading their flock; the cunning fox sometimes symbolized death. Male goats represented lustfulness. Monkeys were evil. Human gargoyles often look grotesque; their strange physical features probably symbolized a belief that ugliness and illness were caused by demons. A protruding tongue may have been a reference to the devil, who was often shown that way. In medieval times people believed that all sorts of weird creatures existed, so gargoyles representing them were quite common. Sometimes these carvings combined parts of different animals (chimeras, like the Sphynx), or animals and humans (centaurs). Dragon gargoyles symbolized the devil, or demons. 
 Although the first gargoyles were made out of wood, later gargoyles were usually carved from limestone or marble, and sometimes lead. Gargoyles were carved on the ground, from a clay model, and then placed in position. They were often painted, but the paint on old gargoyles still surviving today has either been worn off or been removed.
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