Palestine, or, the Holy Land: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time

by Michael Russell

SECTION III.—ZOOLOGY.

In this article we shall confine our attention to such animals as are mentioned in Holy Scripture; our object being restricted to an elucidation of the natural history of Palestine as it presents itself to the common reader, and not according to the arrangement which might be required by the rules of science.

In the fourteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, where a distinction is made between the clean and the unclean, or those which might be eaten and those which were prohibited, we find in the former class the ox, the sheep, the goat, the hart, the roebuck, the fallow-deer, the wild goat, the pygarg, the wild ox, and the chamois. As to the domesticated animals, which are common in all countries, we shall not waste time by exhibiting any description. The next in order, or "hart," is also quite familiar; but every scholar knows that the Hebrew term aïl is so vague in its import, that it has been understood to signify a tree as well as a quadruped. Thus the fine expression in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, uttered by Jacob in reference to one of his children, "Naphtali is a hind let loose; he giveth goodly words," has been translated by Bochart, Houbigant, and others, in these terms:—"Naphtali is a spreading tree, giving out beautiful branches." The meaning of the patriarch unquestionably was, that the tribe about to descend from his son would be active and powerful, enjoying at once unrestrained freedom and abundance of food. It might be expressed thus:—Naphtali is a deer roaming at liberty; he shooteth forth noble branches, or majestic antlers; his residence shall be in a beautiful woodland country; and, as Moses also predicted, "he shall be filled with the blessings of the Lord."

The roebuck, or tzebi of the Hebrews, is regarded by Dr. Shaw as the gazelle, or antelope,—a beautiful creature, which is very common all over Greece, Syria, the Holy Land, Egypt, and Barbary. It is known among Greek naturalists by the name of dorcas, from an allusion to its fine eyes, the brilliancy and liveliness of which have passed into a proverb in all eastern countries. The damsel whose name was Tabitha, which is by interpretation Dorcas, might be so called from this particular feature. The antelope likewise is in great esteem among the orientals for food, having a very sweet musky taste, which is highly agreeable to their palates; and, therefore, the tzebi might well be received as one of the dainties at Solomon's table.[193] If, then, says the author just quoted, we lay all these circumstances together, they will appear to be much more applicable to the gazelle, or antelope, which is a quadruped well known and gregarious, than to the roe, which was either not known at all, or at least was very rare in those countries.

The fallow-deer, or yachmur of the Bible, is received among commentators as the wild beeve,—an animal equal in size to the stag, or red deer, to which it bears some resemblance. It frequents the solitary parts of Judea and the surrounding countries, and, like the antelope, is everywhere gregarious. Its flesh is also very sweet and nourishing, and was frequently seen at the tables of kings.

The wild goat, or akko, mentioned in Deuteronomy, is not held sufficiently specific by naturalists, who imagine that it must be identified with another animal called by the Seventy tragelaphus, literally the goat-deer. The horns of this species, which are furrowed and wrinkled as in the goat kind, are a foot or fifteen inches long, and bend over the back; though they are shorter and more crooked than those of the ibex or steinbuck. It is not unfrequently known by the more familiar name of lerwee.

Considerable obscurity hangs over the natural history of the pygarg, the characteristics of which have not hitherto been well determined. The word itself, it has been remarked, seems to denote a creature whose hinder parts are of a white colour. Such, says Dr. Shaw, is the lidmee which is shaped exactly like the common antelope, with which it agrees in colour and in the shape of its horns, only that in the lidmee they are of twice the length, as the animal itself is of twice the size.

The sixth species is the wild ox, or thau of the Mosaical catalogue, which has generally been rendered the oryx. Now this animal is described to be of the goat-kind, with the hair growing forward, or towards the head. It is further described to be of the size of a beeve, and to be likewise a fierce creature, contrary to what is observed of the goat or deer kind, which, unless they are irritated and highly provoked, are all of them of a shy and timorous nature. The only quadruped that we are acquainted with to which these marks will apply is the buffalo, well known in Egypt and in various parts of Western Asia. It may be so far reckoned of the goat kind, as the horns are not smooth and even as in the beeve, but rough and wrinkled as in the goat. It is, besides, nearly the same as the common beeve, and therefore agrees so far with the description of Herodotus. It is also a sullen, spiteful animal, being often know to pursue the unwary, especially if clad in scarlet. For these reasons, the buffalo may not improperly be taken for the thau or oryx, whereof we have had hitherto little account.[194]

The chamois, or zomer of the ancient Jews, has by different authors been described as the camelopard or giraffe. The Syriac version renders the original term into one which signifies the mountain-goat, and so far coincides with our common translation of the Scriptures, though it is extremely doubtful whether the chamois or the ibex was to be found in any district of Palestine. Dr. Shaw holds the opinion that the zomer must have been the giraffe; for though it was a rare animal, and not known in Europe before the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, it might, he thinks, have been common enough in Egypt, as it was a native of Ethiopia, the adjoining country. It may therefore be presumed, says he, that the Israelites, during their long residence in the land of the Pharaohs, were not only well acquainted with it, but might at different times have tasted its flesh.

This inference is rejected with some show of reason by the editor of Calmet's Dictionary, who remarks, it is very unlikely that the giraffe, being a native of the torrid zone and attached to hot countries, should be so abundant in Judea as to be made an article of food. The same argument applies to the chamois, which, as it inhabits the highest mountains, and seeks the most elevated spots, where snow and ice prevail, to shelter it from the heat of summer, was probably unknown to the people of Israel. Hence, it still remains doubtful to what class of animals the zomer of Moses should be attached, though, in our opinion, the balance of authorities seem to incline in favour of a small species of goat which browsed in the hill-country of Syria.