Marvels for the Eye: The Strange Creatures of the Book of Curiosities
In the shadowed corners of the medieval Islamic imagination, beasts of impossible form and birds with sonorous cries prowled the margins of the known world. Somewhere between science and fable, they were recorded not merely to amuse or terrify, but to instruct—to whisper secrets of distant lands, hidden truths of the cosmos, and divine signs etched into creation. These were the marvels for the eye, and among the most dazzling repositories of such wonders stands an obscure, yet visually resplendent, Fatimid-era manuscript: Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn—The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences and Marvels for the Eyes.
Compiled in Fatimid Egypt between 1020 and 1050 CE, and now preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, this anonymous Arabic treatise traverses the heavens and the Earth through celestial diagrams, world maps, and a rich closing section on terrestrial anomalies—including wondrous animals, monstrous birds, and mythic beasts drawn from the furthest reaches of imagination. Yet behind the allure of the marvelous lies a deeper current of intent: this is a world where zoology bleeds into cosmology, where the strange is a cipher for the sacred, and where animals function not merely as curiosities but as signs—āyāt—written into the fabric of creation.
In this blog post, we open the bestiary gates of The Book of Curiosities and embark on a journey of historical zoological detection. Our mission is twofold: first, to identify the real-world counterparts of the birds and beasts described in this text—if they indeed exist or once existed; and second, to trace the literary, cultural, and mythological origins of those that do not. From serpents with wings to crocodile-infested islands and tree-dwelling human-faced beasts, many of these creatures reflect the cultural sediment of older traditions. Some are drawn from Greek natural philosophy, others from Indian cosmography, Persian epic, or pre-Islamic Arab lore. A few may even reflect African oral traditions or be original imaginings shaped by the Fatimid world’s global reach—stretching from Ifriqiya to Sindh, from the Swahili coast to the Caspian Sea & beyond.
Rather than dismissing these creatures as fantastical relics of a superstitious age, we seek to take them seriously—as windows into a worldview shaped by religion, geography, transmission, and wonder. Using the critical edition and annotated translation by Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith as our primary guide, and drawing on a comparative framework that includes the likes of Aristotle, Pliny, al-Jāḥiẓ, and al-Qazwīnī, this exploration aims to situate the strange creatures of The Book of Curiosities in a world of cross-cultural exchange, layered mythologies, and the shifting borders between knowledge and belief.
We invite you to journey with us across coasts and rivers, through sky and shadow, as we hunt the origins—and identities—of the beasts who once populated the medieval Islamic imagination.
Part I — Creatures of the Deep: The Wonders Beneath the Waves
In the maritime worldview of medieval Islamic cosmography, the sea was a vast, living manuscript—its ink dark as the ocean’s depths, its script composed of strange beasts, divine lessons, and natural wonders. Drawing upon the motif of the ʿajāʾib al-baḥr (“wonders of the sea”), the Book of Curiosities opens its bestiary with marine creatures that defy the limits of empirical knowledge. Some are rooted in zoological observation—fish, whales, and crustaceans known to sailors and traders—while others belong to a deeper symbolic current, surfacing from classical Greek, Persian, and Indian traditions.
These sea-beasts are not merely curiosities; they reveal anxieties about boundaries, fascination with the monstrous, and the sublime mystery of creation, each aquatic entry serves as a cipher for divine order, maritime peril, or ecological abundance. As the voyage begins, we enter a liminal world—at once real and allegorical—where marine zoology and cosmology blur into one fluid text.
Al-Mayj (الميج)
Text
“Al-mayj: In China there is a fish, whose face resembles a human face, which flies above the water. Underneath it there is a fish that follows it, and this fish is called the ʿanqarūs.”
Analysis
The creature known as al-Mayj (الميج) is described in The Book of Curiosities as a fish from China with a strangely anthropomorphic face that "flies above the water." Beneath it swims another fish, the ʿAnqarūs (العنقروس), which follows it from below. While the scene evokes the surreal imagery typical of the ʿajāʾib (wonders) genre, a closer zoological and geographical reading reveals a more grounded origin.
This account is not unique to The Book of Curiosities. A similar description appears in the third/ninth-century Akhbār al-Ṣīn wa’l-Hind, an Arabic compilation of information about China and India based on merchants' and envoys' reports. Both works locate these animals in the maritime world of East Asia, and both present them as marvels of the sea—testimonies to the strange ecology of distant oceans.
Modern scholarship previously misidentified al-Mayj as Dactylopterus volitans, the Atlantic flying gurnard. However, this identification is geographically inaccurate. The species native to the South China Sea, where the medieval Arabic texts situate this marvel, is Dactyloptena orientalis, commonly known as the Oriental flying gurnard or purple flying gurnard.
This fish is notable for its wing-like, vividly colored pectoral fins, which it expands like a fan when gliding short distances just above the water’s surface—a behavior that would have seemed otherworldly to early Arab sailors unfamiliar with the species. Its head, wide and flattened, with forward-facing eyes, may easily have been interpreted as having human-like features, especially when viewed from above in shallow, refracted light.
The name al-Mayj (الميج) may be a corrupted transmission of the Persian word mīg (ميگ), meaning locust—a reference likely inspired by the fish’s gliding motion through air and water, much like a locust in flight. Such linguistic borrowings were common in Arabic natural history, particularly when describing unfamiliar fauna from the eastern edges of the known world.
More curious, however, is the second fish: the ʿAnqarūs (العنقروس), said to swim beneath and follow the al-Mayj. Earlier scholars speculated this might refer to a remora or symbolic companion, but this interpretation fails to account for the spatial cue embedded in the text—underneath it there is a fish that follows it—a phrasing that suggests stalking, not companionship.
Flying gurnards, though visually striking, are slow-moving and relatively defenseless, feeding on crustaceans and small invertebrates on sandy seabeds. They are common prey for predatory reef fish found in the same Indo-Pacific ecosystem. Likely candidates for the ʿAnqarūs include:
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Giant trevallies (Caranx ignobilis),
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Groupers (e.g., Epinephelus coioides),
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Coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus),
These predators are known to shadow slower fish in shallow reefs and lagoons, particularly in the South China Sea—a region regularly trafficked by Arab and Persian traders in the Fatimid period. To those foreign observers, unfamiliar with the species but keenly attuned to visible behavior, the predator might have seemed like a strange, persistent shadow trailing the marvelous flying fish—a marvel within a marvel.
Thus, the ʿAnqarūs should be understood as a real, but unfamiliar predatory fish, native to East Asian waters, whose interaction with the gurnard was observed and encoded in wonder literature.
Final IdentificationAsṭānis (أسطانيس)
Text
“In China there is also a small whale, called asṭānis. The author of [the book entitled] al-Ṭabīʿah related that in spite of its small size, this whale is able to block a large ship. It clings to the front of the ship and the ship cannot move, even if pulled by many men and by every wind, until the whale lets it go.”
Analysis
The Asṭānis (أسطانيس) is described in The Book of Curiosities as a "small whale" found near China that exhibits a strangely outsized power: it can halt the forward motion of a ship—regardless of crew effort or wind power—simply by attaching itself to the vessel’s prow. The creature is said to be recorded in a work titled al-Ṭabīʿah (lit. Nature), likely an Arabic text on natural philosophy or zoology.
Though styled here as a whale (ḥūt or asṭānis), this creature's described behavior aligns not with cetaceans but with an ancient and cross-cultural marine myth: the ship-stopper fish, best known from Greek and Roman antiquity.
The source of this enduring legend lies in Aristotle’s History of Animals, where he mentions a small fish called ἐχενηίς (echenēís)—from the Greek echein (to hold) and naus (ship), meaning literally “ship-detainer.” Aristotle describes it as a creature that can attach itself to the hull of a vessel and stop it entirely. In the Greek context, the echenēís had other uncanny qualities too: it was said to be useful as a love charm and a legal curse, capable of halting not only ships but also courtroom proceedings and emotional bonds.
The Arabic translation of Aristotle’s work preserves this idea under the name māmsakat al-safīna (ماسكة السفينة), literally “the holder of the ship.” The translation emphasizes that this fish can paralyze even a large ship’s movement, a detail clearly mirrored in the Book of Curiosities’ account of the asṭānis.
The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder, writing in his Natural History, likewise describes this same creature—calling it echeneïs or the sucking fish, known to cling to the undersides of ships and slow them. Pliny repeats the superstitions found in Aristotle, adding that the echeneïs is associated with witchcraft, love spells, and legal impediments: “There is quite a small fish that frequents rocks, called the sucking fish (echeneïs, or remora). This is believed to make ships go more slowly by sticking to their hulls... it also has an evil reputation for supplying a love-charm and for acting as a spell to hinder litigation in the courts” (Pliny, Natural History 9.41.79).
These fantastical attributions continued into the Middle Ages and early modern period, appearing in works by Rabelais, Edmund Spenser, and Ben Jonson, among others. The fish’s powers—both physical and magical—entered medieval European lore as metaphors for desire, stasis, and divine interruption. The asṭānis thus stands within a long literary and zoological tradition stretching from Hellenistic philosophy to Arabic naturalism and early modern European imagination.
But what was the real creature behind the myth?
Ichthyologists now agree that the echeneïs of antiquity refers to the remora, or suckerfish—a member of the Echeneidae family. These fish possess a specialized suction disc on the tops of their heads, allowing them to attach to larger marine animals like sharks, rays, and whales, or to the hulls of boats. While a single remora would not physically stop a vessel, multiple attached fish could create noticeable drag, and in calm or heavily loaded conditions, might plausibly slow or stall a small ship.
However, the location—“in China”—suggests that the Arabic compiler may have encountered accounts of larger remoras or related suction-bearing species common in the Indo-Pacific, particularly near the South China Sea. Seafarers observing these animals affixed to their hulls may well have interpreted them, especially when the wind failed or progress slowed, as active agents preventing movement—a perfect example of observational folklore forming the basis for enduring myth.
It is also possible that “asṭānis” is a localized Arabic rendering of the name echeneïs, transmitted via Greek or Syriac intermediaries. Arabic natural history texts often absorbed classical material with subtle phonetic adaptations, and the presence of this exact motif in The Book of Curiosities confirms its circulation in Arabic scientific thought.
Final Identification
The Giant Turtle of the Persian Gulf (السلحفاة العظيمة)
Text
“In the Persian Gulf: There are turtles measuring 20 cubits in diameter, sometimes more and sometimes less. One often finds in their bellies a thousand eggs, sometimes more and sometimes less. Such a turtle is often as large as an island.”
Parallel Source: Ibn Khurradādhbih
Analysis
The creature described here is a colossal marine turtle, reported in both the Book of Curiosities and earlier in Ibn Khurradādhbih’s al-Masālik wa’l-Mamālik, a ninth-century Arabic geographical compendium. According to these accounts, the turtle measures twenty cubits in diameter (roughly 10 meters), carries up to a thousand eggs in its belly, and is described as being so large it can be mistaken for an island. The latter motif is especially evocative and familiar from numerous medieval maritime tales.
Ibn Khurradādhbih’s description closely mirrors that of The Book of Curiosities and even adds that their backs resemble “fine shields” (al-dhubl al-jayyid)—a detail that reinforces both their immense size and their armor-like carapace. These kinds of turtles are said to inhabit the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf, both regions regularly traveled by Arab and Persian seafarers from the early Islamic centuries onward.
From a naturalistic standpoint, the animal being described here is almost certainly a highly exaggerated account of a real species: the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). Native to tropical and subtropical oceans—including the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf—this is the largest living turtle species and one of the heaviest reptiles on Earth.
Key facts about the leatherback turtle that match the Arabic descriptions:
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Size: Leatherbacks can reach lengths of up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) and weights exceeding 900 kg (2000 lbs). While far smaller than “20 cubits,” their unusual size made them awe-inspiring to early observers.
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Egg-laying: Females lay around 100 eggs per clutch and may produce multiple clutches per season. The total number of eggs across a nesting period could exceed 700–1000, matching the "a thousand eggs" figure in Arabic sources.
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Carapace: Unlike hard-shelled turtles, leatherbacks have a tough, leathery back with ridges, often likened to shields or dark domes—visually evocative of the "good shields" mentioned by Ibn Khurradādhbih.
As for the claim that these turtles are mistaken for islands, this is a common trope in maritime literature, appearing in Indian, Greek, and later European sources. It may originate in actual seafarers' sightings of motionless turtles surfacing, with birds landing on their backs or vegetation accumulating, producing the illusion of a small island. This motif famously recurs in Sinbad the Sailor tales and even in Pliny’s Natural History, suggesting a shared narrative heritage stretching from classical antiquity through the Islamic Golden Age to medieval Europe.
The exaggeration of size to "20 cubits" (approximately 10 meters) reflects a medieval trend in describing unfamiliar or infrequent marine sightings. As these animals were observed from ships, their true scale could easily be distorted by distance, poor lighting, or the mythic framing of travel literature. Moreover, a turtle basking on the surface or partially submerged could give the illusion of a flat landmass—especially in the absence of clear shoreline reference points.
Final Identification
Al-Kharāṭīm (الخراطيم)
The Beaked, Saw-Toothed Fish
Text
"A fish called kharāṭīm (literally, “snouts” or “trunks,” as of an elephant) which resembles a snake. It has a beak like that of a crane, and in the beak it has teeth like the teeth of a saw."
Parallel Source: Ibn al-Faqīh
Analysis
The kharāṭīm (الخراطيم) is described in both the Book of Curiosities and Ibn al-Faqīh’s Kitāb al-Buldān as an aquatic creature of unusual anatomy:
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It resembles a snake in shape (slender, elongated),
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Has a beak like a crane’s (long, pointed, avian),
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And that beak contains saw-like teeth on both edges—a mechanical and even fearsome detail.
The term kharāṭīm itself literally means "snouts" or "trunks" (plural of khurṭūm), usually referring to the elongated nose of an elephant. This already primes the reader for something long, extended, and protrusive. When matched with the rest of the physical description, a clear composite image emerges: a serpentine fish with a long, avian beak, and saw-like dentition.
So, what sea creature fits all of these descriptors?
Probable Identification: The Sawfish (Pristidae)
The creature most consistent with this description is the sawfish, a member of the family Pristidae, commonly found in the Indo-Pacific, including the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Persian Gulf—all familiar to medieval Muslim sailors and naturalists.
Key matching features:
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Elongated, ray-like body: Some species can appear serpent-like when swimming, especially from above.
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Long, protruding rostrum (the “saw”): This snout extends forward like a trunk or elongated beak, consistent with the “crane’s beak” analogy.
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Serrated edges: The rostrum is lined with teeth on both sides, exactly like a saw—precisely what both Arabic sources emphasize.
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Common in Arabic waters: Sawfish were (and in some places, still are) present in the western Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf regions, making them accessible to early Arab geographers and sailors.
The comparison to a crane's beak emphasizes sharpness and length, while the phrase “resembling a snake” clearly refers to body shape. The emphasis on the saw-like quality of the beak, both in The Book of Curiosities and in Ibn al-Faqīh, makes this identification particularly secure.
It’s worth noting that medieval authors often conflated various ray- and shark-like species, especially given their cartilaginous nature, unfamiliar forms, and unsettling appearance. But the sawfish stands out precisely because of its unmistakable weapon-like snout.
Additionally, sawfish were known to be dangerous or awe-inspiring—cutting through shoals, stunning prey, or damaging fishing gear. This likely elevated their status in marine mirabilia literature.
Final Identification
Al-Aṭum (الأطم)
The Pig-Faced, Hairy Marine Woman
Text
"A fish called al-aṭum. It has genitalia like women, and hair like women’s hair. It has no scales, and has the face of a pig."
Parallel Source: Ibn al-Faqīh
Analysis
The creature called al-Aṭum (الأطم)—also rendered in Ibn al-Faqīh as al-Aṭmar (الأطمر)—is among the more humanized marine entities in medieval Arabic literature. It is said to:
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Possess female genitalia,
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Have hair like that of a woman,
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Be scale-less,
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And have the face of a pig,
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With a body composed of fat and flesh, according to Ibn al-Faqīh.
Despite being classed as a samaka (fish), the description deviates from typical ichthyological features and enters the realm of mammalian—and, more specifically, marine mammal—morphology. All signs point to a dugong (Dugong dugon), a herbivorous marine mammal that dwells in shallow coastal waters of the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf, and Indian Ocean, and belongs to the order Sirenia, alongside manatees.
Let’s break down the correspondences:
🐋 Why this is likely the dugong (Dugong dugon)
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Genitalia like women’s
Dugongs, like all mammals, have external genitalia. Female dugongs, when seen from below or during mating behavior, may give the impression of human-like anatomy. In premodern natural history, such anatomical features were considered extraordinary in sea creatures. -
Hair like women’s hair
Dugongs have short, bristle-like hairs—especially around the snout and sometimes the body—though these are sparse. However, when slick with seawater and catching light, these hairs might appear as fine strands, and early observers, predisposed to anthropomorphizing animals, interpreted this as “female hair.” -
No scales
Dugongs are fully smooth-skinned, with no scales whatsoever—distinguishing them clearly from fish. -
Face like a pig
Dugongs have large, rounded snouts and downward-facing mouths, giving their faces a distinctly pig-like appearance. This comparison was common in both Arabic and European descriptions. In fact, the Latin name Dugong dugon stems from the Malay “duyung,” meaning “lady of the sea,” underscoring its connection to the ancient mermaid mythos. -
Fat and flesh
Ibn al-Faqīh describes the creature’s body as “a layer of fat and a layer of flesh.” This is a textbook description of dugongs and manatees, whose thick blubber insulates them in cooler waters and gives them their plump, soft bodies.
A proto-mermaid?
It’s not a stretch to see al-Aṭum as a distant relative of the mermaid archetype. Classical and medieval sources often transformed sightings of dugongs or manatees into tales of sea-women or monstrous hybrids. While The Book of Curiosities and Ibn al-Faqīh avoid romantic or mythic framing, the unmistakable blend of female, pig, and sea features in al-Aṭum evokes this global mythological tradition. The siren-like reputation of these mammals, often seen embracing or surfacing beside boats, likely encouraged such anthropomorphisms.
The presence of such a creature in Arabic sources underscores how Islamic geographical and zoological texts often encoded accurate observations beneath layers of metaphor and marvel. That both Ibn al-Faqīh and The Book of Curiosities independently mention al-Aṭum/al-Aṭmar suggests its place in a shared body of early Islamic maritime lore, based on real sightings in the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean.
Final Identification
The Cow-Fish (سمكة على خلقة البقر)
The Shield-Bearing, Milk-Giving Sea Cow
Text
"A fish in the form of a cow. Its skin is used to make leather shields. It is said that it menstruates and breastfeeds."
Parallel Sources
Ibn al-Faqīh
Ibn Khurradādhbih
Analysis
This striking description of a cow-like sea creature that gives birth, breastfeeds, and provides shield-grade leather is one of the clearest cases in medieval Islamic zoological writing where a marine mammal is misclassified as a fish (samaka). The anatomical features, reproductive traits, and material uses described here all point to one unmistakable candidate: the dugong (Dugong dugon).
Let us examine the major elements:
"In the form of a cow"
The dugong’s rounded body, broad torso, and docile grazing habits (it feeds on sea grasses) may well have reminded sailors of cows—an impression strengthened by its slow, grazing movement over seafloor meadows. The very name “sea cow” used in modern taxonomy derives from this persistent analogy.
"It gives birth and breastfeeds"
This is biologically accurate. Dugongs are placental mammals that give live birth and produce milk, which they nurse to their calves. Sightings of dugongs cradling or swimming alongside their young could easily have been interpreted as “breastfeeding” in a human sense.
Interestingly, both Ibn Khurradādhbih and Ibn al-Faqīh explicitly refer to lactation and live birth, which reveals a relatively advanced level of observational knowledge in early Arabic zoology—far ahead of European naturalists of the same period.
"It menstruates"
This claim, though not scientifically correct (dugongs don’t menstruate in the human sense), reflects an attempt to explain reproductive bleeding or postpartum fluid. In medieval natural history, menstruation was often attributed to any observed reproductive discharge—and was considered a uniquely feminine and mammalian trait. To assert that a sea animal “menstruates” was to reinforce its mammalian, feminine identity—further evidence that this “fish” was unlike any other.
The fact that turtles are also described as menstruating and nursing shows that these marine reproductive mysteries were projected onto a range of large sea creatures, indicating a mix of accurate observation and symbolic speculation.
"Its skin is used to make shields"
This is particularly intriguing. Dugongs have a thick, tough hide, rich in collagen. Historical records from the Indian Ocean world suggest that dugong skin may have been used in crafts, drum-making, or even armor—especially in coastal societies with limited access to large land mammals. The Arabic term dirāʿ or daraq (shields) implies that the hide was tanned and shaped into defensive gear, possibly prized for its flexibility and durability.
Ibn al-Faqīh’s comment that these shields could “repel swords” (tanbū ʿanhā al-suyūf) further underscores the high status of this leather, likely reserved for elite use or exported as a specialty item.
Why the confusion?
As with the al-Aṭum (dugong with pig-face and female hair), this cow-fish reveals a world in which marine mammals were visibly mammalian but culturally unknown. Lacking a taxonomy to distinguish between fish and mammals, Arabic authors applied familiar categories (fish, cow, woman, pig) to describe creatures that blurred boundaries.
The variations—“in the form of cows” (Ibn Khurradādhbih), “in the form of monkeys” (Ibn al-Faqīh)—likely reflect regional naming conventions, visual ambiguity, or text transmission errors. Regardless, all point to the same family of sea creatures: slow-moving, blubbery, maternal, and large.
Final Identification
Al-Dukhas (الدُّخَس)
The Drowning Man’s Friend
Text
"A fish called al-dukhas (الدُّخَس). It comes to the rescue of those who drown."
Parallel Source: Ibn al-Faqīh
Analysis
The creature called al-Dukhas (الدُّخَس) is a marine animal identified as saving people from drowning—a behavior so striking that it merited inclusion in both the Book of Curiosities and Ibn al-Faqīh’s geographical text. It is described as a fish, as most sea creatures were in medieval Arabic, but the traits ascribed to it unmistakably point to a dolphin.
The term dukhas is likely derived from Greco-Roman roots via Syriac or direct Greek transmission. It is cognate with the Greek word “delphís” (δελφίς)—from which the English “dolphin” ultimately derives. Interestingly, “delphís” is related to Delphi, the mythic Greek center of prophecy and the womb (delphus)—hence the interpretation of the dolphin as a “brother” or a kindred creature to humans, especially in Greek mythology where dolphins are benevolent, intelligent, and protective.
🐬 Historical and Mythological Echoes
The idea of dolphins rescuing the drowning goes back at least to Herodotus, who recounted stories of dolphins saving men thrown overboard. Pliny the Elder (Natural History 9.8–9) repeats similar tales, and Aelian (On the Nature of Animals 6.15) records an entire genre of dolphin-human friendship narratives. Dolphins were believed to:
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Rescue drowning sailors,
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Carry humans to shore,
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Mourn the loss of friends,
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Follow ships out of companionship.
Such behaviors were not only mythologized but based on real observations: dolphins are highly intelligent, social marine mammals capable of complex behaviors, including pushing floating objects or interacting non-aggressively with humans.
These tales were transmitted through Greek, Roman, Syriac, and eventually Arabic literature, especially via the scientific and philosophical translations of the Abbasid period. Dolphins thus retained their aura of benevolent mystery in the Islamic world, where they were cataloged among the wonders of creation (ʿajāʾib al-makhlūqāt).
Why the Dolphin Was So Marvelous
Dolphins were widely observed in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean. Arab sailors and geographers would have encountered them regularly, and the dolphin’s curious, non-aggressive behavior toward humans—especially in contrast to sharks or other marine animals—helped solidify its reputation as a friend of man.
The dolphin’s smiling face, vocalizations, and tendency to follow ships also gave it an anthropomorphic charisma. It was seen as intelligent and spiritually pure—qualities reinforced by stories of dolphins saving the drowning, which appealed to both scientific curiosity and religious or ethical imagination.
Final Identification
Al-Barastūj (البرستوج)
The Omen Fish of the Southern Sea
Text
"A fish that comes out of the bottom of the sea and is visible in the waves when the sea swells, and the men of the sea know this is a sign. In Basra the fish is called al-barastūj."
Parallel Source: Ibn al-Faqīh
Analysis
The al-Barastūj (البرستوج) is described as a migratory fish, known especially to sailors in Basra and the lower Tigris region, that emerges from the depths of the sea during certain seasons and becomes visible in the waves when the sea swells. Its appearance is interpreted as a sign—a form of marine omen tied to seasonal rhythms.
Ibn al-Faqīh adds that the barastūj, along with other notable fish like the al-istūra and al-jarrāf, arrives from the direction of the Zanj (East Africa) to drink the fresh water of the Tigris near Basra. This clearly points to an anadromous or euryhaline fish—a species capable of surviving in both salt and fresh water, and one known for migrating upriver during spawning or feeding seasons.
Etymology and Identification: A Type of Mullet
The French scholar F. Viré proposed that the word barastūj (with variants like barasūj, barastūk, and ṭarastuj) derives from the Persian verb parastūg, meaning to swallow—likely a reference to bottom-feeding behavior. He identifies the fish with the mullet, a widely distributed, euryhaline fish family known for migrating from saltwater to freshwater estuaries.
Within southern Iraq, the most likely candidate is the:
Flathead Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus)
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Habitat: Found throughout the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and the estuaries and rivers of southern Iraq, including the Shatt al-Arab and lower Tigris.
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Behavior: Mullet are seasonally migratory and are known to swim upriver in search of warmer, less saline waters, often during spawning cycles.
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Visibility: Mullet are surface swimmers and often leap above the water—behavior that could account for the description of them being “seen in the waves” when the sea swells.
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Omens: In maritime folklore across the Mediterranean and Middle East, the arrival of certain fish was tied to seasonal change, weather shifts, or even religious symbolism. The barastūj’s arrival from Zanj to Basra was probably linked to spring or autumn migration, used by sailors as a natural calendar.
Notably, the connection between Zanj (East African coast) and Basra in Ibn al-Faqīh’s account indicates awareness of transoceanic migratory paths—perhaps even a poetic way of describing the southern seas (Indian Ocean) rather than literal Zanj waters.
Cultural Layering and the “Sign”
That the barastūj is said to appear “when the sea swells” and is interpreted as a sign by sailors implies that its movements were watched carefully as natural omens—either for navigational, seasonal, or spiritual purposes. This fits with the broader pattern in The Book of Curiosities, where marine animals are not just physical beings but bearers of hidden knowledge embedded in the rhythms of the sea.
Final Identification
Al-Wāl (الوال) and the Lashak (اللشك)
The Leviathan and the Little Hunter of the Deep
Text
"In the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and Oman there is a fish called the al-wāl (the whale). It is 100 bāʿ (fathoms) in length, more or less. It is accustomed to ships, and likes to follow them, but can cause them to sink, as it may capsize the ship when it only tries to cross from one side of the ship to the other. Therefore, when the sailors see it, they blow the horn and hit drums and pails against each other so that it might go away. When it opens its mouth, water comes down as if in the slope of a valley. When [it has its fill], it closes its mouth, and blows the water from between its teeth so that it goes up in air as if it is a fountain, while the fish remain inside.
Its adversary among the fish is a fish called lashak. It is a small fish, no more than a cubit or two, but it is the enemy of the wāl. It follows the wāl, and, when the wāl is unaware, it grasps the inside of its ear and stays there. When the wāl senses this, it swims to the bottom of the sea in irritation, but the fish clings in its place without budging. That causes distress to the wāl, which goes on diving to the bottom and emerging on the surface with the fish clinging to it, until it dies. The Zanj often use this fish to catch large marine animals. They attach to its tail a long rope, as thick as the thong of a whip. Then they carry it near the boat in underwater cages, chant to it their joyful songs, and watch over it so it does not get eaten or harmed. When the fisherman wants to go fishing, he takes it [the lashak] out of its cage, holds the rope by its end, and then sends it towards the large fish, just as the falconer sends off a sparrow hawk (bāshiq). The fish then clings to the ear [of the larger fish], which then dives into the sea with it [the lashak] attached to it, and then emerges and dives again, while the fisherman loosens the rope. Then the large fish keeps diving up and down until its body weakens, without being able to endure the fish that eats the inside of its ear. At that point the fisherman takes it [the lashak] in his hand, tears it away from the larger fish’s ear and returns it to its cage.
When a wāl is beached, the men of the sea call it ‘springtime’, since it is a source of profit for them. They find in its belly ambergris that it had swallowed, and this ambergris harms the wāl and intoxicates it. The ambergris that is found above the stomach is pure, while the ambergris found in the cloaca is mand, meaning that it is fetid and decayed ambergris. The meat of this fish consists solely of fat. The seamen draw out the oil from its corpse using jars. They find that the fat had solidified around its brain and cannot be extracted without pick-axes and iron bars. They also take the bones of its skeleton and use them as chairs."
Analysis
This passage is not only the most elaborate zoological narrative in The Book of Curiosities—it is a masterclass in medieval ethological thinking, fusing accurate observation, economic utility, ritual practice, and moral allegory. Here, a whale (al-wāl) and its improbable adversary (al-lashak) play out an intricate drama on the high seas. Though the text uses the generic term wāl (from Arabic ḥūt, often translated simply as "whale"), what unfolds is a composite beast: part baleen whale and part sperm whale, refracted through the maritime world of the Indian Ocean.
Let us examine each component in detail:
🐋 The Wāl (الوال): Whale as Wonder and Wealth
Colossal Size
The whale is described as 100 bāʿ (fathoms) long—roughly 180 meters, vastly larger than any known species. This is clearly poetic exaggeration, but its intention is symbolic: to evoke the limitlessness of the sea, and the sublime terror of the largest known animal.
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Reality check: The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animal to ever live, reaches up to 30 meters. The figure of 100 bāʿ is not meant as precision, but as awe.
Ship Interaction
The whale’s tendency to follow ships and even capsize them by swimming too close is a powerful detail. Modern cetology notes that sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and humpbacks are curious and have occasionally overturned boats—whether through misjudged surfacing, startled behavior, or aggressive defense (in the case of sperm whales).
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Maritime fear: In fragile wooden vessels, the appearance of such a beast was not just marvelous, it was potentially catastrophic.
Sound as a Defense
The crew’s use of horns, drums, and banging pails to drive the whale away is strikingly empirical. It shows that sailors understood that whales were sensitive to acoustic disruption—a notion validated by modern marine biology. This detail indicates observational sophistication, not fantasy.
Feeding Behavior
The passage vividly describes the whale opening its mouth like a valley, water flowing in, then blasting it out like a fountain. This is textbook baleen whale filter-feeding: water flows in full of krill and plankton, then is expelled through baleen plates, trapping food inside. The upward spout of water, likened to a fountain, confirms this.
🔹 This aspect corresponds closely to blue whales and other baleen whales, not sperm whales.
🐟 The Lashak (اللشك): The Parasite-Hawk of the Sea
Size and Behavior
At just 1–2 cubits (roughly 45–90 cm), the lashak is said to be a small but deadly adversary. It attacks the whale by entering or clinging to the ear, a clearly metaphorical weak spot, since whales do not possess external ears. The ensuing death-dance—the whale diving repeatedly in distress until death—is a moral drama of reversal: the small defeats the great.
This is a classic natural justice trope, mirrored in Greco-Roman accounts of the ichneumon (a small mammal) defeating crocodiles by entering their mouths.
Zanj Fishermen and the Falconry Metaphor
The Book reports that Zanj fishermen use the lashak like a trained hunting animal, carrying it in underwater cages, singing to it, and releasing it by hand on a rope, like a bāshiq (sparrowhawk).
This is not biology. This is mythical ethology—a literary inversion of falconry tropes, mapping aristocratic hunting techniques onto African maritime culture. The ritualized handling and joyful chants point to a symbolic rather than zoological role for the lashak.
Zoological Identification
A modern footnote identifies the lashak with the remora (Echeneis remora), also known as the shark sucker or pilot fish in North Africa. These are:
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Small fish that use a suction disc to attach to larger marine animals (sharks, whales, rays).
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Often observed riding on whales, but not known to harm them.
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Occasionally used in folklore as indicators or guides, but never as active hunters.
🟥 Conclusion: The lashak is most likely a mythologized remora, transformed into a lethal helper in a narrative motif of justice and control, rather than a literal tool of whaling.
💰 Economic Value: Whale as Springtime Bounty
"Springtime" (ربيع البحر)
Sailors refer to a beached whale as "spring", because it signals renewal and prosperity. Like spring rains on land, a whale’s corpse brings wealth to the community: meat, oil, bone, and especially ambergris.
Ambergris (ʿAnbar)
Ambergris is accurately described as a valuable but rare intestinal secretion found in sperm whales. It is:
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Formed in the whale’s gut to coat indigestible matter (e.g., squid beaks).
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Found floating or inside dead whales.
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Used in perfume and medicine, and considered a luxury item in both Islamic and European markets.
The text’s distinction is biologically valid:
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Pure ambergris is found near the stomach—fresh and clean.
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Mand (مندس), meaning spoiled or foul-smelling, comes from the cloaca—likely degraded or mixed with waste.
🔹 This specificity confirms that the wāl here also contains sperm whale features, especially its ambergris production.
Spermaceti and Brain Fat
The mention of solidified fat around the brain, difficult to extract without iron tools, almost certainly refers to spermaceti—a waxy substance found in the spermaceti organ of sperm whales, historically used in candles, ointments, and lamp oil.
Oil and Bone Use
The oil from the whale is extracted in jars—a reference to rendering blubber, while its bones are used as chairs—common in coastal societies lacking hardwoods, and metaphorically underscoring the whale’s recycling into material culture.
Final Identification
🔴 Al-Lashak (اللشك) is a mythologized remora (Echeneis remora), transformed into a parasite-hunter and a falconry-like helper used by Zanj fishermen. While based on a real animal often found attached to whales, the lashak has been culturally amplified into a narrative device representing the small toppling the mighty—a marine ichneumon.
The Palm-Climbing Sea Beast
The Marine Crab That Walks on Land and Eats Coconuts
Text
“In this sea, there is a marine animal that goes over land, where it climbs the coconut palm and feeds on it.”
Analysis
This cryptic sentence, while brief, describes a marine creature whose behavior would have stunned any premodern observer: a sea animal that not only walks on land, but climbs trees—specifically coconut palms—and feeds on coconuts. This is not folklore or error. It is one of the few moments in The Book of Curiosities that perfectly captures the behavior of a real, exceptional species: the coconut crab (Birgus latro).
🦀 What is the Coconut Crab?
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Also known as the robber crab, the coconut crab is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world. Adult individuals can grow up to 1 meter in leg span and weigh over 4 kg.
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Native to islands and coastal forests across the Indian Ocean and western Pacific, they are found on places like the Chagos Archipelago, Seychelles, Maldives, coastal Oman, and even Socotra.
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Though born in the sea (as marine larvae), adult coconut crabs live entirely on land, returning to the water only to release eggs.
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They are excellent climbers, using powerful legs and claws to ascend palm trees, where they are known to:
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Crack open coconuts (with claws or by dropping them),
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Feed on the white flesh inside,
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Sometimes even sleep nestled in the fronds of the tree.
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The Book’s phrasing—“a marine animal that goes over land, where it climbs the coconut palm”—is unusually precise and evocative, suggesting that the author or a source actually witnessed or received reliable accounts of this behavior.
🌴 Ecological Strangeness and Cultural Marvel
To premodern Arab seafarers navigating the island-dotted routes of the Indian Ocean, from Oman to East Africa to Southeast Asia, the coconut crab would have been a creature of contradiction:
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It resembled a marine crab (which it is),
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Yet lived in burrows on dry land, far from the shoreline,
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And climbed trees—a behavior few if any other crustaceans exhibit.
In a literary tradition rich with threshold beings—fish that act like birds, animals that resemble humans, plants that behave like spirits—the coconut crab fits naturally into the genre of ʿajāʾib al-makhlūqāt (wonders of creation). But here, the wonder is entirely real.
It is noteworthy that the text does not embellish the animal with symbolic meaning, fantastical exaggeration, or allegorical associations. Instead, the description is almost clinical, allowing the animal’s inherent marvel to speak for itself.
🧭 Geographic Context
This entry likely derives from eyewitness reports of sailors visiting islands in the western Indian Ocean, where coconut palms and coconut crabs co-occur. Given the emphasis elsewhere in The Book of Curiosities on Zanj, Oman, and the Indian Ocean, this may refer to:
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The Comoros or Zanzibar,
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Socotra,
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Or even early contact with Malagasy or Malay islander communities where the crab is known and sometimes harvested.
Final Identification
The A-L-T-K-S (ألتكس)
The Four-Legged, Winged, Lion-Bodied Fish of the Sea of China
Text
“In this sea there is a fish called a-l-t-k-s, which is most often found in the Sea of China. Its gall bladder is used as an antidote to poisons, but can be effective only when used together with the juice of a plant that grows in the land of Zābaj [Java]. This fish has two wings like the wings of a bird, four legs, a body like that of a lion, and white scales, each as wide as a dirham, with black edges. A figure of a lion sometimes appears over its scales. These scales are more solid than ivory and more beautiful than silver, and can be used as stones in rings and for adorning girdles.”
🧩 Decoding the Description
At first glance, this sea creature might appear to be the product of wild imagination—a chimera stitched together from birds, lions, fish, and jewelry. But a closer examination of the details reveals not a myth, but a vivid, metaphor-laden portrayal of a real marine animal, filtered through the literary lens of Islamic maritime wonder literature.
Let’s unpack each component systematically:
| Descriptive Feature | Decisive Interpretation |
|---|---|
| “Sea of China” | A clear reference to the South China Sea, encompassing coastal waters of Southeast Asia, including Java (Zābaj). This was a known region of Arab maritime trade and rich in tropical marine biodiversity. |
| “Gall bladder as antidote to poison” | Strongly indicative of a venomous species. Among known marine animals with venom and folk medicinal associations, the lionfish (Pterois spp.) stands out. In Southeast Asian and Indo-Islamic medical traditions, it was believed that parts of venomous animals could serve as antidotes when combined with specific herbs—precisely as the text says. |
| “Two wings like a bird” | This describes the massive, radiating pectoral fins of the lionfish, which it flares in defensive displays. These fins are not only striking—they move like wings, giving the fish a floating, gliding appearance underwater. |
| “Four legs” | Refers not to literal limbs but to the pelvic and anal fins, which when extended along the sea floor or during display posture resemble legs. The comparison likely arises from viewing the fish from below or in profile. |
| “Body like a lion” | An unmistakable nod to the lion-like mane created by the dorsal and pectoral rays of the lionfish. The fish’s stance, with its fins flared and head elevated, mimics the poise and presence of a lion. This isn’t allegory—it’s zoological metaphor. |
| “Scales as wide as a dirham” | A poetic exaggeration, but one rooted in visual truth. The broad, plate-like appearance of its scales—really fin membranes—shimmer with white and black-edged patterning, matching the size and luster suggested here. |
| “Lion figure appears on the scales” | A symbolic reading of the patterned rays and mottled coloring that may resemble lions or lion-like forms in the imagination—especially if seen with reverence or marvel. |
| “Scales used in rings and girdles” | Reflects the decorative value of the dried fins or even opercular plates. In some regions, colorful or iridescent parts of fish were (and still are) used in folk jewelry, talismans, or belt adornments. |
The Lionfish of the South China Sea
Every element of this creature—from its striking anatomical features to its association with poison and medicine, from its symbolic naming to its use in ornament—converges precisely and unmistakably upon the lionfish (Pterois spp.). Native to the Indo-Pacific region, including the Sea of China and Java, the lionfish was uniquely equipped to generate the kind of awe and marvel recorded in The Book of Curiosities.
Far from being a fantasy, this “fish with wings, legs, lion’s body, and precious scales” is a faithful—if poetically framed—representation of one of the most flamboyant and enigmatic fish in the ocean.
The authors and transmitters of this knowledge were not dreaming. They were describing—through the language of wonder—a real animal, one whose strangeness required no invention, only attention.
Final Identification
🟢 The A-L-T-K-S (ألتكس) recorded in The Book of Curiosities is almost certainly a poetic, richly adorned, and symbol-laden description of the lionfish (Pterois spp.)—a real, venomous marine predator native to the Indo-Pacific, especially the Sea of China and waters around Zābaj (Java). Among the most visually striking fish in the ocean, the lionfish possesses the exact combination of features the text marvels at: wing-like pectoral fins, a bristling dorsal “mane,” an aggressive lion-like silhouette, and ornate, patterned scales edged in black and white.
🧪 The detail that its gall bladder functions as an antidote to poisons—but only when combined with the juice of a plant from Zābaj—is far from literary flourish. It reflects genuine Southeast Asian and Indo-Islamic folk medicine, where it was believed that venom and antidote could coexist within the same animal, provided proper herbal knowledge. This idea, deeply rooted in classical Greco-Arabic medical thought, reinforces that this entry is grounded not in fantasy but in cross-cultural pharmacological belief.
🦁 The repeated lion-like metaphors—a body like a lion, a figure of a lion appearing over its scales, and a majestic bearing—are more than aesthetic flourishes. They point to the lionfish’s natural posture when threatened or on display: flaring its pectoral and dorsal fins like a mane, holding its head high, and advancing with caution and dominance. In the eyes of early mariners and naturalists, this behavior was not only recognizably leonine, but wondrous—something that demanded to be catalogued not just biologically, but symbolically.
💍 The mention of its scales being used in rings and girdles adds a final layer: this fish was not only feared and admired, but materially valued. Whether through dried fins, scales, or colorfully iridescent parts, the lionfish offered not only danger and medicine, but beauty—beauty worth harvesting, wearing, and trading. This too echoes Islamic wonder literature’s interest in creatures not just for their marvels, but for their transformability into economic, medicinal, or decorative objects.
✨ In sum, the A-L-T-K-S is a real animal seen through the refracted lens of ʿajāʾib al-makhlūqāt—a fish that needed no embellishment to appear miraculous. Its fearsome biology, dazzling appearance, and symbolic posture merged naturally into a narrative of the strange and the sublime.
The lionfish is not just the answer to this riddle—it is the riddle itself, living, venomous, and beautifully adorned.
The Indian Crab (السرطان الهندي)
The Stony-eyed Healer of the China Sea
Text
“In the Sea of China there is an animal, called the Indian Crab, which turns into stone as soon as it comes out of the sea. It is useful in eye remedies.”
Footnote Context
Freeman-Grenville and other sources (Qazwīnī, al-Nuwayrī, Ibn Sīnā, and al-Kindī) attest to this crab, or its petrified form, being:
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Found on an island in the Sanf Sea (i.e., part of the China Sea or South China Sea),
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Turning to stone when removed from water or when reaching shore,
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Used medicinally in apothecaries, especially for treating corneal opacities (white spots),
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Sometimes referred to as a “river crab” by Iraqi and other Islamic pharmacists,
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Employed in ancient recipes by Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and al-Kindī, often mixed with opium.
🧩 Decoding the Description
Let’s parse the core features to see what real-world analog it may represent:
| Feature | Interpretation / Possible Identity |
|---|---|
| "Turns to stone when it leaves the sea" | Not literal fossilization, but a dried crab, exoskeleton calcification, or fossilized specimen that hardens when removed from water. This phenomenon has metaphorical value in medical texts. |
| “Useful in eye remedies” | Used medicinally for corneal conditions, especially in powdered form. Confirmed in Arabic medical literature (al-Kindī, Ibn Sīnā, and later apothecaries). |
| “Indian Crab” from the China Sea | Could refer to marine or estuarine crabs found in the Indo-Pacific, especially those known to harden dramatically after death or drying. May include: – Fossilized brachyurans – Dried and mineralized crab remains sold as “crab-stone” or calcareous concretions |
| Pharmacological history | Widely attested in medieval Islamic medicine. Al-Kindī’s compound prescriptions and Ibn Sīnā’s Canon cite saraṭān baḥrī (marine crab) as an ingredient in eye salves, sometimes called “crab’s eye stone”. Likely refers to powdered, petrified crab or carapace material with real or perceived astringent properties. |
🦀 Is it the Coconut Crab?
While the coconut crab (Birgus latro) is a spectacular and land-roaming crustacean, it’s not a great fit here, for a few reasons:
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Coconut crabs do not "turn to stone"—they shed their shells during molting and their exoskeletons harden slowly, not instantly.
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They are not associated in any source with medical use, especially not in eye treatments.
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Their behavior is terrestrial, but the text suggests a marine-to-land transformation associated with sudden petrification—a symbolic and alchemical image, not a biological one.
❌ Verdict: The coconut crab is not the most likely candidate for this entry.
🧪 A Better Candidate: Fossilized Crabs or “Crab’s Eye” Stones
Medieval and early modern Islamic pharmacology often utilized fossilized or mineralized sea creatures—including what were interpreted as “petrified crabs.” These could be:
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Dried marine crabs, hardened and preserved, sometimes pulverized into medicinal powders,
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Fossil crabs or concretions, often sold in markets as curative stones,
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Or even “crab's eyes” (oculi cancrorum)—natural concretions or nodules from crab shells or surrounding sediment.
These “crabs that turn to stone” were not just believed to do so—they were often collected, traded, ground into fine powder, and added to eye remedies. The calcified texture and pale color matched the humoral logic of classical Islamic medicine: a cooling, drying agent used to treat cloudy vision or excess moisture in the eyes.
🧭 Geographic Context: Sanf, Zābaj, and the Sea of China
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Sanf: Likely a reference to the region near Champa or Southeast Asia.
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Zābaj (Java): Regularly mentioned in Arabic geography as a lush, powerful island kingdom rich in spices, herbs, and unusual flora/fauna.
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The association with Zābaj and Sanf confirms that this entry reflects real maritime trade knowledge—of goods (including medicinal stones), not merely natural species.
Final Identification
✨ Like many entries in The Book of Curiosities, this account fuses natural observation, commercial awareness, and medical theory, capturing how Arab geographers and physicians understood not just animals—but what they could become when transformed into tools of healing.
Al-Raʿādah (الرعادة)
The Thunder Fish That Numbs the Hand
Text
“In the Nile and the Mediterranean there is a fish called al-raʿādah (the electric ray). It is yellow and flabby. When a man puts his hand on it, the hand shakes and becomes numb so that the fish is able to escape. It is impossible to grab it as long as it is alive. They are often used as a major treatment for debilitation.”
Analysis
The al-Raʿādah (الرعادة) is identified by name and function as a fish that produces an electric shock. Its effects are described not as fantastical, but in precise physiological terms:
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It causes the hand to shake,
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Induces numbness,
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And makes it impossible to hold onto the fish while it’s alive.
This is a strikingly accurate description of the electric ray, a group of cartilaginous fishes in the Torpedinidae family, known for their ability to generate electric discharges from specialized organs. The species most likely referenced here is the Mediterranean torpedo (Torpedo torpedo), historically documented as far back as Aristotle, and native to both the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile Delta—precisely as stated in the text.
⚡ Name and Meaning: The Thunderer
The Arabic name al-Raʿādah derives from raʿd (رعد), meaning “thunder.” This is an elegant semantic choice:
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Thunder connotes a sudden, invisible force,
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It is felt and heard rather than seen,
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It is associated with power, fear, and divine energy.
This name, like the Latin torpedo (meaning “numbness” or “paralysis”), shows that ancient and medieval cultures understood the ray’s shock-producing ability in metaphorical terms that still convey scientific truth. The inability to grasp the fish due to shock, and the automatic reflex of release, are central features of neuromuscular response to electrical stimulation.
🐟 Zoological Profile: The Electric Ray
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Belongs to the order Torpediniformes.
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Equipped with electrogenic organs located near the head, capable of delivering shocks up to 200 volts, depending on the species.
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The Mediterranean torpedo is yellowish to brown in color—aligning with the “yellow and flabby” descriptor.
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Feeds on small fish and invertebrates, often ambushing prey by stunning them with electricity.
While the Nile population may have been misattributed from coastal regions (as torpedoes prefer saltwater), it’s possible the author was referring to seasonal brackish incursions or using “Nile” to refer to northern deltaic waters, where salinity fluctuates.
🧪 Therapeutic Use in Ancient and Islamic Medicine
The note that the electric ray was used to treat debilitation is far from idle myth—it reflects a real and widespread medical practice dating back to the classical world:
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Scribonius Largus, a 1st-century Roman physician, recommended the electric ray for chronic headaches and gout, by applying the live animal directly to the body.
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Pliny the Elder also described this remedy, and it persisted into Arabic medical traditions, where early Islamic physicians—especially those drawing on Greek sources—referenced its ability to stimulate nerves or relieve pain.
In medieval Islamic medicine, conditions like paralysis, numbness, or fatigue were treated with external stimulation. The electric ray’s shock was interpreted as a reviving force—a jolt to reawaken the body’s energy, possibly aligned with the theory of balancing the four humors.
Thus, this wasn’t just natural marvel—it was empirical therapy, passed down from Greco-Roman pharmacology into Islamic medical theory.
Final Identification
✨ The electric ray stands out in The Book of Curiosities as one of the most scientifically accurate and observationally grounded creatures—a living marvel not because it is strange, but because it strikes with a force that can be felt, but not seen.
Al-Sarb (السرب)
The Dream-Disrupting Bream of Alexandria’s Sea
Text
“In the Sea of Alexandria there is a fish called al-sarb (gilt-head bream). It is white shading to blue but with a red tail. Its head is like a beak. Eating this fish causes a man to see himself throughout his entire night’s dreams as being sexually penetrated, or to have frightful nightmares.”
Footnote Context
A near-identical account is found in Ibn Ḥawqal’s Ṣūrat al-ʿArḍ, where he writes that:
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The fish causes men to dream they are raped, specifically by a group of black men (an image steeped in symbolic and racialized associations),
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He and his companions personally ate the fish to test this claim and found it baseless, indicating a tradition of skeptical, even proto-scientific verification among medieval geographers.
🐟 Zoological Identification: Sparus aurata (Gilt-head Bream)
The fish named al-sarb in this passage matches the gilt-head bream, Sparus aurata, in both appearance and environment:
| Descriptive Feature | Match with Gilt-head Bream |
|---|---|
| Habitat: Sea of Alexandria | ✔️ Common in Mediterranean waters, especially coastal Egypt |
| Color: White to blue | ✔️ Silvery-white with a bluish sheen |
| Red tail | ➖ While Sparus aurata doesn't typically have a red tail, this could refer to blood coloration at the fin base after catch, or be a confusion with a juvenile stage or seasonal coloring. Alternatively, it could reflect another Sparid species. |
| Beak-like head | ✔️ Gilt-head bream have a prominent, curved snout, and powerful jaws that can appear beak-like due to their teeth and cranial shape. |
| Arabic name: al-sarb (السرب) | ✔️ The term appears in other Arabic zoological sources as a variant for coastal bream, and is associated with fish of the Sparidae family. |
Given this combination of color, morphology, location, and historical naming, the gilt-head bream is the most plausible identification, with a minor caveat that the red tail may be an embellishment or a local variant.
🧠 Dreams, Taboos, and the Body: Cultural Analysis
The bizarre claim that this fish causes sexualized dreams—specifically of being penetrated—is not zoological but cultural. It belongs to a long tradition in Islamic, Greek, and folk medicine where foods were believed to:
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Influence the humors (especially the cold, wet temperament, which could provoke fear or sexual vulnerability),
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Trigger erotic dreams (similar claims were made about garlic, onions, and certain fish),
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Disrupt sleep or disturb the soul’s clarity, especially if eaten late or in excess.
In this case, the red tail and beaked head may have reinforced symbolic associations with phallic or penetrating imagery, while the fish’s flesh may have been perceived as cold and moist in Galenic theory—traits associated with passivity and sleep disturbance.
❗ Ibn Ḥawqal’s deliberate testing of the fish and his dismissal of the effect shows an early example of empirical skepticism in Islamic science. He treats the myth not as sacred, but as something falsifiable through observation.
The inclusion of racialized imagery (i.e., being raped by "black men") in Ibn Ḥawqal's version must be seen within the context of medieval Arab attitudes toward sub-Saharan Africans, often intertwined with symbolic fears of domination, masculinity, and the reversal of power hierarchies. It reveals less about the fish and more about cultural anxieties projected onto its consumption.
🧪 Was This Fish Ever Used Medicinally?
There is no surviving evidence that the gilt-head bream was used in formal Islamic pharmacology (unlike, say, the electric ray or Indian crab). Instead, this account aligns more with folk belief and psychological symptomatology—how people felt after eating the fish, especially in dreams, rather than anything intrinsic to the fish itself.
In short: this is not pharmacology—it’s culinary folklore shaped by sexuality, humorism, and cultural taboos.
Final Identification
🟢 Al-Sarb (السرب) is most likely the gilt-head bream (Sparus aurata), a common and highly recognizable fish of the Mediterranean, especially near Alexandria. Its color, beaked snout, and culinary presence match the description in both The Book of Curiosities and Ibn Ḥawqal.
🧠 The claim that eating this fish leads to dreams of sexual penetration or night terrors reflects folk anxieties, not biological truth. It was likely associated with passive or “cooling” foods in the Galenic system, and over time, became the object of cultural projection—especially regarding masculinity, sleep, and the loss of bodily control.
📚 The inclusion of a first-person experiment by Ibn Ḥawqal—and his dismissal of the effect—reveals the critical and observational mindset of early Islamic science: legends were respected, but they could be tested.
The Mud-Walker of Sankhai (سمكة سنخاي)
The Fish That Dances in the Mud and Returns to the Sea
Text
“In the Sea of Sankhai there is a fish that, when it is thrown on shore by the sea, continues to sway and reel in the mud for half a day. As a result its skin falls off, allowing for the appearance of wings with which it directs itself back to the sea.”
🗺 Geographic Context: Sankhai and the South China Sea
The Sea of Sankhai is an Arabic rendering of “San Hai” (三海)—literally “Three Seas” or “Vast Sea” in Chinese. This refers to the northern South China Sea, a region deeply familiar to Arab sailors through maritime trade with southern China, Champa, and Zābaj (Java). It was known for its monsoonal coastlines, tidal flats, and unusual coastal ecologies—exactly the habitat of the fish in question.
🧩 Analysis and Identification
The account describes a fish that:
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Is cast ashore,
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Writhes or sways in the mud for half a day,
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Sheds its skin, and
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Reveals “wings” which it uses to return to the sea.
This may sound allegorical—but it’s actually an accurate, poetic rendering of the behavior of the mudskipper, especially species such as:
Periophthalmus barbarus or Periophthalmus argentilineatus(widespread in Southeast Asia, the Indo-Pacific, and South China Sea)
These fish possess the following traits:
| Feature | Mudskipper Behavior |
|---|---|
| Amphibious | ✔️ Mudskippers can survive out of water for hours, using cutaneous respiration (breathing through skin and mouth linings). |
| Writhing/swaying on land | ✔️ They hop, sway, and lurch across mud using pectoral fins and tail in a way that can resemble “reeling.” |
| “Skin falling off” | ➖ While mudskippers don’t shed skin, the mud-caked layer on their body may appear to slough off after drying or as they move—especially if seen from a distance or filtered through metaphor. |
| Appearance of “wings” | ✔️ Their pectoral fins are wing-like, splayed widely to support movement and balance on land. In poetic terms, they resemble small wings or arm-like flaps used for steering. |
| Return to the sea | ✔️ They instinctively orient toward water and move back when threatened or dehydrated. Their locomotion can seem purposeful and directed. |
This is not just coincidence—it’s a remarkably literal description, filtered through the imaginative language of marvel.
🐟 Mudskippers in Context: Living on the Edge of Worlds
Mudskippers have long fascinated both scientists and storytellers because they defy the typical boundaries of fish behavior:
-
They breathe air and see above water using bulging eyes.
-
They walk on land, behaving like amphibians, despite being fully fish.
-
They build burrows, defend territories, and interact socially.
-
To the premodern observer, they blur the line between fish, reptile, and bird—an ambiguity ripe for marvel literature.
In The Book of Curiosities, which delights in creatures that transgress natural categories, the mudskipper would appear to shed its aquatic identity and grow terrestrial traits—even "wings." This metaphor of transformation mirrors similar imagery in stories of serpents becoming dragons, fish flying, or beasts growing human limbs.
🧠 Symbolic Layer: Shedding and Return
The detail of the “skin falling off” and the emergence of wings may carry symbolic significance, evoking:
-
Metamorphosis, akin to the molting of snakes or emergence of butterflies,
-
Death and rebirth, with the fish shedding one form and reclaiming another,
-
Or even Islamic philosophical themes of return to origin (al-rujūʿ ilā al-baḥr)—a being born from the sea, momentarily trapped on land, and destined to return.
Final Identification
✨ This entry beautifully reflects how The Book of Curiosities doesn’t invent strangeness—it translates nature’s edges into symbols, capturing the way certain creatures exist on the thresholds of element, form, and meaning.
Al-Qindīl (القنديل)
The Lamp of the Sea
Text
“A fish called al-qindīl (‘the lamp’). It has a round body with no shell. It has the blue colour of glass and legs that look like strings.”
Analysis
The creature called al-Qindīl, meaning “the lamp” in Arabic, is described with a minimalist but vivid precision:
-
A round, shell-less body,
-
A glass-like blue hue,
-
And string-like legs.
These are the hallmark features of the jellyfish, especially open-ocean species of the phylum Cnidaria, many of which are:
-
Bell-shaped or saucer-like,
-
Translucent or light blue, like blown glass,
-
Equipped with tentacles that hang like strings, trailing behind them in the water.
No other marine animal fits this combination so precisely.
🌌 Why “The Lamp”?
The name al-Qindīl is more than a poetic metaphor—it refers to bioluminescence, a phenomenon that medieval sailors would have witnessed at night:
-
Many jellyfish emit a faint blue or green glow, especially when disturbed.
-
This phosphorescence creates the illusion of a floating lantern, hovering in the blackness of the sea.
To a premodern observer in the Indian Ocean or Mediterranean, the sight of this ghostly, glowing orb drifting just beneath the surface—alive, translucent, and radiant—would have seemed nothing short of supernatural.
🔹 The Arabic word qindīl was also used to describe glass oil lamps, often colored blue or green—further reinforcing the connection between marine bioluminescence and domestic light sources.
🧬 Biological Reality: Jellyfish
-
Belong to the Cnidaria phylum, primarily the Scyphozoa (true jellyfish).
-
Possess a gelatinous, bell-shaped body with no internal skeleton or shell.
-
Tentacles contain stinging cells (nematocysts) used for stunning prey.
-
Some species, such as Pelagia noctiluca or Aequorea victoria, are naturally bioluminescent.
The color “blue like glass” could easily describe the appearance of Aequorea species, whose glasslike bell becomes visibly iridescent when illuminated.
✔️ The lack of bones, shell, or hard tissue is also correctly observed: jellyfish are composed of 95–98% water, and collapse almost entirely when removed from the sea.
📖 Cultural and Symbolic Meaning
The image of a light-bearing sea creature would have had powerful metaphorical resonance in Islamic thought:
-
The sea as a realm of darkness, pierced by this small, glowing presence, parallels Qur’anic metaphors of divine light in darkness.
-
The contrast between form and formlessness, and the living without bones or shell, would have echoed philosophical and mystical reflections on creation and transience.
-
And as with other marvels, the jellyfish served to mark the threshold between elements—not quite beast, not quite spirit, but a fluid mystery in motion.
Final Identification
Khadāwand Samsīr (خداوند شمشیر)
The Sword-Master of the Sea
Text
“A fish called khadāwand samsīr, which means [in Persian] ‘master of the sword’. Its upper snout is as long as a sword, five or six cubits more or less, and it has molar teeth along its side. It uses the teeth to strike other fish ⟨or a weasel⟩ and cut them in half, and then it swallows them. Sometimes it uses the sword to strike small ships and break them.”
🧭 Name and Language
The Persian term khadāwand samsīr (خداوند شمشیر) literally means “lord/master of the sword.” The name evokes not only the animal’s most distinctive feature—its extended, serrated snout—but also imbues it with regal or martial stature, much like a Persian prince or general might be called khadāwand-e jangi (lord of war).
Such metaphorical naming is consistent with how premodern Arabic and Persian writers interpreted natural phenomena through the language of human social hierarchy and heroic archetypes.
🐟 Identification: Pristis pristis (Sawfish)
Every detail here aligns precisely with the sawfish, a type of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Pristidae, commonly found in the Indo-Pacific, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and East African coastal waters:
| Descriptive Feature | Sawfish Match |
|---|---|
| Snout “like a sword,” 5–6 cubits long | ✔️ The rostrum of large sawfish can reach 1.5–2 meters, matching the 5–6 cubits (approx. 2.25–2.7m) described. |
| “Molar teeth along its side” | ✔️ Refers to the denticle teeth embedded on both sides of the rostrum, which look like teeth or serrations. |
| Used to cut prey | ✔️ Sawfish use violent lateral swipes to stun, injure, or dismember schooling fish before consumption. |
| Can strike ships | ➖ While sawfish are not known to attack vessels, their large rostrums may occasionally get lodged in wooden boats or nets, interpreted by sailors as aggressive behavior. |
Sawfish are not swordfish (Xiphias gladius), which have pointed, smooth bills and are fast-swimming pelagic predators. Sawfish are closer to rays, slow-moving, and often dwell near shallow estuaries and mangrove coasts.
🧠 Predatory Myths and Marine Imagination
The narrative that this fish:
-
Cuts weasels in half (a curious inclusion),
-
Or splits boats with its sword,
...echoes ancient literary motifs where animals possess superhuman strength or cunning. This is a common exaggeration in maritime marvel texts, where the unknown depths produce animals with unnatural power—a form of elemental warfare, where beasts battle ships like sea-borne warriors.
The name "Master of the Sword" further fuels this chivalric framing, turning the sawfish into a kind of knight of the sea, wielding its rostrum not as a feeding tool, but as a weapon of honor, offense, and dominion.
🧬 Modern Biology
-
Family: Pristidae
-
Habitat: Coastal tropical seas, especially the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and Persian Gulf—regions frequently sailed by medieval Arab merchants and described in The Book of Curiosities.
-
Conservation: Most sawfish species are now critically endangered due to overfishing and habitat loss, especially from their vulnerability to net entanglement.
Their powerful image in medieval texts contrasts tragically with their modern fragility.
Final Identification
Al-Ghurāb (الغُراب)
The Crow-Beaked Flyer of the Sea
Text
“A fish called al-ghurāb, which has a beak like a crow’s beak and wings with which it flies.”
🐦 Name and Meaning: The Crow of the Sea
The Arabic word al-ghurāb literally means “the crow”, drawing attention to one of two things:
-
Its beak, compared directly to that of a crow—curved, sharp, and prominent,
-
Or its coloration, possibly dark, shiny, or iridescent, like that of a crow’s feathers.
This animal is imagined as part avian, part marine—exactly the kind of boundary-crossing beast that fascinated the authors of The Book of Curiosities.
🧩 Decoding the Description
The creature is described with:
-
A “crow-like beak”,
-
And “wings with which it flies”.
This description invites two interpretations:
| Feature | Literal Meaning | Possible Biological Analogy |
|---|---|---|
| Crow-like beak | Curved, pointed mouth or snout | A prominent jaw or snout; possibly a downward-curving head profile |
| Wings with which it flies | Large, spreading pectoral fins used in gliding or display | Flying fish or fish with extended pectorals (e.g., gurnards, meagres) |
Yossef Rapoport’s Identification: The Brown Meagre (Sciaena umbra)
The brown meagre is a plausible identification, and here's why:
-
Habitat: Native to the Mediterranean, especially coastal shallows, including the Sea of Alexandria, where many entries are drawn from.
-
Color: The brown meagre has a dark bronze or purplish hue, especially in shallows—possibly matching the “crow” imagery.
-
Beak: It has a steep head profile with a blunt, downturned mouth, which may be compared metaphorically to a crow’s beak.
-
Pectoral fins: The brown meagre has long, curved pectoral fins. When spread, these can resemble wings—especially to a premodern eye seeing a fish leap or dart sideways.
-
Swimming behavior: Although not a flying fish, the brown meagre is swift and elusive, sometimes breaching slightly from the surface when startled.
🟢 Verdict: Plausible match, especially when interpreted metaphorically.
🛑 Why Not a Flying Fish?
At first glance, the phrase “wings with which it flies” could suggest a flying fish (Exocoetidae). However:
-
Flying fish have straight, flattened jaws, not beak-like.
-
They’re rarely dark or crow-colored.
-
They don’t resemble crows in any way except for gliding.
❌ Verdict: Doesn’t match the “beak” or symbolic crow-like features.
🧠 Symbolic Layer: Crows, Hybridity, and the Sky-Sea Boundary
This entry draws heavily on the literary and symbolic framework of ʿajāʾib al-makhlūqāt:
-
The crow is traditionally associated with death, mystery, and liminality—a creature that scavenges between worlds.
-
To call a fish a crow may suggest that it lives between realms, hinting at:
-
Its ability to “fly” or jump above water,
-
Its strangeness or eerie presence, like an omen,
-
Or its color and sharpness, resembling an aerial predator of the deep.
-
This merging of bird and fish imagery reflects a fascination with animals that blur boundaries, a core theme in Islamic cosmography.
Final Identification
Al-Qunfudh (القنفذ)
The Hedgehog of the Sea
Text
“A fish called al-qunfudh (the hedgehog), which looks exactly like a hedgehog.”
🧩 Analysis
This is one of the simplest and most transparent identifications in The Book of Curiosities—but also one of the most metaphorically elegant. The animal described here is:
-
Called “the hedgehog”,
-
And said to look exactly like a hedgehog.
This can only refer to the sea urchin, a member of the echinoderm phylum that:
-
Has a rounded, often spherical body,
-
Is covered in spines of varying length and rigidity,
-
Moves slowly along the sea floor,
-
And resembles a ball of needles, just like a curled-up hedgehog.
No other marine animal shares this combination of appearance, structure, and spiny defense mechanism.
🦔 Why “Hedgehog”?
The Arabic word al-qunfudh (القنفذ) refers to the hedgehog, a small, nocturnal mammal found across the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. When threatened, it curls into a spiny ball, using its quills for defense—precisely the same tactic sea urchins use with their spines.
This metaphorical naming serves several functions:
-
Visual analogy – Both animals are round, spiny, and difficult to handle.
-
Defensive posture – Both protect themselves through passive, painful deterrence.
-
Symbolic resonance – In Islamic and Greco-Arabic literature, hedgehogs were associated with earthiness, stubbornness, and mystery—qualities projected onto unfamiliar marine forms.
🌊 Zoological Identification: Sea Urchin (Class Echinoidea)
Sea urchins are spiny, globular echinoderms that live on the seabed of all oceans. Specific traits:
-
Hard, calcified shell (test) covered in mobile spines,
-
Some species, like the purple sea urchin or Diadema spp., have long, needle-like spines that can injure the careless,
-
Others are smaller and compact but still densely spined.
Though referred to here as a “fish,” this is a generic classification used in premodern texts for nearly all aquatic animals.
🧪 Some sea urchins were even used in traditional remedies or diets in coastal cultures, though not typically referenced medicinally in Islamic pharmacology.
🔮 Symbolism and the Language of Likeness
This entry is brief, but it encapsulates the deeper logic of Islamic wonder literature: it names the unknown by analogy to the known. Instead of inventing new terminology, it links the exotic to the familiar, allowing the reader to visualize a new marvel through a recognizable terrestrial form.
This mirrors similar analogies in Arabic zoological writing: starfish likened to flowers, jellyfish to lamps, and turtles to shields.
Final Identification
Al-Dulfīn (الدُلفين)
The Water-Skin Rescuer of the Drowned
Text
“A fish called dolphin. It looks like an inflated water-skin with a small head. If it catches up with a drowning man, it pushes him towards the shore.”
🧩 Analysis
This entry is the second reference to the dolphin in The Book of Curiosities. The earlier name was al-Dukhas (الدُخَس), described as a benevolent sea creature known for rescuing the drowning. Here, it is called al-Dulfīn (الدُلفين), a name directly borrowed from the Greek “delphís” (δελφίς) via Persian or Syriac intermediaries.
The author clearly draws from two textual traditions or source streams, suggesting that the compiler wove together overlapping narratives from Greek, Arabic, and perhaps Indian lore, without attempting to harmonize them—common in Arabic cosmographic texts.
🐬 Zoological Identity: The Dolphin (Delphinidae)
The physical description given is:
-
“Like an inflated water-skin” – implying a plump, streamlined, rubbery body, like a water-filled animal hide,
-
“With a small head” – likely refers to the dolphin’s modest rostrum and domed forehead,
-
Capable of pushing humans toward shore – reflects age-old marine rescue legends.
These features unmistakably identify the animal as a dolphin, most likely from the Delphinidae family, such as:
Common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) orIndo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis), which were known to Arab sailors across the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean.
🤲 Rescue Myths and Cross-Cultural Echoes
The dolphin’s heroic role in this passage draws from a widespread ancient motif of dolphins saving people from drowning:
-
In Greek mythology, dolphins were sacred to Apollo and Poseidon, and featured in the stories of Arion, a bard saved by dolphins after being thrown into the sea.
-
In Herodotus, Roman natural histories, and Byzantine lore, dolphins appear as agents of mercy and music.
-
In Islamic wonder literature, they retain this benevolent function, merging natural observation with moral allegory.
This continuity across cultures suggests a shared maritime experience: sailors across the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean regularly encountered dolphins, and their curious, playful behavior may have been misinterpreted—or elevated—as rescue attempts.
✨ In a sea filled with real danger, the dolphin became an image of hope, guidance, and unexpected salvation.
📚 Linguistic Notes: From Dukhas to Dulfīn
The presence of both al-Dukhas and al-Dulfīn in the same text shows:
-
The compiler relied on multiple written sources, perhaps without fully merging them,
-
The survival of Greco-Roman zoological terms in Arabic via translation movements in ʿAbbāsid Baghdad and Persian cosmographies,
-
And the tension between folk names (dukhas) and learned nomenclature (dulfīn).
It also shows that dolphins were well known enough to merit multiple entries, even with redundant descriptions—a rarity in such a tightly curated book.
Final Identification
Al-Labūs (اللُّبوس)
The Peacock-Faced Fish of Fire and Water
Text
“A fish called A-L-L-B-W-S, which has a face like a human’s. Its skin is as colourful as that of peacocks, with all kinds of colours. When it is cooked in water, it tastes sour, but when it is roasted over a fire it tastes good.”
🧩 Analysis
This is one of the most richly metaphorical and enigmatic sea creatures in The Book of Curiosities. Let’s break down its three core features:
1. Name: A-L-L-B-W-S (اللُّبوس)
-
The name is phonetically ambiguous. The root "labūs" (لبوس) in Arabic means “clothing” or “armor”, which could reference the fish’s bright, decorative skin—like a peacock’s cloak.
❗ No known classical fish in Arabic zoology goes by this exact name, marking it as a rare usage.
2. “Face like a human’s”
This is a common trope in ʿajāʾib literature and could signify:
-
Large, forward-facing eyes,
-
A broad, rounded face with noticeable lips or a downturned mouth,
-
Or even an emotive expression, which may have startled or impressed sailors.
Several reef fish meet these visual features, notably:
| Candidate | Human-like Traits |
|---|---|
| Parrotfish | Broad head, fused lips, large expressive eyes |
| Triggerfish | Wide face, smooth skin, human-like gaze |
| Wrasse (e.g., Napoleon wrasse) | Domed head, forward-facing mouth, thick lips |
3. “Skin as colourful as a peacock”
This is perhaps the strongest zoological clue:
-
Points to a reef fish with iridescent, multi-hued skin, including greens, blues, purples, and golds.
-
Several species are known for their peacock-like coloration:
-
Parrotfish (especially Scarus and Chlorurus species),
-
Wrasses (notably the Thalassoma genus),
-
Mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus)—though very small,
-
Peacock wrasse (Symphodus tinca or related species).
-
4. Taste Changes: Sour in Water, Sweet in Fire
This peculiar cooking detail may reflect:
-
Chemical transformation of the flesh depending on moist vs. dry heat,
-
Marine fish with high iodine or amine content (can taste metallic or sour when boiled),
-
A culinary observation passed through Indian Ocean seafarers, possibly tied to regional taste traditions.
This culinary duality might also carry symbolic meaning:
-
Fire purifies and brings out hidden excellence,
-
While water retains impurities—a kind of alchemical metaphor for transformation and refinement.
🐠 Proposed Identification: Parrotfish (Family Scaridae)
Of all known fish, the parrotfish best matches the full set of features:
| Feature | Match with Parrotfish |
|---|---|
| Human-like face | ✔️ Rounded, blunt head with large lips and expressive eyes |
| Peacock coloration | ✔️ Iridescent green, blue, pink, yellow hues—striking and multicolored |
| Cooking properties | ✔️ Some species are known for chewy texture, and different taste profiles when roasted vs. boiled |
| Ecological context | ✔️ Found widely in coral reefs across the Indo-Pacific, including the South China Sea and Zābaj (Java) |
They were likely caught and eaten by Arab merchants and sailors, especially near coral-rich coasts in the Malay Archipelago, Maldives, and East Africa.
🔮 Symbolic Layer: The Human-Faced Beast with Peacock Skin
In the tradition of ʿajāʾib al-makhlūqāt, this creature seems designed to provoke wonder and reflection:
-
Human face → symbolic of hybrid consciousness, animal intellect, or anthropomorphism.
-
Peacock skin → a visual marvel, associated with beauty, pride, and heavenly imagery in both Islamic and Indian symbolism.
-
Cooking transformation → moral allegory: what appears unpleasant in water may reveal beauty when tried in fire (a metaphor for trial and revelation).
This fish, like others in The Book of Curiosities, is more than zoological—it’s alchemical, ethical, and aesthetic.
Final Identification
Al-Qirsh (القرش)
The Mane-Bearing Predator of the Deep
Text
“A fish called qirsh, which has a mane as long as one cubit, like that of a huge horse. Its hair is black and thick, and it looks like cords twisted together. The hair is one cubit long. It can make the hair stand up straight so as to look like a reef. When fish pass by it turns the hairs towards the fish and preys on them.”
🐟 What Is a Qirsh?
The word qirsh (قرش) in classical Arabic is the standard term for a shark, attested in multiple Arabic sources, including:
-
Al-Jāḥiẓ (Kitāb al-Ḥayawān),
-
Ibn al-Faqīh, and
-
Later Arabic zoologists and travelers describing large, aggressive fish in the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and Mediterranean.
The shark was known as a fierce predator, powerful swimmer, and a source of both fear and awe.
🧩 Analysis of Features
Now, let’s break down the fantastical elements of this particular qirsh:
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Mane like a horse, one cubit long | Describes a band or crest of long, filamentous structures—likely mistaken for a “mane” |
| Black, thick, cord-like hair | Refers to dermal denticles, trailing parasites, algae, or remora fish attached to the back |
| Hair stands up like a reef | Symbolic comparison: reef = camouflage, rising structure. Could be dorsal fin, or mythic embellishment |
| Hair moves toward fish to catch them | Allegorical reading of how the shark lunges toward prey or employs stealth and surprise |
🔬 Possible Zoological Candidates
Though no shark literally has a “mane,” several known phenomena can explain this description:
1. Carcharhinid or hammerhead sharks with dorsal parasites
-
Large sharks often host remoras or parasitic barnacles on their backs or sides.
-
These can look like black cords, especially when trailing behind the dorsal ridge.
2. Frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus)
-
Deep-sea, prehistoric-looking shark with gill slits that wrap around the neck like a frill.
-
Body is dark, eellike, and may have inspired a “hairy” or maned look.
-
Rare, but aligns with mythic exaggeration and fringe-zone sightings.
3. Algae-covered shark
-
In shallow coral reef areas, sluggish sharks (like nurse sharks or wobbegongs) may gather algae or filamentous growth on their backs—enhancing the “mane” illusion.
🧠 Symbolic and Mythic Layers
This entry blends real predation behavior with literary imagery:
-
The horse’s mane represents power, dominance, and grace—equating the shark to a sea stallion, a frequent motif in Indo-Persian and Arabic poetry.
-
The standing mane becoming a reef evokes a scene of camouflaged ambush, as if the shark blends into its surroundings, then springs to life—a classic ʿajāʾib trick.
-
The ability to turn its mane toward prey symbolizes the shark’s agility and cunning, reinforcing its feared reputation.
This type of zoomorphic metaphor—mixing land-animal features with sea creatures—is typical in Islamic cosmographic texts, which seek not just to describe, but to narrate the moral character of animals.
⚔️ The Shark in Islamic and Maritime Culture
-
The shark was both dreaded and admired in Indian Ocean culture.
-
Arab sailors, especially around Socotra, Zanzibar, and the Persian Gulf, told stories of monstrous sharks attacking boats, dragging men into the sea, or being worshipped or appeased as spirits.
-
This may reflect oral legends of real shark attacks, mixed with African and South Arabian marine lore.
Final Identification
-
Visual phenomena (dorsal fin, attached organisms),
-
Poetic imagination (equating it to a warhorse or reef),
-
And folk marine storytelling, elevating the shark into a near-legendary predator.
🌊 This entry reflects how The Book of Curiosities merges empirical sea lore with the aesthetics of wonder—the shark here is no longer just a beast, but a symbol of feral power, cloaked in cords, moving like reef and rider in the shadowy arena of the deep.
Al-Ṣundūq (الصندوق)
The Horned Box That Slays the Whale
Text
“A fish called al-ṣundūq (coffer fish), with a rectangular body, compact, and with a shell like a tortoise. A horn comes out of its head like a deer’s horn or even thicker, and with a thin tip. If this ṣundūq encounters the huge wāl fish at sea it predominates over it, as it enters through the wāl’s nose and strikes it with its horn so as to rip open the wāl’s brain. The wāl continues to be agitated until it dies.”
🧩 Analysis
This passage is a classic blend of natural description, exaggeration, and moral allegory. Let’s dissect its components:
Physical Description of al-Ṣundūq
| Feature | Interpretation / Real-world Analog |
|---|---|
| “Rectangular body” | Describes a box-like or cuboid shape, rare among fish—strong match for boxfish |
| “Shell like a tortoise” | Refers to the hard, armor-plated carapace of boxfish or cowfish species |
| “A horn like a deer’s horn” | Cowfish (especially Lactoria cornuta) possess elongated horns at the front of the head—biologically real |
| “Thin-tipped” | Accurate—these horns taper to sharp points, resembling stylized antlers |
Boxfish and cowfish are well-known across the Indo-Pacific region, including the South China Sea, Persian Gulf, and western Indian Ocean, where Arab seafarers regularly sailed.
🐮 Likely Species: Longhorn Cowfish (Lactoria cornuta)
This species is an almost perfect match:
-
Body: Cuboid, rigid, with a hard exoskeleton (like a “coffer” or “box”).
-
Shell: Covered in hexagonal scales fused into a bony plate, giving it a tortoise-like armor.
-
Horn: Possesses long, forward-facing horns over each eye, looking like miniature antlers.
-
Behavior: Slow swimmer, uses jet propulsion and pectoral fin undulation.
-
Defense: Secretes tetrodotoxin, making it potentially poisonous to predators.
✅ The Arabic name al-Ṣundūq, meaning “box” or “coffer”, is a literal and accurate term for the fish’s rectangular, armored appearance.
⚔️ The Combat with the Whale: Symbol, Not Science
The second half of the passage is clearly mythologized: the ṣundūq enters the whale’s nostril, pierces its brain, and kills it with its horn. Biologically, this is impossible—no cowfish could kill a whale—but symbolically and literarily, it carries deep resonance:
| Element | Allegorical Reading |
|---|---|
| Tiny fish slays mighty whale | A David vs. Goliath motif—a small, clever being defeats the giant |
| Entering through the nose | Symbolizes targeting a vulnerable spot—a classic literary theme |
| The horn as a weapon | Evokes the ichneumon vs. crocodile motif in which a small creature slays a monster via a secret weak point |
This myth may have roots in African or Indian Ocean folklore, where animals or humans defeat dangerous beasts by exploiting a divine trick or clever design.
It also echoes the earlier entry on the lashak, the small parasitic fish that kills the whale by entering its ear—a folk-trope of poetic justice and inversion: the small humiliating the mighty.
🧪 Biological Possibilities
The boxfish and cowfish are not predators of whales—but several curious facts might have inspired this tale:
-
Their horns may have led to analogies with weapons.
-
Their toxicity could have led to stories of larger predators dying after swallowing them.
-
Sailors might have witnessed dead or sick whales with unknown causes, and the boxfish, with its armored, horned form, made for a perfect symbolic scapegoat.
📚 Language, Symbol, and Compilation Style
This entry illustrates how The Book of Curiosities:
-
Fuses precise zoological observation with cosmological drama,
-
Weaves together Greek, Arabic, Persian, and Indian traditions,
-
Preserves oral sailor lore with rich symbolic overlays—without concern for consistency or realism.
The name ṣundūq is uniquely Arabic, but the battle motif comes from a pan-Eurasian imagination, where the ocean is filled with hidden power, revenge, and moral reversal.
Final Identification
Al-Lukhm (اللُّخْم)
The Man-Swallowing Shark of Harkand
Text
🧭 Geographic Context: Sea of Harkand
-
Harkand is an Arabic transliteration of Harikela or Harikand, referring to eastern Bengal or coastal northeast India.
-
This area corresponds to the Bay of Bengal, a hotspot for large marine predators, particularly sharks, sawfish, and rays.
-
Arab merchants and sailors traversed these waters en route to Chittagong, Andaman Islands, and Southeast Asia, often encountering (or imagining) creatures of immense scale.
🐟 Name: Al-Lukhm / Al-Lukham
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Lukhm (لخم) in classical Arabic sources is an old term that almost always refers to a large predatory sea creature, later understood to mean “shark.”
-
In Ibn al-Faqīh, al-Idrīsī, and other geographers, lukhm is sometimes used generically for big, dangerous fish—but in Indian Ocean contexts, it clearly denotes a shark.
✅ In modern Arabic, "lukhm" has even come to mean “stingray” in the Gulf, but in medieval texts it almost always means shark, especially when the context involves human predation.
🦈 Candidate Species: The Man-Swallowing Shark
The description is brief but powerful: “swallows people in one gulp.” This clearly refers to a very large shark, and there are only a few in the Bay of Bengal capable of such a feat—or at least feared for it.
Let’s assess the possibilities:
| Shark Species | Size | Dangerous to Humans? | Match with “Swallows People” |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) | Up to 6–7m | Rare in Bay of Bengal but present | ✔️ Famous for attacks and size |
| Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) | Up to 5.5m | ✔️ Very aggressive and known to eat human remains | ✔️ Very likely candidate |
| Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas) | Up to 4m | ✔️ Extremely aggressive, swims in shallow and freshwater | ➖ Very aggressive but not large enough to "swallow in one gulp" |
| Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) | Up to 12–18m | ❌ Harmless filter feeder | ❌ Too docile; wouldn't inspire fear |
| Oceanic Whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus) | Up to 3–4m | ✔️ Aggressive, especially toward shipwreck survivors | ➖ Likely feared, but too small for this description |
✅ Most likely identification: the Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)
It is:
-
Common in the Bay of Bengal,
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One of the only sharks that regularly eats large prey, including turtles, dolphins, birds, and yes—human remains,
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Known for being able to swallow large objects whole,
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Feared by seafarers from Polynesia to the Persian Gulf.
🧠 Myth, Fear, and the ‘One Gulp’ Trope
The idea that a fish "swallows people in one gulp" is not just a biological observation—it’s a moral and symbolic image:
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It compresses death, helplessness, and marine terror into a single moment.
-
The lukhm becomes not just a fish, but a sea demon, a living punishment, a beast that swallows without chewing, offering no chance to fight or pray.
-
Similar imagery appears in Jonah’s whale, in Indian nāga legends, and in Greek tales of Scylla and Charybdis.
This reflects the medieval sailor’s view of the ocean as a place of sudden, cosmic judgment.
Final Identification
🟢 Al-Lukhm (اللخم) in the Sea of Harkand refers to the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), a massive, aggressive predator found in the Bay of Bengal and widely feared for its ability to swallow large prey whole.
⚔️ Its description as a one-gulp killer taps into a long tradition of sea monster lore, where death comes swiftly and invisibly from below.
📚 The term lukhm appears in Abū Zayd al-Sīrāfī and other geographers as part of a broader Indian Ocean sailor’s vocabulary—blending observation, fear, and narrative power.
The Infinite Fish of the Indian Ocean
The Creature Without an End
Text
“In the Indian Ocean there is a fish that, when you slice open its body, you find another fish within it, and when you slice open that fish you find another one, and so on without end.”
🧩 Analysis
This passage is not describing a zoological phenomenon in the conventional sense—no known animal contains an infinite sequence of nested individuals. Instead, the creature serves as a marvel of recursion, an embodiment of the infinite within the finite.
Let’s explore the three levels of interpretation:
1. Literal Zoological Candidates
Is this based on a misobserved natural phenomenon?
Some possibilities that might have inspired the tale:
| Natural Feature | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Ovoviviparity | Some fish, like sharks, livebearer fish (e.g., guppies), and certain rays, carry multiple fully formed young inside them—cutting one open reveals many smaller versions. |
| Parasitism | Some fish, especially in tropical reefs, contain internal parasites or are swallowed by larger fish, which themselves are swallowed by others. |
| Prey-in-prey observation | Fishermen may have found multiple prey fish inside a predator, each eaten in succession—giving the illusion of layers. |
| Embryonic development | In rare cases, cutting open a pregnant fish or larval nest may expose many generations of developmental stages. |
❗ But these always end—none are truly infinite.
So while it may have originated from witnessing fish with other fish inside, this marvel goes beyond the biological into the philosophical.
2. Symbolic Meaning: The Infinite in the Ocean
This fish is best read as a metaphor—a sea creature that:
-
Encodes infinity within itself,
-
Represents creation within creation, worlds nested within worlds,
-
Echoes Qur’anic and philosophical themes of unending divine signs (āyāt) in the natural world.
In this sense, the fish becomes a cosmic sign—like:
-
The nested spheres of Ptolemaic astronomy,
-
The Russian-doll-like unfolding of divine knowledge,
-
Or the mirroring of divine attributes through infinite regress (tasalsul).
3. Cultural and Literary Analogues
This motif appears in other cultures:
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In Greek paradoxes, especially Zeno’s ideas of infinite division,
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In Buddhist cosmology, with world-systems inside world-systems,
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In Sufi metaphysics, where each layer of being reveals another,
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And in folklore, like the dragon whose stomach contains another dragon, etc.
🧠 The Indian Ocean, in this case, represents the unknowable totality, and this fish—a marvel found nowhere else—is the embodiment of recursive mystery.
🧬 Final Thoughts: Not a Fish, but a Concept
This is a perfect example of a wonder (ʿajīb) that serves not to inform but to amaze, instruct, and expand the mind. It tells us:
-
The sea is limitless,
-
Creation is layered and never-ending,
-
And human knowledge is forever cutting deeper, never reaching the final layer.
Final Identification
Banāt al-Baḥr (بنات البحر)
The Daughters of the Sea
Text
“In the sea there is a community called ‘the daughters of the sea’ (that is, mermaids). They look like women with lank hair. Their colour tends toward yellow but not red. They have enormous genitalia, breasts, and they speak in barely intelligible words and laughter. Their skins are viscid. Sometimes they fall into the hands of sailors, who have intercourse with them and derive extreme pleasure from it. They [the mermaids] seldom leave the water.”
🧜♀️ Analysis
This is an unusually vivid and explicit description of mermaids, not as mythic sirens or ethereal sea-nymphs, but as flesh-and-blood creatures with animalistic bodies, sexual allure, and incomprehensible speech. The passage is heavily shaped by:
-
Indian Ocean seafaring folklore,
-
Islamic ʿajāʾib literature,
-
And likely older Greco-Roman mythologies filtered through Arabic translations (e.g., Pliny, Aristotle).
Physical Characteristics and Symbolism
| Trait | Possible Origin / Meaning |
|---|---|
| “Like women with lank hair” | Evokes the wet-haired seductress, similar to sirens, or drowned spirits. Also common in Indian Yakshi legends. |
| “Colour tends toward yellow” | In medieval Arabic humoral theory, yellow (ṣafrāʾ) implies heat, bile, and sexual stimulation—but not the blood-red associated with danger. |
| “Large breasts and genitalia” | Emphasizes hypersexuality, common in sailor tales and fertility myths. Possibly symbolic of abundance, but also lust. |
| “Viscid skin” | Indicates a fishlike or amphibious texture, mixing human and aquatic attributes. |
| “Barely intelligible words and laughter” | Suggests pre-human or subhuman speech, aligning them with jinn, beasts, or possessed beings. |
| “Sailors have intercourse with them” | Reflects popular maritime sex-myths—common across Polynesian, Indian, and Arabic traditions. Seen in tales of sirens, selkies, and sea-jinn. |
🌍 Cultural Origins and Parallels
This entry is not isolated. Similar beings appear across medieval and cross-cultural traditions:
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Greek & Roman: Sirens and Nereids with enchanting songs and fatal beauty.
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Indian Ocean: Fishermen speak of nārī mīna (“fish-women”), often with warnings about hallucinations, madness, or spiritual danger.
-
African coastal lore: Female water spirits (mami wata) or sea-jinn who seduce and punish.
-
Islamic texts: Jāḥiẓ and Qazwīnī describe sea monsters with woman-like upper bodies and beast-like lower halves.
Their “laughter” and “speech” suggest a liminal intelligence—beings not fully animal, not fully rational, like feral jinn or maddened humans.
⚓ Sailor Lore and Sexual Fantasy
The image of the mermaid as lover reflects real psychological phenomena among sailors:
-
Months at sea led to widespread myths of sea-women—a blend of hallucination, fantasy, and exaggeration.
-
The detail that they “seldom leave the water” reaffirms their non-human, otherworldly nature—close to mankind, but always just out of reach, except when captured.
This also mirrors Greek ideas of nymphs and naiads, who could be caught but never kept.
🧠 Moral and Cosmological Readings
This creature functions on multiple levels:
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Sexual temptation: They are objects of desire but also represent animal lust and loss of reason—men become beasts with them.
-
Boundary transgressors: Like other hybrid creatures, they defy divine categories—neither beast nor woman, land nor sea.
-
Maritime marvel: As with many sea monsters, they inhabit the edges of the known world, where the physical meets the mythic.
Final Identification
Abū Muraynah (أبو مرينة)
The Weeping Sea-Man of Alexandria
Text
“In the sea there are also creatures called in Coptic ‘Abū Muraynah’, because they often appear around Alexandria, al-Burullus and Rashīd in the form of human beings. They have black viscid skins and bodies that resemble human form. They cry and wail. If they fall in the hands of fishermen—for they sometimes come to the surface to sunbathe and then they fall in the hands of the fishermen—they cry and the fishermen have mercy on them. Many Copts regard seeing these creatures as a blessing, and believe that the day in which their eyes are cast upon them is a blessed day. For this reason the fishermen avoid taking them to the shore.”
🧩 Physical Features
This entry gives a rare and emotionally resonant portrayal of a sea creature with both biological distinctiveness and mythical gravity. The features align very precisely with one animal known from the coasts of Egypt.
| Feature | Real-World Match |
|---|---|
| “Form of human beings” | The monk seal’s upright posture, large dark eyes, and limb-like flippers evoke a humanoid shape, especially when basking |
| “Black, viscid skin” | Monk seals have dark brown to black wet-looking skin, often slick with seawater or oil-rich fur |
| “Cry and wail” | Seals emit groans, moans, and bleating cries—many of which resemble human sobs or keening |
| “Sunbathes at surface” | Monk seals regularly bask on coastal rocks and beaches, exposing themselves to potential human encounter |
| “Crying when captured” | Seals vocalize loudly when distressed, leading fishermen to interpret the sound as emotional weeping |
🔍 Decisive Zoological Identification: The Monk Seal
✅ Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus)
-
Habitat: Once common in the eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt’s northern coast, especially Alexandria, Lake Burullus, and Rosetta—exactly where Abū Muraynah is said to appear.
-
Appearance: Stocky, black to dark brown skin, large reflective eyes, and a rounded, near-human head.
-
Behavior:
-
Comes ashore to rest and sunbathe—a rare trait among marine animals and decisively not something moray eels do.
-
Known to vocalize plaintively, which many early observers interpreted as crying.
-
Cultural Impact:
-
Revered and avoided by traditional fishermen, particularly in Greek and Egyptian Christian contexts.
-
Known in Greek as “μοναχός” (monachos) = "monk", a name with both religious and zoological weight.
Habitat: Once common in the eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt’s northern coast, especially Alexandria, Lake Burullus, and Rosetta—exactly where Abū Muraynah is said to appear.
Appearance: Stocky, black to dark brown skin, large reflective eyes, and a rounded, near-human head.
Behavior:
-
Comes ashore to rest and sunbathe—a rare trait among marine animals and decisively not something moray eels do.
-
Known to vocalize plaintively, which many early observers interpreted as crying.
Cultural Impact:
-
Revered and avoided by traditional fishermen, particularly in Greek and Egyptian Christian contexts.
-
Known in Greek as “μοναχός” (monachos) = "monk", a name with both religious and zoological weight.
This identification is not speculative—it is biologically precise, geographically matched, and culturally anchored. No other sea creature fits this description, location, and emotional charge.
🧠 Symbolic and Religious Layers
1. Human-Marine Hybridity
Abū Muraynah embodies the medieval fascination with liminal creatures—those between species, realms, or meanings. He is a being part man, part beast, part spirit, echoing:
-
Mermen, sea-monks, or even anchorites transformed into marine forms,
-
Sea jinn or elemental spirits that weep but do not speak.
2. Christian and Coptic Reverence
The Copts’ view of Abū Muraynah as a blessing points toward a sacred cosmology, where unusual sea creatures were not abominations, but signs of divine mercy or visitation. The idea that they cry and must not be landed aligns with traditions around:
-
Wondrous strangers,
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Harbingers of fortune,
-
Or souls from beyond.
3. Islamic Echoes
Later Islamic sources like al-Damīrī called this creature Shaykh al-Baḥr (شيخ البحر)—“Elder of the Sea” or “Old Man of the Sea”—emphasizing its wisdom, mystery, and revered status. This is not a beast, but a mythic elder, emerging from the ocean with messages we cannot quite understand.
Final Identification
Epilogue to the Deep: Where Marvel and Meaning Swim Together
From the coral-lit shallows of the South China Sea to the storm-wracked depths of the Indian Ocean, the sea beasts of The Book of Curiosities weave together a vivid tapestry of observation, belief, and wonder. These are not just entries in a medieval manuscript—they are encounters, refracted through the eyes of Arab sailors, scribes, and scholars who navigated the edges of the known world with both compass and cosmology in hand.
The creatures we've uncovered—flying gurnards that glide like birds, reef predators stalking their prey in silence, man-eating sharks, whale-felling boxfish, lion-bodied marvels, and fish-within-fish—move between the real and the marvelous. And then come the liminal beings: weeping monk seals mistaken for men, mermaids with strange laughter, and sacred sea-elders hailed as blessings by the Copts of Egypt. Some are grounded in accurate observation. Others are shaped by symbolism, oral lore, or the need to articulate a world too complex for taxonomy alone.
Together, they tell us that for the medieval mind, the sea was more than just a highway of trade and a source of food. It was a threshold, a testing ground, and a mirror of the divine. It concealed and revealed, swallowed and sang, always shimmering with the potential for discovery, fear, mercy, or transformation.
But the marvels do not end at the shore. As we leave behind the rolling waves and salt-filled winds, we now step onto solid earth, where hybrid beasts and earthbound monsters await us among forests, deserts, and forgotten kingdoms. The world of wonders continues—not beneath the sea, but upon the land.
Part II — Beasts of Dust and Dominion — The Predators, Prodigies, and Portents of the Earth
From the ocean’s edges, the Book of Curiosities leads us across the terrestrial wilds of the known world—through mountains, deserts, jungles, and courts. This section is a catalog not just of land animals, but of the mamlakat al-ʿajāʾib: a dominion of marvels where natural history, folklore, and political imagination converge. Here, lions stride beside leopards born of hybrid fables; poison-detecting parrots dine at Chinese tables; and mythical predators roam the highlands of Ethiopia and the steppes of Zābaj and Sind.
The beasts of the land are many things at once—hunters, healers, omens, pets, punishers of kings, and protectors of divine secrets. Their forms often straddle categories: a creature might be partly goat, partly monkey, wholly imagined. Others, like the civet or the musk deer, are perfectly real—but cloaked in mystical properties. Together, these terrestrial beings reflect the concerns of empire, trade, medicine, theology, and wonder, offering a vivid glimpse into how the medieval Islamic world mapped meaning onto the creatures it encountered—or invented.
Raʿqā / M-R-ʿ-F-Y (الرعقى / المرعفي)
The Hermaphrodite Hyena of the Sudan
Text
“In the lands of the Sūdān there is a beast called the m-r-ʿ-f-y. One cannot tell its males from its females, since [all] get pregnant and give birth. It is a very cowardly animal, for sometimes it sees its own image in the Moon, and then it runs away from it. It keeps running away each time it sees it, until it dies.”
🧩 Analysis
This passage combines reproductive ambiguity, irrational fear, and lunar imagery—all wrapped around a creature of the Sudanese and Abyssinian frontier. When viewed through historical zoology and cross-cultural accounts, it strongly aligns with the spotted hyena.
Biological Identification: The Spotted Hyena
| Trait | Real-World Match (Spotted Hyena) |
|---|---|
| “Males and females indistinguishable” | Female spotted hyenas have a pseudo-penis, making it difficult to tell sexes apart without close inspection |
| “All get pregnant and give birth” | A misconception caused by this anatomical feature—female genitalia resembles male organs |
| “Very cowardly” | Hyenas are cautious and skittish, especially when approached by humans or in unfamiliar terrain |
| “Sees its reflection in the moon and flees” | Likely folkloric embellishment—possibly based on hyenas being nocturnal, often seen during full moons, and acting furtive or reactive in strange light |
| “From the lands of the Sūdān” | The spotted hyena’s native range includes Sudan, Ethiopia, and all of East Africa, extending across the Sahel |
The Camel-Attacker in Ibn al-Faqīh
The account from Ibn al-Faqīh adds a violent and vampiric dimension:
"It grabs the camel’s trunk, throws it down, and drinks its blood."
This describes either:
-
An actual hyena attack, misunderstood or exaggerated, or
-
A literary motif: the hyena as ambush predator and blood-drinker—a well-known image in Arab bestiaries.
The idea that the raʿqā drinks blood but does not eat meat reflects a mix-up with folklore surrounding vampiric creatures, possibly influenced by Indian or Ethiopian legends of ghouls or nocturnal demons.
Symbolic Dimensions and Misconceptions
Spotted hyenas have long evoked revulsion and confusion in classical and Islamic literature:
-
Galen, Aristotle, and later Arab zoologists believed hyenas to be hermaphroditic or sex-changing animals.
-
They were associated with sorcery, grave-robbing, and lunacy.
-
The link to the moon and madness is not coincidental: hyenas were thought to howl at the moon or lose their minds under its light—mirroring early European werewolf lore.
Thus, the creature here is not merely an animal—it is a vessel for human fears, strangeness, and blurred boundaries: between sexes, between prey and predator, between beast and demon.
Final Identification
The Tail-Luring Serpent of the Sūdān
The Deadly Mirage of the Saw-Scaled Viper
Text
“In the lands of the Sūdān there are snakes that draw a man towards them with their tails, and then kill him.”
🧩 Analysis
This brief but chilling account is rich in metaphor and movement. It describes a snake that “draws a man toward it with its tail”—a description that sounds almost magical or hypnotic, until one considers the behavior and motion of certain real-world vipers.
🐍 Biological Identification: Saw-Scaled Viper (Echis pyramidum)
| Feature | Real-World Behavior / Match |
|---|---|
| “Draws a man toward it with its tail” | Sidewinding or coiled movement creates the illusion of the tail curling or beckoning as the snake moves laterally |
| “Then kills him” | The saw-scaled viper is extremely venomous, aggressive, and responsible for many human fatalities across Sudan and the Sahel |
| Habitat | Common in northern and eastern Africa, including Sudan, especially in arid and semi-arid zones |
| Color and movement | Sandy or earth-colored, moves erratically, sometimes half-buried in sand, and emits a distinct rasping noise by rubbing its scales together (its "warning") |
🧠 Symbolic and Folkloric Overtones
The idea of a creature that lures or draws in a man, only to kill him, has deep mythical resonance:
-
Snakes as deceivers are common in both Islamic and African folklore.
-
The tail as bait is a classic motif, seen in dragons, basilisk legends, and African snake totems.
-
In desert regions, heat mirages and the optical illusion of serpentine movement amplify the myth, turning a natural predator into a cosmic trickster or divine test.
This tale reflects a broader moral pattern in ʿajāʾib literature: those who approach marvels—or misunderstand them—are often punished. Here, the snake doesn’t chase its victim; it simply confuses the eye, and lets human misperception do the rest.
Final Identification
Al-Ghaylam (الغيلم)
The Royal Beast of Many Colors
Text
“The ghaylam is a beast with a large body, stronger than the elephant. It has a long neck, and red, yellow, green and white markings. Kings hunt it and ride on it.”
🧩 Analysis
At first glance, this description seems mythical. A beast stronger than the elephant? Marked with red, yellow, green, and white? Ridden by kings?
But when read through the lens of Arabic zoology, African diplomacy, and medieval spectacle, the image begins to resolve into a real animal embellished for courtly imagination.
🦒 Biological Identification: The Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
| Trait | Real-World Match |
|---|---|
| “Large body, stronger than the elephant” | Exaggeration—giraffes are tall and muscular but not stronger than elephants. Yet their towering form may have impressed viewers unfamiliar with their docility. |
| “Long neck” | Signature feature of the giraffe. No other known beast matches this description so precisely. |
| “Red, yellow, green and white markings” | Embellishment of the giraffe’s distinctive patchwork coat, seen as colored or jewel-like under bright African sun. “Green” may reflect shadow, dust, or poetic license. |
| “Kings hunt it and ride on it” | This is key. Giraffes were gifted to caliphs, sultans, and Chinese emperors, often displayed as royal symbols. While not ridden, they were led in parades, and occasionally confused with animals of burden in distant reports. |
🌍 Cultural and Historical Context
🐫 Giraffes in Arab and African Royal Courts
-
Giraffes were captured in Nubia, Sudan, and the Horn of Africa, and brought to Abbasid, Fatimid, and Mamluk courts as royal gifts.
-
A giraffe famously appeared in Cairo in the 13th century and in Zheng He's fleet to China in 1414, described there as a qílín, a mythical Chinese chimera.
-
In Islamic court literature, giraffes were not only curiosities, but symbols of exotic power and divine design.
✒️ The Name “Ghaylam”
-
The Arabic word ghaylam (غيلم) usually refers to a kind of sea creature in later texts, but in earlier or regional dialects, it may have functioned as a catch-all for strange animals of unclear classification.
-
Given the text’s bestiary format, this may be a local or courtly term used to describe the giraffe as a mythical mount, particularly in the Sudanic or Abyssinian borderlands.
🌈 Interpreting the Colors
The giraffe’s coat is:
-
A mosaic of ochre, brown, and cream, but under sunlight or poetic imagination, it might be described as red (rust patches), yellow (base fur), white (patch outlines), and green (foliage reflections or symbolic hues).
-
The “green” marking is almost certainly symbolic, poetic, or a misreading of how giraffes blended into a savannah setting, or how vegetation patterns cast shadows and dapples.
In Arabic literary conventions, especially in the ʿajāʾib tradition, colors often have symbolic meanings, so these hues could encode the noble, exotic, and composite nature of the animal.
🧠 Symbolism and Courtly Projection
-
The statement that kings ride it may stem from:
-
Poetic metaphor, indicating royal mastery over rare creatures.
-
A misunderstanding or embellishment of processions, in which giraffes were led like elephants or camels.
-
-
Giraffes became visual emblems of distant lands, divinely strange forms, and imperial reach—a living statement that the king ruled even the marvels of creation.
Final Identification
F-R-S-A-B / Q-R-S-A-T (فرساب / قرسط)
The Crimson Predator of the Eastern Wilds
Text
🧩 Analysis
This beast is introduced with the language of comparative fear—a predator like the lion, but greater in power and more vibrant in color. Located in China, revered by kings, and valued for its vivid coat, the f-r-s-a-b is not a fantasy. It is a clear—if poetically embroidered—portrait of the tiger (Panthera tigris).
🐅 Biological Identification: The Tiger
| Description from the Text | Biological and Cultural Reality |
|---|---|
| “Lion-like” | Tigers are large, apex predators, similar in majesty and stature to lions. |
| “Stronger and more powerful than the lion” | Tigers are, in fact, larger and more muscular than lions, especially in the wild. |
| “Red in colour, with red fine fur” | Bengal and South China tigers have rich reddish-orange coats with fine stripes. |
| “Found in China” | Historically accurate: South China tiger was once widespread in central China. |
| “Used by kings for textiles” | Tiger pelts were luxury items across China, India, and Southeast Asia, used in royal robes, saddle cloths, and tomb furnishings. |
| “Hunted with great difficulty” | True—tigers are elusive, solitary, and dangerous. Traditional hunts were epic events requiring coordination, fire, and even elephants. |
🌏 Historical and Cultural Context
📜 Tigers in the Arabic Imagination
While lions were native to the Middle East and richly symbolized in Arabic poetry, tigers entered Islamic knowledge primarily through Indo-Persian texts, Silk Road exchange, and embassies from the East. Arabic geographers and authors often exaggerated the tiger's traits to signal its foreignness and status as a creature of empire, jungle, and marvel.
👑 Tigers as Royal Symbol and Textile
In Chinese dynastic culture, tigers symbolized courage, power, and cosmic force. Their skins were:
-
Awarded to generals as symbols of valor.
-
Used in imperial iconography.
-
Even placed in tombs as tokens of protection and divine strength.
To Arab writers, hearing of “kings making textiles from the tiger’s pelt” would have sounded like alchemical luxury—transforming feral wildness into imperial fabric. It’s a powerful metaphor for dominion over nature.
🧠 Why Compare It to a Lion?
This is classic ʿajāʾib technique: explain the unknown by comparing it to the known.
-
The lion was familiar and majestic—a standard of comparison in Arabic zoology.
-
The tiger, exotic and unseen in Arab lands, had to be elevated above the lion to preserve its aura of marvel.
-
By portraying it as “more powerful than the lion,” the text situates the tiger as a superlative, not just an animal, but a foreign king of beasts.
Final Identification
R-S-N-S (رسنس)
The Rabid Dog of Byzantium and the Maghreb
Text
“The r-s-n-s is a wild dog found in the land of Rūm (Byzantium). Its flesh is edible. It is also found in the Maghreb. It is a rabid dog.”
🧩 Analysis
This beast is presented as widespread—ranging from Anatolia (Rūm) to Northwest Africa (Maghreb). It is edible, wild, and above all, dangerous due to its association with rabies—one of the most feared zoonotic diseases in antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Despite the obscure name (r-s-n-s), the animal is clearly a canid, and the likely candidates are narrowed by geographic range, behavior, and reputation.
🐺 Biological Identification: Likely Candidates
| Trait | Possible Match: Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) | Alternate Match: Eurasian Wolf (Canis lupus) |
|---|---|---|
| “Wild dog” | ✅ Jackal is a wild canid and fits the description | ✅ Wolf also qualifies |
| “Found in Rūm and the Maghreb” | ✅ Jackals are common in Anatolia, Greece, North Africa | ✅ Wolves had a historic range across both, but are rarer in Maghreb |
| “Flesh is edible” | ✅ Jackal meat is occasionally eaten in some cultures | ⚠️ Wolf meat is less commonly consumed, often taboo |
| “Rabid dog” | ✅ Jackals are highly associated with rabies outbreaks | ✅ Wolves can spread rabies but are less commonly seen as rabid dogs in literature |
🌍 Geographic Spread and Historical Context
-
Rūm (Byzantium): This refers to the eastern Roman lands, particularly Anatolia and the Balkans. The golden jackal was (and still is) native to these regions, often seen near rural settlements and farmland.
-
Maghreb: Jackals are widely present across North Africa, especially in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, thriving in both woodland and semi-arid habitats.
The presence in both regions is a strong indicator toward the golden jackal, whose range unites them geographically. Wolves are much less common in North Africa today and likely were even rarer in the period described.
🧠 Symbolic and Medical Associations: Rabies
-
Rabies (السُّعار) was a terrifying disease in the medieval Islamic world, and wild dogs or jackals were widely blamed as vectors.
-
The Arabic zoological tradition, influenced by Galen, Dioscorides, and Islamic physicians, often cited bites from wild canids as causes of madness, frothing, and death.
-
The term “rabid dog” may thus be a folk synonym for a jackal, rather than a literal diagnosis of every specimen.
This association of the r-s-n-s with rabies underscores its place in the literature of danger—an animal that is at once familiar, edible, and potentially deadly.
Final Identification
Ṭahāʾir (الطهائر)
The White Wild Ewe of Byzantium
Text
“The ṭahāʾir is a wild ewe, found in the lands of Rūm (Byzantium). Its flesh is edible, and its wool is used for making high quality textiles. It is white in colour.”
🧩 Analysis
This creature is not described with terror or wonder, but with utility and refinement—its meat is good, and its wool prized. It is a wild species of known domestic lineage, valued for what it offers rather than what it threatens. The description aligns precisely with the European and Anatolian mouflon, a wild sheep that has played a foundational role in the history of sheep domestication.
🐏 Biological Identification: The Mouflon (Ovis orientalis)
| Feature | Real-World Match (Mouflon) |
|---|---|
| “Wild ewe” | ✅ The mouflon is a wild sheep, often distinguished from its domestic counterparts |
| “Found in the land of Rūm” | ✅ Native to Anatolia, the Caucasus, and southern Balkans |
| “Flesh is edible” | ✅ Mouflon meat is lean, flavorful, and traditionally hunted for consumption |
| “Wool used for high-quality textiles” | ✅ While not as refined as modern sheep’s wool, mouflon fleece was used historically and may have been idealized in this text |
| “White in colour” | While most wild mouflons are brown with white saddle patches, lighter-coated variants exist, and “white” may also reflect idealized fleece, especially post-shearing |
🧵 Textile Implications and Cultural Context
-
Wool was a core material in Byzantine and Islamic textile economies, and wild sheep species were often romanticized for their untamed purity.
-
The association of Rūm with fine wool reflects both actual trade routes and aesthetic idealism—where white wool becomes a metaphor for luxury, purity, and status.
-
The ṭahāʾir may have represented either:
-
A real wild sheep, hunted and sheared;
-
Or a semi-domesticated, feral lineage, integrated into textile lore;.
-
Symbolism and Etymology
-
The name ṭahāʾir (طهائر) appears plural and abstract, possibly derived from ṭāhir (طاهر), meaning “pure” or “clean”—a meaningful name for a snowy, wild sheep.
-
This naming supports the animal’s idealized image as white, noble, and textile-worthy—a creature of purity in nature, refined but not domesticated.
Final Identification
R-Ṣ-Y-F (رصيف)
The Crimson Snake-Hunter of China
Text
“The r-ṣ-y-f, resembling a mouse, is found in China, where it hunts all kinds of snakes and poisonous creatures. It has a silky red fur.”
🧩 Analysis
This animal is described not by fearsome traits or size, but by its effectiveness against poison—an important detail in medieval bestiaries, where any creature capable of combating venom was viewed with reverence and curiosity.
Its mouse-like form, snake-hunting behavior, and red silky fur provide a very strong identification with one particular kind of creature: the mongoose—an animal long associated with killing cobras, defying venom, and living on the frontier of civilization.
🦦 Biological Identification: Mongoose (Genus Urva)
| Description from Text | Real-World Match: Mongoose (Urva urva, Urva javanica) |
|---|---|
| “Resembles a mouse” | ✅ Mongooses are small, elongated mammals with pointed faces—rodent-like at a glance |
| “Hunts snakes and poisonous creatures” | ✅ Mongooses are famed for their speed, agility, and resistance to snake venom |
| “Found in China” | ✅ Both crab-eating mongoose (Urva urva) and Javan mongoose (Urva javanica) inhabit southern China |
| “Silky red fur” | ⚠️ Some mongooses (especially Urva javanica) display reddish-brown coats with a soft sheen, which could easily be described as “silky red” under tropical light |
🌏 Cultural and Historical Context
-
Snake-killing animals were always of high interest in Arabic zoology—seen as divinely protected or symbolically blessed.
-
The mongoose’s natural resistance to venom, its quick reflexes, and lethal precision gave rise to legends across Asia and Africa.
-
In India, mongooses were kept by snake-charmers; in China, their behavior was likely observed directly or heard about via Malay intermediaries.
Medieval readers would see such a beast as both practical and magical: a vermin-like animal that defeats death itself.
Final Identification
M-F/Q-R-B or Ṣ-Q-R-B (مفقرب / صقرب)
The Red Fox-Hunter of the Chinese Wilds
Text
“The m-f/q-r-b is a fox-like animal found in China. It is red, and is used to hunt foxes.”
(Alternate manuscript readings: ṣ-q-r-b)
🧩 Analysis
This short entry is deceptively rich. The animal is:
-
Fox-like in form
-
Reddish in color
-
Found in China
-
And notably, it is used to hunt other foxes—suggesting domestication, training, or more likely, predatory superiority.
These details strongly point to the dhole, also known as the Asiatic wild dog.
🐕 Biological Identification: The Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
| Trait | Real-World Match: Dhole (Cuon alpinus) |
|---|---|
| “Fox-like animal” | ✅ Dholes are medium-sized canids, similar in size and shape to large foxes, with pointed snouts and slender builds |
| “Red in color” | ✅ Dholes are famously coated in reddish to rusty-orange fur—their signature trait |
| “Found in China” | ✅ Native to southern and central China, as well as across the Himalayan foothills |
| “Used to hunt foxes” | ✅ Dholes are formidable pack predators, often dominating or displacing smaller canids like foxes in their range. The phrasing may refer to natural predation, not training |
🌏 Cultural and Ecological Context
-
Dholes were known to Chinese, Tibetan, and Southeast Asian communities as aggressive, coordinated hunters, feared by local wildlife and often blamed for depopulating fox dens.
-
While not typically domesticated, they were observed hunting in large packs, sometimes outcompeting even wolves.
-
Arabic geographers, hearing of these habits through Chinese or Malay sources, may have interpreted them as trained to hunt foxes, or simply described their ecological niche in language that blends observation and assumption.
The description likely arises from:
-
Real predator-prey dynamics (dhole > fox),
-
Cross-cultural misunderstanding (pack hunting = trained hunting).
Final Identification
X-GH-W-SH (خغوش)
The Moon-Hare of the Source of the Nile
Text
“The x-gh-w-sh is a white beast that resembles a rabbit, found in the region of [the Mountain?] of the Moon.”
🧩 Analysis
Though brief, this entry is evocative: a white, rabbit-like animal dwelling in a legendary geography soaked in mythic resonance. The Mountains of the Moon (Jibāl al-Qamar) were long believed—by Greek, Roman, Islamic, and European sources—to lie at the source of the Nile, deep in the heart of equatorial Africa.
Modern scholarship widely associates this mythical mountain range with the Rwenzori Mountains, which straddle the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo—a region that happens to be the core habitat of a very real animal: the Bunyoro rabbit (Poelagus marjorita).
🐇 Biological Identification: The Bunyoro Rabbit (Poelagus marjorita)
| Trait | Real-World Match: Bunyoro Rabbit (Poelagus marjorita) |
|---|---|
| “Resembles a rabbit” | ✅ A true leporid, though distinct enough to be placed in its own genus |
| “Found in the Mountains of the Moon” | ✅ Native to central Africa, especially Uganda and DR Congo near the Rwenzori range |
| “White in color” | ⚠️ Not pure white, but light greyish-brown—moonlight reflection at night may give a whitish appearance |
| “Seen at night” | ✅ A nocturnal species, typically active under moonlight in savannah and rocky habitats |
| “Small, elusive, and beautiful” | ✅ The Bunyoro rabbit is rare, elegant, and occupies liminal spaces—savannah edges, hyrax territory, and rocky outcrops |
Moonlight, Myth, and the Mountains
The Mountains of the Moon weren’t just geography—they were the edge of the known world, a place where:
-
The divine mingled with the earthly,
-
The Nile’s sacred waters began,
-
And creatures of dreamlike appearance roamed.
To medieval travelers or seafarers venturing inland, seeing a small, quick rabbit dash across rocky terrain under moonlight could evoke something ghostly and pure. The animal’s coat, bathed in silvery light, might well have looked white—a spectral hare, darting at the edge of visibility.
Thus, the x-gh-w-sh becomes not just an animal, but a lunar vision: a rabbit of the borderlands between myth and map.
Final Identification
Ṣunnājah (الصناجة) / Nubian Horses (الخيول النوبية)
The River-Horse of the Nile
Text
“The ṣunnājah, also called Nubian horses, are animals found in the bottom of the Nile. They have four legs with feet like a duck’s, a horse’s mane, skin like a water-buffalo’s, an elongated tail, and mouths so wide they look as if they are covered with nosebags. It can harm crops and destroy them. If it wants, it can swim in water, or walk on the bottom of the sea, or come out onto the shore. The Nubian kings capture it and keep it in the same way other kings keep wild-asses in their stables.”
🧩 Analysis
This is one of the most vivid and layered descriptions of a real animal in The Book of Curiosities—blending zoological description, economic consequence, and political symbolism. Despite the strangeness of the name (ṣunnājah), the traits and behavior described match the hippopotamus in nearly every respect.
🦛 Biological Identification: The Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)
| Description in the Text | Real-World Match: Hippopotamus |
|---|---|
| “Lives in the bottom of the Nile” | ✅ Hippos are semi-aquatic, sleeping submerged during the day and surfacing at night |
| “Four legs, feet like a duck’s” | ✅ Hippos have broad, splayed toes with webbing, ideal for riverbeds |
| “Horse’s mane” | ⚠️ Likely a symbolic association—hippos lack manes, but have thick neck folds and stiff bristles |
| “Skin like a water buffalo’s” | ✅ Hippo skin is thick, dark, and hairless, resembling that of water buffaloes |
| “Mouths so wide… like nosebags” | ✅ Hippos have enormous mouths, especially males, which can open 150° wide |
| “Destroys crops” | ✅ Hippos graze at night and are infamous for raiding agricultural fields, especially along the Nile |
| “Can swim, walk on riverbed, come ashore” | ✅ All true: hippos are excellent swimmers, often walk along river bottoms, and emerge nightly to feed |
| “Kept by Nubian kings like wild-asses” | ⚠️ Possibly symbolic or exaggerated—more likely a reference to regional prestige, or tamed individuals kept in captivity for display |
🌍 Cultural and Linguistic Context
1. The Names: “Ṣunnājah” and “Nubian Horses”
-
"Ṣunnājah" (الصناجة) is a rare and obscure name, found in some zoological texts (al-Damīrī, al-Qazwīnī), but not widely applied to hippos. In those other sources, it is used for a gigantic beast from Tibet, showing how terms could migrate or morph across manuscripts.
-
"Nubian Horses" (الخيول النوبية) is a clear Arabic gloss of the classical term “river-horse”:
-
Greek: ἱπποπόταμος ("hippopotamos" – horse of the river)
-
Arabic parallels: faras al-māʾ (فرس الماء) or khayl al-baḥr
-
-
This phrasing signals how Classical zoology influenced Arabic geographical literature—translating concepts across languages while adding regional flavor (here, Nubia = Upper Nile = hippo habitat).
2. Political and Symbolic Meaning
-
The idea that Nubian kings keep them like wild-asses implies:
-
The hippo was prestigious, perhaps even ritually significant;
-
Captivity of such a powerful beast was a symbol of royal dominion over nature;
-
May reflect diplomatic gifts or status animals, akin to how giraffes and lions were kept by rulers.
-
⚠️ Destructive Power and Mythic Potential
-
The account’s warning that the hippo “harms crops” mirrors historical records:
-
Hippos were feared by Nile farmers for trampling fields and raiding grain at night.
-
Their size and aggression made them difficult to repel, inspiring both awe and frustration.
-
-
This dual image—sacred mount of kings, yet enemy of crops—is classic ʿajāʾib: the animal is both natural marvel and divine punishment, depending on context.
Why the Description Seems Fantastical
-
Terms like “horse’s mane” and “nosebags” are metaphoric, not literal.
-
In medieval bestiaries, it was common to describe unfamiliar animals through comparison to known domestic species:
-
Webbed feet = duck
-
Wide mouth = horse with a feedbag
-
Aquatic + strong = sea-horse
-
-
What seems fantastical is in fact a structured interpretive method: describe the new by way of the known.
Final Identification
Q-R-Y-A-N (قريان)
The Relentless Wolf of the Turkic Steppes
Text
“The q-r-y-a-n is a dog-like predatory animal. It is very powerful, and it kills everything in its way. It is found in the lands of the Turks.”
🧩 Analysis
This entry is brief, but packed with meaning. The creature is:
-
Dog-like (implying a canid),
-
Extremely strong and deadly, and
-
Native to the lands of the Turks, i.e., the Central Asian steppes, stretching from the Caspian Sea to Mongolia.
This aligns exactly with the steppe wolf, a large, aggressive subspecies of gray wolf known for its fearlessness, hardiness, and predatory dominance in the vast open plains.
🐺 Biological Identification: Steppe Wolf (Canis lupus campestris)
| Feature in the Text | Steppe Wolf Match |
|---|---|
| “Dog-like predatory animal” | ✅ Wolves are the archetypal dog-like predators, especially familiar to steppe peoples |
| “Very powerful” | ✅ Steppe wolves are among the largest and most muscular wolf subspecies, adapted to large prey and harsh climates |
| “Kills everything in its way” | ✅ A stylized exaggeration, but reflects the steppe wolf’s boldness, including attacks on livestock, horses, and even camels |
| “Found in the lands of the Turks” | ✅ This is their core range—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, and into Anatolia |
🌏 Historical and Cultural Context
-
In the Turkic and Mongolic world, wolves were both feared and revered—often symbolizing ancestry, martial strength, and divine guidance.
-
Arab travelers and geographers in contact with Turkic nomads would have been told awe-inspiring stories about these animals—likely amplifying their power into something legendary.
-
Compared to smaller Arabian wolves (e.g., Canis lupus arabs), the steppe wolf was truly formidable: taller, heavier, and capable of surviving brutally cold winters and hunting in coordinated packs.
Final Identification
B-L-N-W-SH (بلنوش)
The Slender Wolf of Rūm and the Eastern Marches
Text
“B-l-n-w-sh is a wild dog found in the land of Rūm (Byzantium).”
🧩 Analysis
This brief but striking entry identifies the b-l-n-w-sh as a wild canid native to the land of Rūm—a term typically referring to Byzantine Anatolia, but sometimes encompassing adjacent territories such as eastern Anatolia, northern Syria, and the Armenian highlands. The creature is not simply “a dog,” but a predatory wild dog—marking it as a wolf. Given the geographical clue and the likely foreign or Persianate name, the best fit is the Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes), a slender, desert-adapted wolf that once ranged widely from India to Iran and into eastern Anatolia.
🐺 Biological Identification: Indian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes)
Trait Real-World Match: Indian Wolf “Wild dog” ✅ Indian wolves are true wild canids, smaller and more slender than Eurasian gray wolves “Found in Rūm” ✅ Present historically in eastern Anatolia, northern Mesopotamia, and Persian frontiers—all sometimes referred to under the broad label Rūm “Name resembles Persianate form” ✅ The term b-l-n-w-sh has a non-Arabic phonetic structure, likely Persian, Sanskritic, or Central Asian in origin, possibly garbled in transmission
| Trait | Real-World Match: Indian Wolf |
|---|---|
| “Wild dog” | ✅ Indian wolves are true wild canids, smaller and more slender than Eurasian gray wolves |
| “Found in Rūm” | ✅ Present historically in eastern Anatolia, northern Mesopotamia, and Persian frontiers—all sometimes referred to under the broad label Rūm |
| “Name resembles Persianate form” | ✅ The term b-l-n-w-sh has a non-Arabic phonetic structure, likely Persian, Sanskritic, or Central Asian in origin, possibly garbled in transmission |
🌍 Geography and Range Clarification
Contrary to earlier doubts, modern zoological data confirms that:
-
Wolves were widespread across Anatolia, including Turkey, Syria, and northern Iraq.
-
The Indian wolf, though more commonly associated with Iran, Pakistan, and India, also once roamed into eastern Anatolia, overlapping with Eurasian wolf populations.
-
Turkey today still harbors an estimated ~7,000 wolves, many of which exhibit pallipes characteristics—slender build, short coats, and heat tolerance.
Thus, the “wild dog of Rūm” described here could very realistically refer to the Indian wolf or a regional subspecies or ecotype blending features of both Indian and Central Asian wolves.
🧠 Symbolism and Taxonomic Assumptions
-
The description lacks mythical traits—it is plain and zoological: this is a real animal known to those who lived near Byzantine or Persian frontiers.
-
In Arabic and Persian lore, wolves symbolized both danger and cunning, but they were also a common predator, familiar yet foreign when described from afar.
-
The reference to Rūm may have less to do with strict borders and more to do with the perceived exoticism of Byzantine-adjacent territories.
The description lacks mythical traits—it is plain and zoological: this is a real animal known to those who lived near Byzantine or Persian frontiers.
In Arabic and Persian lore, wolves symbolized both danger and cunning, but they were also a common predator, familiar yet foreign when described from afar.
The reference to Rūm may have less to do with strict borders and more to do with the perceived exoticism of Byzantine-adjacent territories.
Final Identification
Q-Y-R-S (قيرس)
The Byzantine Mountain Antelope and the Luxury of Buzyūn
Text
“The q-y-r-s is a ewe-like beast that is found in the wild in the land of Rūm [Byzantium]. It is hunted, and its flesh is edible. It has a fine fur used for making high-quality buzyūn fabric. It has four colours: black, white, dust-colour, and yellow.”
🧩 Analysis
This animal is described in straightforward terms but tied to luxury, economy, and color symbolism:
-
It is ewe-like (suggesting a goat or goat-antelope),
-
Wild, hunted for meat,
-
Has soft, valuable fur, and
-
Appears in four distinct color morphs.
Its connection to Byzantium and its fur being used for buzyūn—a high-quality, court-level textile—adds a clear economic and cultural marker that further solidifies the animal's identification as the chamois.
Biological Identification: Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra)
| Trait | Real-World Match: Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) |
|---|---|
| “Ewe-like beast” | ✅ Chamois are goat-antelopes with a slender, sheep-like profile |
| “Found in Rūm” (Byzantium) | ✅ Widespread in Byzantine highlands, especially eastern Turkey, Caucasus, and Balkan ranges |
| “Hunted for meat” | ✅ Chamois are game animals, prized for both meat and hide in local hunting |
| “Fur used for fine textiles” | ✅ Chamois hide and undercoat were valued in Byzantine and later Ottoman textiles; under certain treatments it could be very soft |
| “Colors: black, white, dust, yellow” | ✅ Chamois exhibit seasonal coat variations: dark in winter, tawny, dusty-yellow, or pale in summer |
🌍 Geography and Historical Context
The Byzantine-Anatolian frontier, stretching from the Taurus Mountains to the Pontic Alps, was home to many wild ungulates, including ibex, mouflon, and chamois. Among these, the chamois stood out for:
-
Its graceful gait and mountain agility,
-
Its fine pelage, which could be tanned into soft chamois leather, or spun into woolen mixes, and
-
Its symbolic association with noble and remote terrains—well-suited to luxury export narratives.
Arabic sources like al-Jāḥiẓ, Ibn al-Faqīh, and the Book of Curiosities recorded buzyūn as a textile of Byzantine origin, equivalent to sundus (سندس), meaning high-quality brocade or silk-wool blends. Associating it with the fur of the q-y-r-s tells us this beast's coat was both soft and prestigious.
👑 Chamois and Luxury: The Textile Trail
-
Buzyūn fabric, associated with imperial Byzantine textiles, was listed among gifts to Abbasid caliphs like al-Muʿtaḍid (r. 892–902).
-
The connection between chamois pelts and these textiles, while not universally documented in modern textile history, reflects a perception among Arab writers that this animal's fur was used in elite weaving or lining.
-
The fact that buzyūn was mentioned in Book of Curiosities as deriving from the q-y-r-s fur indicates a direct material-economic association in Arabic thought between this mountain beast and elite products.
Final Identification
K-N-F-A-SH (كنفاش?)
The Buffalo-Beast of al-Shiḥr
Text
“The k-n-f-a-sh is a beast similar to a water-buffalo, black in colour with a fat tail like that of a ram. It is found in the wild parts of al-Shiḥr [in Yemen].”
🧩 Analysis
This description presents the k-n-f-a-sh as:
-
A large bovine similar to a water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis),
-
Black in color (common in Asian and African buffalo),
-
With a distinctive fat tail, not typical of standard buffalo anatomy,
-
And importantly: it lives in the wild coastal and hinterland zones of al-Shiḥr, a region straddling tropical Arabia and the Horn of Africa.
These clues open two main lines of interpretation.
🐃 Possibility: A Feral or Localized Breed of Water Buffalo (Most Likely)
| Trait | Water Buffalo Match (Bubalus bubalis) |
|---|---|
| “Similar to a water buffalo” | ✅ Direct comparison—this is the baseline identity |
| “Black in color” | ✅ Typical for riverine water buffalo in South Asia and parts of East Africa |
| “Found in the wild” | ✅ In parts of Arabia and East Africa, buffalo herds returned to the wild or were semi-domesticated |
| “Fat tail like a ram” | ⚠️ This is unusual—but may be a localized phenotypic trait (thicker tail fat storage?) or a misdescription, especially if seen from behind or when wet |
| “Region: al-Shiḥr (eastern Yemen) | ✅ Port of historical Indian Ocean trade, possibly importing buffalo from India or East Africa |
This suggests that the k-n-f-a-sh may be a feral or wild-ranging lineage of water buffalo, perhaps long-established in coastal Yemen via maritime trade, later naturalized into the local ecology.
🌍 Regional Context: Al-Shiḥr
-
A coastal trade hub known for shipping frankincense, Indian goods, and African livestock.
-
Local ecology includes monsoon-fed grasslands, capable of supporting large herbivores.
-
Traders from India and East Africa frequently imported domestic buffalo, which may have gone feral or been maintained as royal or tribal herds in the hinterlands.
Final Identification
N-B-H-L-S (نبهلس)
The Elephant-Slayer with a Burning Breath
Text
“The n-b-h-l-s is a beast with wings like those of an ostrich and one horn. It has the body of a bull, but is larger, almost like an elephant. It attacks the elephant with its horn and kills it. Around its habitat there are no wild animals or trees, since its breath is lethal for animals and burns plants.”
🧩 Analysis
This entry clearly straddles the line between zoology and marvel. The size, horn, and elephant-combat motif all signal the rhinoceros, but the added elements—wings, fiery breath, and burnt earth—push it into the realm of the ʿajāʾib (wonders). Still, at its core, this is a warped but recognizable description of a real animal.
🦏 Biological Identification: The Rhinoceros (Rhinocerotidae)
| Trait | Real-World Match: Rhinoceros (most likely Indian or Javan) |
|---|---|
| “Body of a bull but larger” | ✅ Rhinoceroses are stocky, thick-skinned, and bull-like, but much larger—rivaling elephants |
| “One horn” | ✅ Matches Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) or Javan rhinoceros |
| “Fights and kills elephants” | ⚠️ Common in Arabic, Indian, and Persian bestiaries—likely mythical or based on staged combat |
| “Wings like an ostrich” | ⚠️ Possibly metaphorical: folded shoulder skin, or literary imagery to amplify size/mobility |
| “Lethal breath; burns plants” | ❌ Symbolic exaggeration—may represent the animal’s aura of danger, or breath in humid climates |
| “No trees or animals in its area” | ⚠️ Likely metaphor for its solitary nature or destruction caused by its presence |
🌏 Geography and Trade Context
-
Rhinoceroses were known to Arab writers through:
-
Direct sightings in India or East Africa;
-
Indian and Persian texts;
-
Diplomatic gifts—one famous rhino was sent to al-Muqtadir in Baghdad in the 10th century.
-
-
This description may come from South Asia, where the Indian rhinoceros (single-horned) was most often depicted in Arabic works under the name karkadān (كركدن).
-
The myth of the rhino slaying elephants appears in multiple sources (Ibn al-Faqīh, al-Qazwīnī, Damīrī), and may reflect:
-
Staged court spectacles;
-
Allegorical moralizations (the humble bull defeating the mighty elephant);
-
Or confused reports of rhino aggression.
-
🔥 Fiery Breath and the Burning Ground
-
The detail about its breath killing animals and burning plants is not biological, but symbolic:
-
May reflect fearsome reputation among local populations;
-
A metaphor for its aggressive behavior or destructive foraging;
-
Or perhaps an attempt to moralize its power, casting it as a “plague beast” in moral or cosmic terms.
-
This echoes motifs in other cultures: think of the dragon’s breath or the basilisk’s glance.
Final Identification
Ḥ-B-W-J-R (حبوجر)
The Cerulean Unicorn of India and Nubia
Text
“The ḥ-b-w-j-r, also called the rhinoceros, is found in India and the lands of the Nubians. It has the form of a horse, with a bright blackish-blue colour, and white legs. It has small ears and a small snout. On the front of its head it has a single horn, with a round base and a sharp tip. Its upper part resembles a water-skin, since it slackens when the animal is calm and hardens when it is angry. When the horn is sawn and pulled out, one finds at the round base of the horn the figure of a man, a wild animal or bird, over a black background. The figure is in white or red on a green background; or a green figure on a red background. The Chinese use pieces of its horns to make girdles, in which they take great pride. Each girdle is sold for five thousand dinars. Although it is not as big as an elephant, the elephant, like all other animals, runs away from it. It has no joints in its arms or in its legs.”
🧩 Analysis
This extraordinary description captures both real anatomical features and mythical embellishments associated with the rhinoceros, particularly the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). It provides a layered view of the animal as it was imagined, described, and mythologized in the Islamic world through secondhand knowledge, trade narratives, and symbolic speculation.
Let’s break down each element of this account:
🦏 Biological & Physical Description
| Feature | Real-World Match / Interpretation |
|---|---|
| “Form of a horse” | ✅ Refers to the arched back, stocky barrel-shaped body, and upright stance |
| “Bright blackish-blue colour” | ⚠️ Embellishment; Indian rhinos have gray to slate skin—wetness or poetic license may alter hue |
| “White legs” | ⚠️ Likely invented detail, but possibly based on dust-coated limbs seen from afar |
| “Small ears and snout” | ✅ Accurate description of the Indian rhinoceros's head morphology |
| “One horn, round base, sharp tip” | ✅ Matches rhinoceros unicornis; its nasal horn is composed of keratin, not bone |
| “Horn slackens and hardens” | ❌ Mythical—interprets keratin’s porousness or dryness/humidity as behavioral reaction |
| “No joints in limbs” | ❌ Classical belief repeated in Pliny and Islamic sources—based on the animal’s stiff gait |
🧠 Magical Properties of the Horn
The horn, described here with rich occult detail, reflects widespread beliefs in its magical potency:
-
Embedded imagery: Descriptions of tiny figures (human, beast, or bird) visible in the base of the horn likely refer to:
-
Natural whorls or grain patterns in rhino keratin, interpreted as symbolic signs;
-
Possibly fossilized remains or impurities mistaken for embedded shapes;
-
Or entirely imagined, shaped by the Islamic tradition of signs in nature (āyāt).
-
-
Colors of these images (red, green, white, black): likely symbolic rather than visual—a coded description of magical efficacy.
-
Use in Chinese luxury items: Accurate. Chinese artisans used rhino horn to make:
-
Belts, cups, hilts, and ritual items.
-
These items fetched extraordinary prices and were traded via the Indian Ocean network.
-
The price of 5,000 dinars is exaggeration, but not implausible for luxury goods in Fatimid or Song dynasty currency values.
-
🌏 Geographical Context
India: The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is likely the primary inspiration for many classical and early Islamic descriptions of the rhinoceros. Arabic texts often refer to it as al-ḥimār al-hindī ("the Indian ass") or al-karkadān, and it was widely known through Indo-Persian and Buddhist transmission networks, including medical and astrological texts. Its massive single horn, armored hide, and association with kingship in India made it a perfect fit for ʿajāʾib literature.
Nubia: Historical zoological data confirms that the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) once inhabited regions of Eritrea, Sudan, and South Sudan, forming part of its broader eastern African range. While these animals did not thrive in Egypt proper or the Ethiopian Highlands, they were abundant along the Nile corridor, especially near Lake Chad and adjacent Sahelian zones. Arabic reports citing the rhinoceros in "Nubia" in fact reflect accurate sightings of black rhinos in southern Nubia & adjacent regions.
These details align with the footnote’s observation that firsthand observation of the rhinoceros in Arabic sources was rare. Much of the lore drew upon a fusion of accurate zoological memory, embellished traveler accounts, and older Greek, Indian, and Persian sources. The inclusion of Nubia alongside India in this entry suggests both a kernel of truth (real rhino presence in the Nile-Sudan-Eritrea zone) and the common literary practice of folding distant marvels into known geographical frameworks.
🔮 Symbolism and Superiority to the Elephant
-
The rhino slaying the elephant is a well-attested motif in Persian and Arabic bestiaries:
-
Symbolizes underdog strength or moral superiority.
-
-
The claim that elephants flee from it mirrors earlier Greek and Roman lore.
-
The rhino’s "fiery horn" or "anger-hardening horn" serves as a metaphor for divine retribution or untamed justice.
Final Identification
Dhīkh (الذِيخ)
The Spotted Hyena of the Hot Lands
Text
“The dhīkh (Hyena) is a beast that resembles a donkey, with a long neck and black spots, or sometimes stripes. It is shy and very timid. It is found in hot lands.”
🧩 Analysis
At first glance, the description may sound strange—"resembles a donkey"—but this is in fact a highly accurate pre-modern depiction of the spotted hyena, filtered through the lens of medieval observers unfamiliar with carnivore taxonomy. Let’s parse the traits one by one:
🐾 Biological Identification: Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
| Trait | Real-World Match |
|---|---|
| “Resembles a donkey” | ✅ Hyenas have a sloping back, long limbs, mane-like fur, and a braying vocalization, leading to frequent comparisons with donkeys in Arabic and Persian texts |
| “Long neck” | ✅ The forelimbs are longer than the hind limbs, and the neck is muscular and elongated |
| “Black spots or stripes” | ✅ Spotted hyenas have black spots; striped hyenas (Hyaena hyaena) have vertical stripes—medieval sources often conflated the two |
| “Timid and shy” | ✅ Despite their reputation as fierce scavengers, hyenas are not confrontational toward humans and can be skittish or elusive |
| “Found in hot lands” | ✅ Native to North and East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and parts of South Asia—all considered “hot lands” in Arabic texts |
This confirms that the dhīkh is not merely a folkloric beast but a true and accurately observed animal, especially the spotted hyena, which was commonly encountered by Arabian and North African populations.
🧠 Linguistic and Cultural Context
-
The term dhīkh (ذِيخ) was a classical Arabic word for hyena, attested in early dictionaries such as Ibn Manẓūr’s Lisān al-ʿArab.
-
Synonyms or related terms in Arabic literature include:
-
sabaʿ, general for predatory beast;
-
farʿ, a more poetic or regional name;
-
ḍabʿ, sometimes used for striped hyena.
-
In classical literature and folklore, the hyena had a complicated reputation:
-
Seen as cowardly, but also cunning and unpredictable;
-
Believed to have hermaphroditic qualities, due to the enlarged clitoris of female spotted hyenas, which can resemble male genitalia;
-
Sometimes thought to dig up graves, or to lure people at night—common in Arabian Nights-style lore.
None of that is present here. This passage focuses instead on physical and behavioral realism, emphasizing:
-
Physique (donkey-like),
-
Coloration (spots or stripes),
-
Temperament (timid),
-
And ecology (heat-adapted environments).
🌍 Geographic Framing: The “Hot Lands”
-
The phrase “hot lands” (al-bilād al-ḥārrah) broadly covers:
-
The Horn of Africa,
-
Arabia Felix (Yemen, Oman),
-
Egypt and the Maghreb,
-
And parts of India and Iran.
-
This geographical tag emphasizes the ecological reality of hyenas thriving in arid to semi-arid zones—where Arab travelers, traders, and rural communities frequently encountered them.
Final Identification
ʿ-R-F-A-D / M-L-Y-W-S (عرفد / مليوس)
The Humped, Tusked Beast of the Borderlands
Text
“The ʿ-r-f-a-d, also called m-l-y-w-s, is a beast in the shape of a dog but larger. It has a hump on its head and protruding tusks. It is found in the land of the Turks. It is of every colour. It kills other beasts and would often eat people. It is also found in the lands of Rūm (Byzantium).”
🧩 Analysis
This is a large, tusked, highly aggressive beast, present in both Turkic steppes and Byzantine frontier zones, said to have:
-
The general body of a dog but larger and heavier;
-
A hump on its head;
-
Exposed tusks;
-
Multicolored coats;
-
A reputation for killing animals and sometimes humans.
While previous interpretations emphasized wolves or mythic hybrids, this description strongly aligns with the wild boar (Sus scrofa), particularly the large, muscular varieties found across Anatolia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
🐗 Primary Identification: The Wild Boar (Sus scrofa)
| Feature | Match with Wild Boar |
|---|---|
| “Dog-shaped but larger” | ⚠️ Imperfect, but Arabic authors may have used “dog-shaped” for any quadruped predator with a snout |
| “Hump on the head” | ✅ Large males have a pronounced occipital crest and sloping head profile, giving the appearance of a hump |
| “Protruding tusks” | ✅ Boars have large, curved tusks—especially males—which protrude visibly from the mouth |
| “Found in Turkic and Byzantine lands” | ✅ Wild boars are common in Asia Minor, the Balkans, and across the Eurasian steppes |
| “Of every color” | ✅ Wild boars exhibit a wide range of coat colors, including black, reddish, tawny, grey, and spotted |
| “Kills beasts and may eat people” | ⚠️ Partly true—boars are not carnivores but are known to scavenge meat, and may attack humans, especially when wounded or cornered |
🧠 Literary and Cultural Resonance
-
Boars appear in Persian and Byzantine hunt literature as creatures requiring great strength and bravery to kill;
-
In Greek, Roman, and Slavic folklore, the wild boar often represents untamed nature, wrath, or divine punishment (e.g., the Calydonian Boar);
-
In Arabic bestiaries, creatures from the Byzantine or Turkish frontiers are often distorted by distance, rumor, and translation.
Final Identification
ʿ-B-W-S (عبوس)
The Mistaken Twin of the Byzantine Chamois
Text
“The ʿ-b-w-s is a ewe-like beast, found in the open country in Rūm (Byzantium). It is hunted, and its fleece (wabar) is used to make fine buzyūn fabric.”
🧩 Analysis
This entry is nearly identical to that of the q-y-r-s, but with a different name and slight variation in phrasing. Both:
-
Are ewe-like (sheep- or goat-like),
-
Are found in Rūm (i.e., Byzantine Anatolia or mountainous southeastern Europe),
-
Are hunted for their wool or fleece,
-
Produce fine wabar (soft fleece),
-
Are connected to the manufacture of buzyūn—a high-quality textile associated with Byzantine luxury goods.
The footnote correctly recognizes this as likely an orthographic corruption—in other words, a scribal error or phonetic mishearing of the earlier entry.
🐐 Biological Identification: Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra)
The same identification for q-y-r-s applies here:
| Trait | Match with Chamois |
|---|---|
| “Ewe-like” | ✅ The chamois is a goat-antelope with a slender, sheep-like build |
| “Found in Rūm” | ✅ Native to the mountains of Anatolia, Balkans, and Caucasus |
| “Fleece used in buzyūn” | ✅ May refer to its fine undercoat, though more symbolic—buzyūn was a prized Byzantine textile often poetically linked to exotic animals |
| “Hunted” | ✅ Chamois have been traditionally hunted for meat and hide in mountainous regions |
So whether named q-y-r-s or ʿ-b-w-s, the creature remains the same zoological referent.
🧵 Textile Note: Buzyūn Fabric
-
Repeated mention of buzyūn in both entries emphasizes how Arabic authors were deeply attuned to the luxury economy of Byzantium.
-
Buzyūn was a term used for high-end woolen or brocaded fabric, associated with courtly robes, tribute goods, and prestige gifts sent to Abbasid caliphs.
-
Associating a mountain-dwelling animal like the chamois with buzyūn production suggests elite interest in the material origin of luxury.
Final Identification
The "Salamander" of Sind and India
A Fireproof Fur-Bearing Beast?
Text
“The salamander is found in Sind and India. It is a beast larger than a goose and smaller than a fox. It is of variegated colour, with red eyes, long tail, and a fine soft hair, which is used to line the garments of kings and to protect them from damage. When a kerchief woven from its fine hair gets dirty, it is thrown into a blazing fire until the dirt is removed from it, leaving the kerchief as it was, with its colour and beauty intact. This was kept in the treasury of the king Fannā Khusraw.The secretary Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣabbāḥ—may God grant him succour—told me that he had seen it. He said that he possessed some threads from this kerchief, which he had thrown into a fire and they didn’t burn.”
🧩 Physical Description & Biological Match
| Feature | Interpretation / Real-World Match |
|---|---|
| Found in Sind and India | ✅ Matches natural range of small Indian civet (Viverricula indica) and other viverrids |
| Larger than a goose, smaller than a fox | ✅ Civet length typically 50–60 cm (excluding tail)—perfectly fits the size range |
| Variegated colour | ✅ Civets are often spotted or striped, with brown, grey, and black hues |
| Red eyes | ✅ Red glow at night (tapetum lucidum)—matches medieval “red eyes” motif. |
| Long tail | ✅ Civets are known for their distinctive, bushy, ringed tails |
| Soft, fine hair used in garments | ✅ Historical trade in civet fur and musk made them luxury animals, especially in India and Southeast Asia |
| Fur doesn’t burn—cleansed by fire | ❌ Not biologically possible, but part of a deep mythological tradition (see below) |
🔥 The Myth of Fireproof Fur
The belief that salamanders—or garments made from their hair—could resist fire is widespread in Islamic, Greek, and medieval European lore:
-
Pliny, Aristotle, Jāḥiẓ, and al-Damīrī all repeat stories of fire-dwelling salamanders.
-
Sharaf al-Zamān Ṭāhir al-Marwazī described the salamander as a rat-like animal with rare, white hairs. If woven into a towel (shastajah), it could be cleaned in fire without burning. He claimed to have used some as wicks that were unaffected by flame (Iskandar 1981, 286, 305; BL MS Add. 21102).
-
Al-Damīrī repeated this nearly verbatim, placing the creature in India, smaller than a fox, piebald, with red eyes and a long tail—a description that nearly perfectly matches the small Indian civet.
-
These accounts echo stories where the samandal or salamander produces non-flammable down or hair—similar to asbestos but likely rooted in symbolic or misunderstood materials.
-
Jayakar (1908) observed that this story resembles not the real salamander (Salamandra salamandra, an amphibian), but rather the mythical phoenix, cleansed by flame.
👑 Royal Provenance and Prestige
The creature's fur was described as:
-
Kept in royal treasuries, such as that of the Buyid ruler ʿAḍud al-Dawlah Fannā Khusraw (reg. 936–983), whose secretary claimed to possess this fireproof cloth.
-
Comparable materials were gifted to Caliph al-Maʾmūn, who received cushions stuffed with samandal feathers that did not burn.
-
The Fatimid treasuries reportedly held a kerchief woven from samandal down, nine spans long and completely fireproof (Qaddūmī 1996, 75, 237).
These accounts elevate the animal from zoological curiosity to a symbol of imperial luxury, blending real Indian trade goods with marvelous exaggeration.
🧬 Why It’s Not a True Salamander
The animal described here has hair, a long tail, and a size comparable to known mammals—it cannot possibly be an amphibian. The word “salamander” (samandal) in Arabic texts was often applied metaphorically, not taxonomically, drawing from older Persian and Hellenistic traditions that described salamanders as beasts of flame, rather than slimy woodland creatures.
Final Identification: Small Indian Civet (Viverricula indica)
🟢 The “salamander” of The Book of Curiosities is not an amphibian, but a mythologized version of the small Indian civet—a real mammal known for its:
-
Fine, variegated coat,
-
Long ringed tail,
-
Historical role in fur and musk trade, and
-
Presence in Sind and India, exactly where the Arabic sources place it.
🔥 The legend of fire-resistant fur is symbolic—possibly stemming from asbestos myths, but more likely a poetic metaphor for the purity, rarity, and prestige of civet pelts used by royals.
📜 This entry beautifully illustrates how Arabic cosmographers like those behind The Book of Curiosities intertwined natural history, trade, and myth, turning a sleek, real-world animal into a creature of fire and fantasy—a true jewel of the ʿajāʾib genre.
Mukāʾ (المكاء)
The Omen-Bearing Rabbit of the Nile
Text
“The mukāʾ is a green beast the size of a rabbit, found in the lands of the Nile, where it enters houses. Much knowledge is gained from it, since when its hair turns black it becomes known that in that place there is immorality, thievery, and treachery, in proportion to the shade and amount of black hair. This animal is also used to foretell rains, winds, and births. Kings and noblemen procure this animal.”
🧩 Analysis
This is an animal of divination—a “talking” beast not by speech, but by changing its color to reveal the moral or cosmic state of its surroundings. It is described as:
-
The size of a rabbit,
-
Green in color (or perceived as such),
-
Native to Nile lands,
-
Domesticated or semi-domesticated,
-
And used by the elite for omens and prediction.
Let’s decode it zoologically, symbolically, and culturally.
🐇 Biological Identification: Bunyoro Rabbit (Poelagus marjorita)
| Feature | Match with Bunyoro Rabbit |
|---|---|
| “Size of a rabbit” | ✅ It is a rabbit—medium-sized, nocturnal, herbivorous |
| “Found in Nile lands” | ✅ Native to East and Central Africa, including Uganda and South Sudan, i.e., upper Nile basin |
| “Enters houses” | ✅ Known to live near human settlements, especially in savanna edges and rocky ground |
| “Green in color” | ⚠️ Not literally green, but may appear gray-green or dusty-olive under moonlight or in grass—especially at dusk or dawn, a common time for sightings |
| “Hair turns black” as omen | ❌ Biologically false, but this is likely symbolic—perhaps based on seasonal coat change, dust/mud, or simply folkloric color-reading |
| “Used for omens” | ⚠️ No natural precedent, but animal behavior-based weather and morality prediction is widespread in folklore (e.g., behavior of frogs, birds, moles) |
🔮 Symbolic and Cultural Role
-
Color change as a moral gauge mirrors ancient traditions of augury and haruspicy—interpreting the behavior of animals as signs of divine will or moral decay.
-
The green-black dichotomy may represent:
-
Green = purity, abundance;
-
Black = sin, corruption.
-
-
Its role in predicting rainfall, wind, and birth points to it functioning like a local barometer—a small, sensitive animal whose behavior subtly shifts with climate and environmental cues.
Kings and noblemen procuring the mukāʾ suggests its role as an elite omen-animal, not unlike the Indian mongoose, the Roman sacred chickens, or trained augury birds.
Final Identification
Babr (ببر)
The Swift and Terrible Leopard of Ethiopia
Text
“The babr is a fearsome predatory beast, although, compared to other predators, it has a small body. All predators fear it, and when a lion sees it, it crouches so that [the babr] urinates in its ear. This occurs in Ethiopia. It is born from a union of a ʿ-r-s-a-b and a lioness. It runs like the wind, and no one is able to hunt it. Rather, its cubs are taken in stealth and put in something like large glass bottles. Then, they [the hunters] ride fast horses and race it. When the animal overtakes them due to its swiftness, they throw at it one of these bottles containing a cub. The animal then stops, looks at its cub and contemplates it inside the interior of the glass bottle. The attention of the animal is distracted from the other [cubs], and the hunters can catch the remaining ones. It [the cub] is reared together with children in cities, and domesticated.”
🧩 Zoological and Literary Analysis
1. Physical Traits and Identification
| Feature | Interpretation / Real-World Match |
|---|---|
| “Fearsome predator, small body” | ✅ Matches the leopard (Panthera pardus)—deadly yet smaller than lions or tigers |
| “All predators fear it” | ⚠️ Mythic exaggeration; reflects the solitary and ferocious character of the leopard |
| “Found in Ethiopia” | ✅ No tigers in Africa—leopards are the only large predatory cats native to Ethiopia |
| “Urinates in lion’s ear” | ⚠️ Symbolic dominance; a mythic flourish likely adapted from courtly or proverbial lore |
| “Born of ʿ-r-s-a-b and lioness” | ⚠️ A hybrid origin myth; ʿ-r-s-a-b is a garbled form of f-r-s-a-b, the red Chinese tiger identified earlier |
| “Runs like the wind” | ✅ Both leopards and cheetahs are famed for speed and agility |
| “Impossible to hunt—cub trick” | ⚠️ Directly mirrors classical Greek lore, especially from Timotheus of Gaza |
| “Domesticated with children” | ✅ Historical basis—leopards and cheetahs were raised as royal pets and hunting companions in India and Persia |
2. Why "Babr" = Tiger—But Acts Like a Leopard Here
Linguistically:
In Arabic usage:
In geographic reality:
3. The Glass Bottle Trick: A Classical Echo
The tale of hunters stealing cubs and distracting the mother with a glass vessel derives from the Greek zoologist Timotheus of Gaza (5th–6th c. CE), in his De Animalibus, written for Emperor Anastasios. There, the animal is the tigris, and the method is exactly as described in The Book of Curiosities.
This tale was carried into the Arabic world via Byzantine and Syriac intermediaries, and appears in:
-
al-Waṭwāṭ,
-
& al-Damīrī,
This shared classical origin underscores how ancient zoological myths were absorbed into Arabic ʿajāʾib literature.
4. The Lineage: The ʿ-R-S-A-B and the Lioness
The ʿ-r-s-a-b, identified earlier as the f-r-s-a-b, is a garbled name that refers to a red tiger-like beast from China. This mirrors Persian beliefs in jungle beasts like the zabraq or zibriqān, considered distinct from lions or leopards. In medieval zoology, origin stories often fused real animals into hybrids to account for distinctive traits.
Here, the leopard’s speed and savagery are “explained” by giving it both lion and tiger ancestry—an emblem of elite power.
5. Domestication and Royal Usage
Leopards, and especially cheetahs, were historically:
-
Tamed in India, Persia, and Africa,
-
Used in royal hunting expeditions,
-
Reared with children and dogs for domestication,
-
Trained to chase gazelles and swift prey.
Thus, the claim of city rearing and noble use is entirely plausible—and likely reflects actual practices rather than fantasy.
🧠 Symbolism, Fear, and Prestige
The babr embodies:
-
Speed unmatched by other beasts
-
Superiority even over lions (a reflection of Persian royal ideals)
-
A blend of beauty, fury, and royal elegance
-
A connection to the wilderness, but tamable by human ingenuity (symbolized by the glass bottle trick)
In this form, the babr is no mere animal—it is a courtly symbol, a mythic predator, and a creature of layered cosmographies.
Final Identification: The Babr (ببر)
🟢 The babr in The Book of Curiosities is a mythologized big cat, whose name derives from the Persian word for tiger, but whose location (Ethiopia), behavior, and ecology match the African leopard (Panthera pardus).
🪞 The famous “cub-in-glass” hunting method is lifted directly from Greek zoology (Timotheus of Gaza), filtered through Byzantine and Arabic literature.
🌍 It is a palimpsest creature—
-
A Persian tiger by name,
-
A Byzantine marvel by myth,
-
And an Ethiopian leopard by nature.
👑 The babr encapsulates the ʿajāʾib tradition: a wondrous creature that straddles fact and fable, empire and edge, ferocity and tamability.
Jundbādastar (جُندبادَسْتَر)
The Beaver of Medicine, Myth, and Mimicry
Text
“The jundbādastar (castoreum): called in Greek castor (κάστωρ), meaning the ‘testicle of the sea’. It resembles a fox, or is slightly larger. It is red, with two hind legs but no fore legs, and a long tail. It walks bent toward on its chest as if it has four legs. It has the head of man, with a round face like that of a man. The testicles of the male have wonderful benefits, and kings are ready to pay for them whatever the hunters ask. Once it is caught, its testicles are removed and, as the rest of its body has no benefit, the animal is cast away and survives. Then, if a hunter catches it again, it rolls over on its back to show that its testicles have already been removed.”
🧩 Zoological and Textual Analysis
1. Name and Linguistic Roots
-
Jundbādastar (جُندبادَسْتَر): A Persian compound derived from gond (“testicle”) + bādastar (a variation of bastar, “beaver”).
-
Often used in Arabic as a metonym for castoreum—the pungent, oily secretion from scent glands near the anus of the beaver, erroneously identified as its “testicles.”
2. Physical Features and Real-World Matches
| Feature | Interpretation / Match |
|---|---|
| “Resembles a fox, or is slightly larger” | ✅ Beavers are stocky mammals, larger than foxes but sharing a similar length (body + tail) |
| “Red in color” | ⚠️ May reflect reddish-brown fur under certain light; possibly poetic license |
| “Two hind legs but no forelegs” | ❌ Anatomically incorrect, but may derive from the beaver’s habit of sitting upright, using forepaws like hands |
| “Walks on its chest” | ✅ Beavers waddle and hunch low—this may be an exaggerated description of their lumbering gait |
| “Long tail” | ✅ Signature beaver trait—flat, scaly, and paddle-shaped |
| “Round, human-like face” | ⚠️ Possibly anthropomorphized description, common in medieval bestiaries |
| “Testicles prized for medicine” | ✅ This refers to castoreum, long prized in Greco-Islamic medicine for its supposed therapeutic powers |
| “Self-castration myth” | ❌ Mythed, not biologically accurate; drawn directly from Greek and Roman sources like Pliny and Timotheus of Gaza |
📜 Classical Sources and the Self-Castration Tale
This narrative of the beaver voluntarily tearing off its testicles to escape hunters is directly taken from Timotheus of Gaza and other Greco-Roman natural historians. In his De Animalibus, Timotheus writes:
“Its testicles are essential for various medicines. Knowing this, it tears them off and escapes. If pursued again, it rolls on its back to show it has none left.”
This story appears in:
-
Timotheus of Gaza, 5th–6th century CE
-
Pliny the Elder, Natural History
-
Later Arabic authors like al-Damīrī, al-Waṭwāṭ, and al-Masʿūdī
-
Cross-referenced by Jayakar, who rightly notes its fabulous nature
Thus, the Book of Curiosities repeats an ancient zoological fable, not an observed truth, embedding classical marvels into Islamic ʿajāʾib literature.
🌿 Castoreum and Medicinal Lore
-
Castoreum was a powerful panacea in Islamic, Greek, and medieval European medicine:
-
Used for epilepsy, hysteria, fevers, and virility
-
Sometimes called “testicle of the sea” (reflecting confusion about its origin)
-
Jundbādastar in Arabic often referred to the dried secretion, not the animal
-
-
The mythical behavior—self-mutilation and deceptive display—serves to underscore the preciousness of the gland, and the intelligence of the animal in surviving exploitation.
🧠 Symbolism and Interpretation
-
The beaver is transformed into a symbol of sacrifice and cunning—it mutilates itself to escape death.
-
Its “man-like” face and strategic behavior align with medieval Arabic views of animals as moral exemplars.
-
Its testicles—really its castor sacs—become a metonym for healing, desire, and royal demand.
-
The motif is also a form of eco-theological allegory: animals willingly give of themselves for human benefit, but also deceive man when necessary.
🧪 Final Identification: The Jundbādastar
🟢 The jundbādastar is unmistakably the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber), understood through the lens of classical zoology, Persian etymology, and Islamic medicine.
-
The myth of self-castration comes from Greek and Roman fables.
-
The name itself, derived from Persian, denotes the animal’s most valuable substance—castoreum.
-
The creature’s form, movement, and symbolism are stylized, but grounded in a real mammal native to Europe, the Caucasus, and parts of Central Asia.
🧴 This is not just an animal—it is pharmacological treasure, a moral actor, and a mirror of human cunning and pain, richly preserved in the cosmographical imagination of the medieval Islamic world.
Zabbādah (الزّبّادة) — The Civet
“The civet (zabbādah) resembles a cat, but larger. It has a long tail, and a blackish, sometimes slightly spotted, fur. This animal produces a scent which is weaker than that of the musk deer. The scent is not strong all at once, but rather as long as it is kept it improves. It is scraped off the vulvas of the females and the testicles of the males.”
🧩 Breakdown of Features
| Feature | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| “Resembles a cat, but larger” | ✅ Typical of civets—cat-like body, longer snout | Fits all Viverridae |
| “Long tail” | ✅ Universal civet trait | Arboreal or semi-arboreal |
| “Blackish, sometimes slightly spotted fur” | ✅ Narrows it down: not highly spotted or banded | Ruling out highly patterned species |
| “Scent weaker than musk deer” | ✅ Civetone has milder onset than musk; ages well | Highly accurate observation |
| “Scent scraped from vulvas/testicles” | ✅ Refers to perineal gland secretions of civets | Misunderstood anatomically but correct functionally |
This description emphasizes blackish or lightly spotted fur, scent collection, and a larger-than-cat body size—which helps us triangulate among the known civet species in the Afro-Asian sphere.
🔍 Comparison of Candidate Species
| Species | Range | Fur Pattern | Scent Usage | Match Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Indian civet (Viverricula indica) | India, Persia, SE Asia | Gray with clear black stripes/spots | Mild civet scent, widely used | ❌ Too highly marked; lighter fur |
| African civet (Civettictis civetta) | Sub-Saharan Africa, known in Egypt | Dark grey/black, bold blotchy spots | Most widely used for civet extraction | ✅ Strong candidate, known in Islamic world |
| Large Indian civet (Viverra zibetha) | India, Bangladesh, SE Asia | Darker gray, less pronounced markings | Produces high-quality civetone | ✅ Excellent match: dark, slightly spotted, heavier body |
| Malayan civet (Viverra tangalunga) | Malaysia, Sumatra, Java | Light-colored, bold markings | Less famous for civet use | ❌ Too distinctive/remote |
| Large-spotted civet (Viverra megaspila) | SE Asia | Bold spots, white patches | Rarely mentioned in scent trade | ❌ Too exotic and rare in Islamic records |
🧭 Geographic Context
Given the widespread Islamic trade in musk and perfume, the civets known to Arab, Persian, and Indian merchants by the 10th–12th centuries included:
-
The African civet, brought through Egypt and East Africa (notably from Nubia and the Zanj coast).
-
The Large Indian civet, a key producer of commercial civet, often bred or trapped in India and Bengal.
-
The Small Indian civet, while known, was less ideal due to smaller size and less desirable secretion.
🧪 Final Identification
🟢 The Large Indian civet (Viverra zibetha) best matches the description in The Book of Curiosities:
-
Size: Larger than a housecat.
-
Fur: Dark grey to black, with faint spotting—less conspicuous than other species.
-
Scent: Renowned for producing civetone, harvested in perfumery and medicine.
-
Geographic fit: Commonly exported from India via the Red Sea or Persian Gulf.
🟢 The African civet (Civettictis civetta) is also a strong candidate—especially in Egyptian and Nubian contexts—but its more prominent black-and-white blotches are at odds with the “blackish, sometimes spotted” description.
✅ Conclusion
The zabbādah of The Book of Curiosities refers most precisely to the Large Indian civet (Viverra zibetha), a key species in the medieval civet trade. The description accurately captures both the physical form and the gradual aging of civet musk, along with the misunderstanding of scent gland location—a typical example of scientific observation filtered through the literary lens of wonder.
The Musk Deer (غزال المسك) and the Gold-Guarding Ants of Tibet
Fragrance, Fangs, and Fantastical Guardianship
Text
“The musk deer are black, with fangs. They graze on grass that is found above the mountain pass of Tibet. It has a strong, good fragrance. These deer have large glands (ṣurār) in which blood accumulates. Once the glands have swollen and matured— the way a boil matures—they detach and fall to the ground. These are the musk bags. It is said that the people of Tibet fix pegs in the wilderness so that the deer will rub against them, since once the gland is full it causes them pain, and the deer prefer to have it detached. It is also said that in those places where the deer is found there are huge ants on the top of the mountain pass. Whoever wants to go up there to collect these musk bags takes with him a pot of meat and throws it to the ants to distract them; thereafter he collects what he pleases. Whoever ascends before sunrise finds in this land gold veins, but the ascent there is very difficult.”
🧩 Zoological and Mythical Analysis
1. Physical Traits of the Musk Deer
| Feature | Real-World Match |
|---|---|
| “Black” | ✅ Matches the Black Musk Deer (Moschus fuscus) |
| “With fangs” | ✅ All musk deer males have elongated saber-like canines |
| “Mountain pass of Tibet” | ✅ Refers to Eastern Himalayas, native range of M. fuscus and M. chrysogaster |
| “Strong fragrance” | ✅ Musk secretion from gland near the navel, harvested for perfumery |
| “Glands fall off” | ⚠️ Partially true—glands do not fall off, but musk is extracted from the pod. The idea of spontaneous detachment is a folkloric misunderstanding |
| “Rubbing against pegs” | ⚠️ Not observed scientifically, but reflects local hunting/trapping techniques or poetic imagery |
🟢 Final Biological Match:
The Black Musk Deer (Moschus fuscus) is the best candidate.
-
Native to Tibet and eastern Himalayas,
-
Has dark fur,
-
And is the likely species described in both Arabic and Chinese accounts circulating in the Islamic world.
The Alpine Musk Deer (M. chrysogaster) is another possibility, but it tends to be lighter in color.
🐜 The Gold-Guarding Ants: A Literary Trope
This surreal detail—that giant ants guard the musk deer and gold veins—is not unique to this text. It belongs to a widespread ʿajāʾib motif in Islamic and earlier Greek geographical lore.
Footnote Parallels:
-
Ibn al-Faqīh describes giant ants between Khurasan and India, guarding gold dust; hunters throw meat to distract them before digging for gold.
-
Sharaf al-Zamān al-Marwazī speaks of a land called Zamīn Zar in Sofāla, where ants protect gold that sprouts like plants.
-
The trope of animals guarding hidden wealth also appears in Herodotus, where giant ants guard gold in India, a story that passed into Arabic and Persian texts.
Interpretation:
-
The ants are a metaphor for dangerous terrain, or perhaps local protectors—whether wild animals or tribes.
-
Alternatively, they personify natural obstacles like hostile wildlife, extreme altitude, or political barriers.
-
Their association with gold and musk ties two rare, valued resources to risk and wonder—central themes in ʿajāʾib literature.
🧠 Symbolism and Cosmological Function
In the broader symbolic economy of The Book of Curiosities, this entry binds together:
-
Scent and treasure (musk and gold),
-
Beast and barrier (deer and ants),
-
And Tibet as a liminal, inaccessible zone filled with natural marvels and moral metaphors.
Both musk and gold are substances of transformation—used in courtly fragrance, religious ritual, and monetary exchange. By placing them at the heights of the known world and under mythical protection, the text sacralizes the act of reaching for them.
✅ Final Identification
🦌 The musk deer described here is most likely the Black Musk Deer (Moschus fuscus), native to Tibet and the eastern Himalayas, noted for its dark coat, fangs, and valuable musk pods used in perfumery and medicine.
🐜 The giant ants are a symbolic topos, borrowed from Greek, Persian, and Islamic geographical lore, echoing Herodotean themes of monstrous guardians, and used here to elevate Tibet into the mythic geography of wealth, danger, and the marvelous.
💎 This single entry thus fuses natural history, folklore, and moral imagination, where even a deer becomes a gatekeeper to the uppermost wonders of the earth.
B-M-R-H-Y-D (بمرهيد)
The Water-Loving Wild Cat with Magical Fur
Text
“The b-m-r-h-y-d is a beast with the body of a cat, slightly larger, and green fur spotted with white patches. It has a fine black tail which it drags along like a fox’s tail, and white legs. Its eyes are barely visible, as they are small and enclosed by the bone of the brow. It has thick hair. It is only found near water, as it frequents it often. When it runs, it cannot be overtaken. It has fine fur, second to none among the wild beasts, and so are the hairs on its legs. It also has a tall forehead. It is hunted by means of milk left for it in vessels; once it drinks the milk, it becomes intoxicated and is captured. A bird called m-a-m-n-q-r trusts it and associates with it; the bird is hunted together with it, as they are found together. When the meat of this beast is cooked thoroughly until it separates from the bone, and then every 10 dirhams of it are mixed with 4 dirhams of mahāfandehesht , it should be churned with milk of she-asses and melted cow-butter and drunk by those who suffer from the ‘greater disease’.This removes the rotten flesh from the body until only the nerves remain, after which one should treat with a medication that protects the body.”
🧩 Zoological Features and Analysis
| Feature | Interpretation / Real Match |
|---|---|
| “Body of a cat, slightly larger” | ✅ Consistent with fishing cat size: 57–78 cm long, 8–17 kg |
| “Green fur with white spots” | ⚠️ Likely refers to the yellow-gray coat with black markings, possibly misread as green in certain light or poetic color symbolism |
| “Black fox-like tail” | ✅ Fishing cats have dark, bushy tails often held low while stalking |
| “White legs” | ⚠️ Possibly derived from fur contrast, common in many wild cats |
| “Small eyes, recessed in brow” | ✅ Fishing cats have relatively small eyes set deep in a broad head |
| “Thick fur, best among wild beasts” | ✅ Fishing cats have dense, water-resistant fur |
| “Always found near water” | ✅ This is the most aquatic of all wild cats |
| “Impossible to catch running” | ✅ Noted for agility, nocturnal hunting, and elusiveness |
| “Caught using milk” | ⚠️ Possibly folkloric, but milk as bait is a known lure for carnivores |
🐱 Final Identification: The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)
The fishing cat is an excellent match on nearly all physical and ecological counts:
-
Native to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and parts of Southeast Asia,
-
Prefers wetlands, rivers, and swamps, which aligns perfectly with “always found near water,”
-
Possesses thick, speckled fur often described in glowing terms,
-
Extremely hard to trap—nocturnal, reclusive, and swift,
-
Known to be ferocious and hard to tame, increasing its mythic allure.
The coloration mismatch (“green” with “white spots”) likely reflects either:
-
Color metaphor (green = wilderness, water-associated),
-
Poor transmission in manuscripts,
-
Or a poetic attempt to convey the animal’s shimmering, mottled pelt in indirect light.
🧪 Medicinal Properties of the B-M-R-H-Y-D (Fishing Cat) and the Mystery of Mahāfandehesht
In The Book of Curiosities, the b-m-r-h-y-d— the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)—is not merely a zoological curiosity but also a source of powerful therapeutic flesh. The entry assigns to it a role in a striking pharmacological recipe, used to treat a condition ominously termed “the Greater Disease” (al-dāʾ al-akbar), possibly a scribal distortion of known ailments such as:
-
Dāʾ al-fīl (elephantiasis),
-
Or dāʾ al-ḥayyah (a condition involving necrotizing skin and the thickening or peeling of flesh).
The full preparation is as follows:
“When the meat of this beast is cooked thoroughly until it separates from the bone, and then every 10 dirhams of it are mixed with 4 dirhams of mahāfandehesht, it should be churned with milk of she-asses and melted cow-butter and drunk by those who suffer from the ‘greater disease’.”
This formulation is not only intensive and ritualistic, but reflects the intersection of medical practice, animal symbolism, and esoteric terminology in Arabic-Islamic wonder literature.
🩸 A Cure for Corruption
The purpose of this compound is described in terms of radical cleansing:
“It removes the rotten flesh from the body until only the nerves remain…”
This vivid imagery implies not just bodily detoxification, but a metaphysical purification—burning away what is diseased, corrupted, or impure to reveal the essential structure beneath. Such language echoes the spiritualized medical theories of Galenism, Islamic prophetic medicine, and Persian cosmological healing.
🌿 Mahāfandehesht: Linguistic Mystery, Spiritual Substance
The most enigmatic ingredient is mahāfandehesht—a term not found in standard Persian dictionaries, but whose structure evokes the Avestan, Sanskrit, and Middle Persian lexicons. Breaking the word into plausible morphemes:
| Segment | Language Origin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| mahā (مها) | Sanskrit / Avestan | Great, mighty, celestial |
| fand (فند) | Persian or unknown | Possibly a deity, place-name, or arcane concept |
| deh (ده) | Persian | Village, domain, place |
| -esht / -yasht (یشت) | Avestan | Hymn, sanctified thing, paradise-like realm |
“The Great Sacred Realm of Fand” or “The Great Paradise of Fand”
This would align it semantically with words like behešt (heaven) or Garōdmān (Zoroastrian afterlife paradise). It may have functioned metaphorically in this medicinal context, describing a substance believed to carry the purity and sanctity of a cosmic realm—something capable of restoring life, purging impurity, or even reordering the body.
📚 Comparative Parallels and Cosmological Resonance
The appearance of mahāfandehesht aligns with other motifs in Arabic and Persian cosmology:
-
Avestan Yashts were hymns to divine forces—sung for blessing, healing, and protection.
-
Theriac-type medicines like tiryaq al-fārūq similarly combined esoteric language with potent healing.
-
Manichaean and Zoroastrian texts frequently linked healing substances to celestial origins—especially from the mountains or lands where holy animals dwelled.
🪷 Symbolic and Ritual Medicine
Each element of the treatment is highly symbolic:
| Ingredient | Symbolic Role |
|---|---|
| Fishing cat meat | A rare and elusive predator; its flesh signifies strength and liminality (land/water) |
| Mahāfandehesht | The celestial purifier—originating in a mythical realm |
| Milk of she-asses | Known in Islamic medicine as a nourishing, cleansing agent |
| Melted cow butter | A healing balm, common in Indo-Persian healing |
Healing as Cosmic Restoration
🟢 Mahāfandehesht, though linguistically obscure, reveals its symbolic function within the healing regime of the Book of Curiosities: it represents a mythic or divine agent of purification, woven from the conceptual strands of Avestan paradise, Persian cosmology, and Islamic medical lore.
🧪 When combined with the rare flesh of the b-m-r-h-y-d (fishing cat), this compound was meant to burn away corruption, both physical and moral. Whether real or imagined, it was a medicine that healed through story, ritual, and myth—a pharmacological metaphor for the soul’s passage through fire to clarity.
💫 In this, we see not just a recipe—but a miniature theology: healing as return to cosmic order, using ingredients born of wonder, wilderness, and celestial language.
✅ Final Conclusion
🟢 The b-m-r-h-y-d is best identified as the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), a reclusive and water-bound feline native to the marshes and rivers of India and Bengal.
💧 Its semi-aquatic habits, spotted coat, dense fur, and elusive nature fit the description with exceptional precision. The entry's mixture of zoology, hunting lore, and medical alchemy reflects how Arabic cosmographers wove observation and wonder, healing and danger, into a single living marvel.
🕊️ M-A-M-N-Q-R (مامنقر)
The Poison-Detecting Parrot of China
📜 Text
“The m-a-m-n-q-r is a bird covered with green feathers, except for its neck, which is flaming red. Its eyes are black, and its feet are golden yellow. It has talons, and it is the size of a falcon. It is domesticated in houses and associates with men. When a cushion is placed before it, it stands on it so it can see the dining table. If anything containing poison or secret evil is served to the table, it clutches the cushion, then twists its head and plucks out of its feathers a feather with a drop of blood on it. When the food tray is stained with that blood, its red colour turns to white, and it is known that there is poison in it. This bird is found in China in a city called F-j-w-z-n. It is hunted by means of a beast called m-r-h-n-d.”
(Note: The m-r-h-n-d is the same animal as the b-m-r-h-y-d, identified earlier as the fishing cat [Prionailurus viverrinus]).
🧩 Zoological Analysis
| Trait | Interpretation and Match |
|---|---|
| Green feathers | Vivid green body suggests a tropical or subtropical species, likely a parrot. |
| Flaming red neck | A rare and striking feature, especially if isolated to the neck—matches Psittacula. |
| Black eyes and yellow feet | Found in parakeets and parrots; bright leg coloration is common in the Psittacula genus. |
| Talons, size of a falcon | Medium-sized parrot, ~30–40 cm; parrots have zygodactyl feet that resemble talons. |
| Domesticated, human-friendly | Strong match—parakeets are intelligent, trainable, and long kept as household birds. |
| Mythical poison detection | Symbolic function—echoes ancient lore of birds or animals detecting evil or poison. |
| Hunted by fishing cats | Suggests proximity to aquatic environments—fishing cats do prey on birds. |
🐦 Best Real-World Match: The Red-breasted Parakeet (Psittacula alexandri)
| Feature | Match |
|---|---|
| Green body | ✅ Yes |
| Red neck/chest | ✅ Yes |
| Yellow feet | ✅ Yes |
| Falcon-sized (~35 cm) | ✅ Yes |
| Domesticated | ✅ Frequently kept as pets and used in courtly spectacle |
| Native to region | ✅ Southeast Asia, including southern China and northern Indochina |
The red-breasted parakeet (also known as mustached parakeet) fits the description exceptionally well. Though less well-known today than the rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri), P. alexandri has the unique flaming red throat and upper breast, vivid green plumage, golden feet, and a manageable size. It was commonly domesticated and known for its calm temperament and human association.
🌍 Geographical Context: The City of F-J-W-Z-N = Fuzhou (福州)
The text places the bird in a city transliterated as F-j-w-z-n—which closely aligns with Fuzhou, a major port city in Fujian Province, southeastern China. Fuzhou was a key hub in the maritime Silk Road and was known to Muslim geographers and merchants.
The Wuyishan, Longqishan, and Minjiang River Estuary reserves in Fujian are all home to a wide array of birdlife, including parrots, woodpeckers, pheasants, and migratory species. While Psittacula alexandri is not abundant in Fujian today, historical bird ranges, trade in exotic pets, and early animal keeping likely introduced such birds to courtly or aristocratic households in cities like Fuzhou.
🧪 Mythical Traits: Poison Detection and Blood Feather Ritual
The m-a-m-n-q-r’s ability to detect poison is clearly symbolic—similar to legendary animals in Greco-Arabic and Indian lore that warn against hidden evils.
-
The act of plucking a feather with a drop of blood echoes ritual or magical traditions, possibly a poetic metaphor for protection or divine vigilance.
-
The color change from red to white on the food tray recalls alchemical transmutation, spiritual purification, or divine intervention.
In Islamic and pre-Islamic Iranian literature, animals with these roles often appear at feasts or divine courts, guarding against treachery or falsehood.
🐱 Interaction with the m-r-h-n-d (Fishing Cat)
The text claims this parrot is hunted by a beast called m-r-h-n-d, already identified as the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus). This is plausible:
-
Fishing cats are ambush predators that live near wetlands and riverine forests—precisely where parrots might forage or roost.
-
Although their primary diet is fish and amphibians, fishing cats do opportunistically hunt birds, especially if they nest low or come to water.
-
In tropical Asia, ecological overlap between fishing cats and tree- or shrub-dwelling birds is common, particularly in riparian habitats.
This predatory relationship adds realism to the wonder tale, even if its dramatic presentation is stylized.
🧠 Final Identification
🟢 The m-a-m-n-q-r (المامنقار) is best identified as the Red-breasted Parakeet (Psittacula alexandri), a falcon-sized, vividly colored, intelligent bird native to Southeast Asia and southern China. With:
-
Green plumage,
-
A blazing red throat,
-
Golden feet,
-
And a known association with human households,
…it matches the description with high fidelity.
While the blood-feather poison test is clearly mythical, it reflects the deep symbolic resonance animals held in Islamic cosmographies—standing at the crossroads of naturalism, magic, and moral allegory.
🪄 A Bird of Color, Mystery, and Warning
The m-a-m-n-q-r is no ordinary bird. It is a marvel—part parrot, part protector, part mythic sentinel. It sits beside kings and noblemen, not just for beauty, but for its imagined power to detect danger and reveal hidden truths. It speaks to a world where wonder, trade, science, and story blend seamlessly—and where even birds carry the burden of divine insight.
RUKH (الرُّخّ)
The Tireless Beast with Double Sets of Legs
📜 Text
“The rukh is a beast of exceptional pace, with a bed-like square body. It associates a lot with the babr (leopard), and is found together with it. The author of Kitāb al-Ḥayawān (Book of Animals) said: This animal has four legs underneath it and four on top of it—that is, on its back. It runs like the wind with the legs of its belly, and once it gets tired it rolls over and runs with the legs of its back, so that it never tires for as long as it lives. On each side, it has a face and eyes that look around. It has a large body and a stinking smell. It can only be observed from the top of a mountain, for no one can approach it without being devoured. The person who looks at it should protect himself against the smells of the animal by inhaling camphor, as otherwise the stench will make him faint.”
🧩 Description Analysis
| Trait | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| "Bed-like square body" | Suggests a massive, quadrupedal beast with a squat, symmetrical form—evokes an abstract or cuboid creature. Possibly camelid, or composite. |
| "Four legs underneath and four on top" | A fantastical motif. Could symbolize unstoppable motion, dualism, or ever-readiness—reminiscent of rotating divine chariots in mythology. |
| "Rolls to change sets of legs" | Surreal locomotion—may reflect mythic notions of beasts that never tire, or symbolize an unending force. |
| "Two faces and eyes on either side" | Evokes Janus-like vigilance, or a guardian beast—an all-seeing, all-consuming predator. Possibly an echo of Zoroastrian or Indic symbolic animals. |
| "Associates with the babr (leopard/tiger)" | Suggests it is either hunting with, or metaphysically tied to the babr—another elite predator of wonder literature. |
| "Stinking smell" | Mythic trope to ward off approach. In bestiaries, this often signifies moral corruption or hellish origins. |
| "Only observable from mountaintops" | Indicates its habitat is remote, sublime, or sacred-dangerous—possibly inaccessible wilderness, or cosmic terrain. |
🦁 Related Mythological Beasts and Parallels
1. Ibn Sīnā’s Rukh
In his commentary on Aristotle’s Historia Animalium, Ibn Sīnā explicitly distinguishes the rukh from the tiger (babr) and the martichoras (manticore), stating:
“The rukh, I think, has yellow hair.”“[The martichoras] has a human face, red color, three rows of teeth, and a scorpion tail... If this animal exists, it is not the rukh.”
While he acknowledges similarities in terror and strength, Ibn Sīnā sees the rukh as its own category—yellow-furred, quadrupedal, possibly feline, but not venomous or man-faced.
2. Al-Marwazī’s Quadruped
Marwazī preserves the rukh as a terrifying quadruped with extraordinary capabilities but avoids linking it to the martichoras. He hints at camel-like traits, as recorded by Steingass, though this is likely a secondary tradition.
3. The Zabraq in al-Masʿūdī
A closely related beast is the zabraq, described by al-Masʿūdī as a reddish-yellow predator that attacks elephants using burning urine launched from its tail. It can leap to treetops, and if it fails to kill, it vomits blood and dies. This grotesque, apocalyptic creature shares motifs with the rukh:
-
Fatal stench or emissions
-
Massive size and speed
-
Elephant-assailing strength
-
Mythical presence in India
🔥 Symbolism and Function in ʿAjāʾib Literature
| Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Unstoppable running | Symbol of fate, war, or divine wrath—never tiring, relentless like time or death. |
| Double legs and faces | Mythic duality, supernatural surveillance, or universal threat. |
| Association with the babr | The rukh may serve as a cosmic counterpart or metaphysical twin to the babr. |
| Overwhelming stench | Literary device denoting the impossibility of human mastery—it defies approach. |
| Seen only from mountains | Echoes mystical or apocalyptic visions—sublime terror glimpsed only by ascetics or prophets. |
🧪 Final Identification
🟢 The rukh is a mythical quadruped of Islamic wonder literature, part predator, part philosophical allegory. While it draws from:
-
Zoroastrian and Indian myth (multi-faced beasts, mountain seclusion),
-
Aristotelian and Greek zoology (via the martichoras),
-
Persian cosmography (like the zabraq and the babr),
…its unique traits—two sets of legs, duality of faces, uncapturable essence, and stench of death—make it an unparalleled marvel of Arabic imagination.
It is not meant to be found—it is meant to be feared, revered, and understood only from afar, like the truths of the cosmos seen from a mountaintop.
ASHKAR (الأشكر)
The Winged Beast of Earth and Sky
📜 Text
“The ashkar is an animal that can walk and spends much time on land. Its head is like the head of a giant bird, and its body is the body of a predatory beast with fine hair. It has white wings, claws, and red eyes. It has lots of uses. A table-cloth made from its skin will never be touched by vermin.”
🧩 Description Analysis
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| "Can walk and spends time on land" | Terrestrial or semi-terrestrial—suggests it is not purely avian despite wings. |
| "Head like a giant bird" | Beaked or raptorial head, possibly eagle-like—evokes griffons, raptors, or monstrous birds. |
| "Body of a predatory beast with fine hair" | Indicates a mammalian, carnivorous torso—perhaps lion-like or feline. |
| "White wings" | Majestic, angelic or symbolic of purity—frequent in mythical hybrids and sky-beasts. |
| "Claws and red eyes" | Aggressive, supernatural traits—red eyes are standard markers of beasts associated with power, night, or warning. |
| "Skin used as tablecloth vermin avoid" | Magical property—implies protective, possibly apotropaic effect against pests or spiritual corruption. |
🦁 Possible Inspirations and Cross-Cultural Parallels
This chimera-like creature bridges avian, feline, and mythic traits. Its construction bears resemblance to several legendary beings across ancient and medieval literature:
🟠 Griffon (Gryphon)
-
Mythical beast with the head and wings of an eagle and body of a lion.
-
Common in Persian, Greek, and Byzantine iconography, especially as a guardian of treasure or sacred domains.
-
Associated with ferocity, nobility, and vigilance.
-
Often depicted with white or golden wings, especially in Islamic and Persian art.
Match:
-
✅ Bird head
-
✅ Predatory mammalian body
-
✅ Wings and claws
-
✅ Semi-terrestrial
-
✅ Guardian symbolism (protective tablecloth)
🟠 Simurgh / Sēnmurw (Persian Myth)
-
A majestic, composite bird-beast from Persian mythology, often residing on mountaintops.
-
In some accounts, has mammalian or leonine elements, with wisdom and healing powers.
-
Not known for ferocity, but for beneficence and protective attributes—sometimes lays eggs in vermin-free places.
Match:
-
⚠️ Less beastly, but wings and protective symbolism are present.
🪶 Magical Function: Skin as Pest Repellent
The mention of the ashkar’s vermin-repelling skin is not just decorative—it reflects a widespread belief in apotropaic animal hides in both Islamic and pre-Islamic cultures.
Parallels:
-
Panther skin in Greek texts: feared by animals and used in ritual.
-
Tiger or leopard skin in Persian medicine: believed to ward off fevers or spirits.
-
Civet or marten fur in Islamic pharmacology: thought to purify air and deter pests.
This may indicate:
-
A spiritual or alchemical substance within the ashkar's hide.
-
Use in elite households or courtly banquets, where pest resistance is symbolic of purity and divine favor.
🔮 Symbolic Meaning
The ashkar may represent a cosmic hybrid of:
-
Earthly strength (beast’s body),
-
Heavenly insight (bird’s head, white wings),
-
And magical power (red eyes, vermin-proof skin).
In Kitāb al-ʿAjāʾib literature, such beasts function as:
-
Threshold guardians,
-
Symbols of noble houses (griffon imagery was common in heraldry),
-
Or allegories of perfect balance between heaven and earth.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The Ashkar is a mythical griffon-like creature, a composite beast rooted in Persian, Greco-Arabic, and Near Eastern zoological lore. Its fusion of:
-
Bird head and white wings,
-
Predatory mammalian body with claws,
-
And its use as a spiritual guardian against corruption (vermin),
…clearly identifies it as a symbolic wonder-beast—a griffon-equivalent, adapted into Arabic wonder literature as a terrestrial bird-beast of protection, majesty, and hidden power.
🐾 QĀSAH (القاصة)
The Royal Sentinel of Poison: The Spotted Cat of Upper Egypt and the Sudan
📜 Text
“The qāsah is an animal bigger than a cat, with a long tail. Its skin is yellow with black spots like the skin of a leopard. It has small ears and red eyes. It lounges in the courts of kings, and is susceptible to training. Women keep it in their quarters like a domesticated cat. It is a blessed animal, for when it sees poisoned food it turns away until its quality is ascertained. This beast is found in Upper Egypt, the Sudan, and the hot lands. ʿAbd al-Jabbār sent one of these animals to Tekkīn, who was the governor of Egypt.”
🧩 Description Analysis
| Trait | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| “Bigger than a cat” | Indicates a small carnivorous mammal, larger than a domestic cat but not by much—like a genet or small civet. |
| “Long tail” | Strong marker: genets and civets are especially known for their long, ringed tails. |
| “Skin yellow with black spots like a leopard” | Very accurate for the common genet (Genetta genetta), which has yellowish-gray fur with black spots and stripes. |
| “Small ears” | Matches genets, which have proportionally small rounded or oval ears. |
| “Red eyes” | May be a reference to nocturnal tapetum lucidum glow, especially under lamplight or firelight. |
| “Lounges in courts, kept by women” | A clear indicator of domestication—many viverrids (like civets and genets) were kept as pets in elite Muslim households. |
| “Turns away from poisoned food” | Mythical trait, but echoes the belief that instinctive or noble animals can detect evil or impurity in food. |
| “Found in Upper Egypt, Sudan, and hot lands” | Perfectly matches the range of the common genet, which thrives across North and East Africa in arid and subtropical climates. |
🔎 Historical Context: Tekkīn ibn ʿAbdallāh and the Abbasid Elite
The gift of a qāsah to Tekkīn, the powerful Abbasid governor of Egypt (d. 933 CE), confirms this animal’s elite status. Tekkīn was a Khazar slave-soldier who rose through the ranks and ruled Egypt in three non-consecutive terms between 910 and 933 CE. His courts would have been populated by the latest wonders of the natural world—particularly luxury animals and curiosities sent from the African interior.
That this animal was chosen as a gift between military elites reflects its:
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Exotic allure,
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Practical use (as a pet),
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And its symbolic status as a blessed and discerning creature.
It is no coincidence that it is associated with female quarters as well—historically, genets and civets were among the few carnivorous pets tolerated in the harams and women's apartments, prized for their beauty and docility.
🧪 Zoological Identification: The Common Genet (Genetta genetta)
| Feature | Genet Match |
|---|---|
| Size | ✅ Larger than a domestic cat, but still compact. |
| Tail | ✅ Long, ringed, and expressive—one of the genet’s most distinctive traits. |
| Fur | ✅ Yellowish-grey with black spots and lines, resembling a miniature leopard. |
| Ears | ✅ Small, rounded, not prominent. |
| Eyes | ✅ Red glow at night (tapetum lucidum)—matches medieval “red eyes” motif. |
| Distribution | ✅ Native to Upper Egypt, Sudan, North Africa, and Arabia. |
| Behavior | ✅ Agile, quiet, often kept as a pet or vermin-hunter in ancient and medieval homes. |
🧠 Symbolism: Poison Detection and Spiritual Purity
The qāsah’s supposed ability to detect poison ties it to a long tradition of beasts that perceive evil:
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In Arabic and Persian literature, animals like the parrot, mongoose, and civet are said to detect poison or spiritual harm.
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Its reaction to unclean food makes it a guardian of purity, aligned with courtly etiquette and divine protection.
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This mirrors beliefs about the musk deer’s blood, the salamander’s fireproof hair, or the m-a-m-n-q-r bird’s bloody feather.
The qāsah is thus a moral animal, gifted with both beauty and discernment—an embodiment of refinement, instinct, and elite status.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The qāsah (االقاسة) is best identified as the Common Genet (Genetta genetta), a small, spotted viverrid native to Africa and Arabia. Its physical description, behavior, and symbolic role align perfectly with known traits of the genet:
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It was easily domesticated,
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Found in the Nile Valley and Sub-Saharan fringe,
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And admired for its sleek coat, sharp instincts, and mysterious demeanor.
In the Book of Curiosities, the qāsah stands as a symbol of loyalty, elite refinement, and divine discernment—a miniature leopard gracing royal courts and guarding banquets from unseen threats.
A-L-W-N-Y-S (الونيس)
The Horned Predator of the Highlands
📜 Text
“A-l-w-n-y-s is a predatory beast born of a union between monkeys and mountain sheep. It is the size of a wolf, with a horn and immense power. It may kill a man, and it eats many other animals.”
🧩 Trait Analysis
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Born of monkeys and mountain sheep | A symbolic hybrid: suggests a creature with both simian agility and cunning and the rugged strength and horned power of mountain ungulates. |
| Size of a wolf | Approx. 20–40 kg—puts it in the range of medium carnivores or large mountain mammals. |
| With a horn | No real predator has horns; this is almost certainly symbolic, perhaps referring to exaggerated tufts, cranial ridges, or mythic traits. |
| Powerful, devours animals, kills men | Common mythological exaggeration; indicates a feared, semi-demonic beast. |
| Mountain terrain | Key ecological anchor—suggests a creature associated with rocky highlands of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, or Persian mountain zones. |
🐾 Zoological Reconstruction
To decode the A-l-w-n-y-s, we look for a real creature that might be misperceived or mythologized into such a hybrid:
✅ Candidate Composite: Barbary Macaque × Aoudad (Ammotragus lervia)
| Trait | Barbary Macaque (Macaca sylvanus) | Aoudad (Ammotragus lervia) |
|---|---|---|
| Range | North African mountains (Rif, Atlas) | Same—Atlas Mountains, rocky terrain |
| Behavior | Agile, intelligent, sometimes aggressive | Horned, territorial, sure-footed climber |
| Appearance | Simian face, strong limbs | Curved horns, muscular build |
| Aggression | Can be aggressive in troops | Headbutts, territorial defense |
These two animals overlap in habitat, particularly in Maghrebi mountain ranges, and when glimpsed fleetingly or in confrontation, a macaque’s face and posture combined with aoudad horns and gait might plausibly inspire a hybrid myth.
Although neither is a predator, the macaque's biting and the aoudad's brute force might be reimagined in folklore as a man-eating, beast-hunting menace.
❌ Rejected Alternatives
| Candidate | Why Rejected |
|---|---|
| Caracal | Tufted ears could mimic horns; is a predator, but too feline and lacks “hybrid” features. |
| Striped Hyena | Wolf-sized scavenger with strong smell and humped back, but lacks any horned or simian traits. |
| Baboon | Aggressive, powerful, semi-predatory in behavior—but not native to the exact mountain ranges referenced. |
| Bezoar Ibex or other goats | Strong horned animals, but purely herbivorous and non-predatory. |
🔮 Mythical Dimensions
The A-l-w-n-y-s is part of the broader tradition of ʿajāʾib (wonders) literature, where real animals are merged with symbolic, spiritual, or terrifying traits. This beast fits neatly into that mold:
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Hybrid origin evokes ancient mythic blends (e.g., sphinx, manticore, karkadān).
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The horn likely symbolizes power, dominion, or spiritual otherness, rather than being literal.
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Mountain habitat often serves as the setting for beasts of divine punishment, demonic ferocity, or sacred guardianship.
🗿 Cultural and Geographic Context
Such a beast would belong to the Berber highland folklore zone—where rugged terrain, limited visibility, and the sounds of clashing animals could easily produce tales of monsters lurking in ravines. The real animals—the Barbary macaque, the aoudad, or even leopard-like predators—all fed this imagination.
Its description as a killer of men and devourer of animals also links it with moral hazard monsters, standing as metaphors for chaos at the margins of the civilized world.
✅ Final Identification:
🟢 The A-l-w-n-y-s (الونيس) is best understood as a mythological highland predator, imagined as a hybrid between the Barbary macaque and the Aoudad (mountain sheep), both native to the Maghreb highlands.
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The macaque lends intelligence, eeriness, and semi-human form.
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The aoudad adds the horn, muscular frame, and dominance of rough terrain.
-
Their fusion produces a creature that is unnatural, threatening, and spiritually marked.
📜 Its role is that of a guardian, punisher, or forbidden presence—anchored in real ecology but refracted through the lens of myth and marvel.
🐾 D-B-R-A-ʿ (الدبرع)
The Fearsome Hybrid Predator
📜 Text
“The d-b-r-a-ʿ is a predatory beast born of a union between a lioness and a leopard (namir). It is the size of a large wolf. It is so feared that no other predatory animal or wild beast seeks its company (literally, ‘warms in his fire’), or takes shelter with it. It is said that it fights the babr (leopard), and that the babr fears no other animal.”
🧩 Feature Analysis
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Born of a lioness and leopard | A hybrid myth—intended to convey exceptional strength, agility, and ferocity. This echoes Greco-Persian hybrid taxonomy. |
| Size of a large wolf | In an Egyptian-Arabic context, this refers to the Arabian wolf (Canis lupus arabs), which is small (~20 kg). Thus, the creature described may be ~30–40 kg, like a medium-to-large big cat. |
| So feared no beast shelters with it | Marks it as uniquely dangerous and solitary—a hallmark of predatory folklore. |
| Combats the babr (leopard) | Interesting tension: if it fights babrs, it may be distinct from them—but comparable. Implies parity in strength or agility. |
🐆 Could It Be a Cheetah?
This is a very plausible suggestion, for the following reasons:
| Trait | Cheetah Match? |
|---|---|
| Feline hybrid appearance | ✅ Cheetahs were often confused with leopards in classical Arabic literature. |
| Mane-like neck hair (especially males) | ✅ Cheetahs—particularly adolescent males—have a shaggy mantle that looks like a lion's mane, which aligns with the “lioness + leopard” parentage. |
| Large wolf size (~30–45 kg) | ✅ Fits cheetah size perfectly. |
| Solitary and feared | ⚠️ Cheetahs aren’t feared by other predators in real life, but in folklore, their speed and appearance may lend them symbolic power. |
| Fights the babr (leopard) | ✅ Interspecies combat is plausible in captivity or stories. In texts like al-Damīrī or al-Jāḥiẓ, cheetahs are sometimes distinguished from the leopard by behavior and trainability. |
🦁 Why the “Lioness + Leopard” Hybrid?
This likely reflects a literary device common in Arabic zoological texts:
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al-Jāḥiẓ, al-Marwazī, and al-Damīrī all describe crossbreeds as explanatory fables for animals that didn’t clearly belong to known species.
-
The “lioness” element gives the d-b-r-a-ʿ strength and courage, while the “leopard” offers agility and deadly grace.
-
This formula also mimics Greek and Persian hybridizations, like the martichoras, gorg, or zabraq—often described as being born from powerful beasts.
🔍 Zoological Parallels
| Species | Fit with d-b-r-a-ʿ |
|---|---|
| Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) | ✅ Strongest fit—slender, fast, solitary, and easily mistaken for a lion-leopard hybrid in form. |
| Leopard (Panthera pardus) | ❌ Not likely—it fights the babr, which is already the leopard. |
| Caracal / Serval | ❌ Too small and not mythically powerful. |
| Striped Hyena | ❌ Has the mane and size, but not feline traits or speed. |
📜 Linguistic Note
The name d-b-r-a-ʿ (الدبرع) is unusual. If not a garbled form, it may echo a non-Arabic substrate or regional animal name. It’s also possible it stems from a root relating to force or impact—like dabr (to pierce or break through)—which aligns with the idea of a powerful, aggressive hybrid.
✅ Final Identification:
🟢 The d-b-r-a-ʿ (الدبرع) is best interpreted as a mythologized cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)—perceived as a supernatural hybrid between lioness and leopard. This likely stems from:
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The cheetah’s lean but strong frame,
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Its mane-like ruff (especially in younger males),
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And its distinct behavior from both leopards and lions.
This creature stands as a folkloric apex predator, dramatized in ʿajāʾib literature to explain its unique appearance and isolation from other beasts.
Khizz al-Māʾ (خزّ الماء)
The Water-Silk Beast
📜 Text
“Khizz al-māʾ (literally, ‘the water-silk’) is a weasel-like beast, but slightly larger. It is born in the rivers, and it swims in water in the same way it runs on land. It has soft, fine hair, of which silken fabrics are made.”
🧩 Trait Analysis
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| “Weasel-like but slightly larger” | ✅ Otters belong to the mustelid family, like weasels, and are similarly shaped but more robust. |
| “Born in rivers” | ✅ Otters are aquatic mammals that breed and live in freshwater ecosystems. |
| “Swims as it runs” | ✅ Characteristic streamlined swimming and agile land movement. |
| “Soft, fine hair used to make silk-like fabric” | ✅ Otter pelts were highly prized in antiquity and medieval times for their dense, glossy fur—sometimes metaphorically compared to silk (khizz can also mean luxurious fabric). |
🦦 Zoological Identification
| Species | Notes |
|---|---|
| Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra) | Widely distributed across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Known in Arabic sources. |
| Smooth-coated Otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) | Also possible in South Asia—slightly larger and less hairy. |
| North African populations | Confirmed otters existed along Nile tributaries, the Levant, and Maghreb rivers. |
🧶 Cultural and Economic Context
The term khizz (خزّ) was used in Arabic not only for luxurious silk or brocade-like fabric, but also metaphorically for fine, soft animal pelts—especially otter and sable. This links khizz al-māʾ directly to fur-trade vocabulary, not actual silkworm silk.
Otter fur was so fine and water-resistant that it was often used in winter garments for elites, and likely formed part of the tribute, trade, or taxation systems in riverine provinces of the caliphate.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 Khizz al-māʾ is unmistakably the otter, likely the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), a sleek, semi-aquatic mammal prized for its luxurious fur. Its weasel-like build, aquatic agility, and association with fine pelts made it a natural subject for inclusion in Arabic bestiaries and books of marvels.
The Apes of Zābaj (Java)
Moustached Guardians of the Mountain
📜 Text
"In the coasts of Zābaj, in the mountain of al-Jārūd, there are huge apes, with white breasts, black backs and tails, green shoulders, and moustaches which they stroke the way a man would stroke his moustache. They are bigger than dogs."
🌏 Geographical Context
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Zābaj (زابج): Classical Arabic name for Java, part of modern-day Indonesia, a major node in Indian Ocean trade.
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Mount al-Jārūd: Possibly a stylized or transliterated form of a Javanese mountain—likely mythical, or derived from real volcanic peaks (e.g., Mount Merapi, Mount Semeru).
-
The setting is tropical, volcanic highlands with dense rainforest and rich biodiversity—ideal primate habitat.
🧩 Trait Analysis
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| “Huge apes” | Larger than dogs; strongly suggests macaques or leaf monkeys rather than gibbons. |
| “White breasts” | Species with light ventral fur. |
| “Black backs and tails” | Strong dorsal coloring common in many Javanese primates. |
| “Green shoulders” | Likely metaphorical—could indicate iridescence, mossy tint, or symbolic coloring. |
| “Stroke their moustaches” | Highly anthropomorphic—may refer to prominent facial hair, whiskers, or grooming behavior. |
| “Bigger than dogs” | Indicates medium-to-large primates, ~10–20 kg. |
🐒 Most Likely Candidate: Javan Lutung (Trachypithecus auratus)
| Trait | Match |
|---|---|
| Black dorsal fur | ✅ Dark to jet-black upper coat. |
| Whitish ventral side | ✅ Many have lighter gray/white bellies or breast patches. |
| Prominent facial hair | ✅ Males have long sideburns or facial whiskers that could resemble moustaches. |
| Greenish shimmer | ✅ Silky black fur may reflect greenish iridescence in sunlight—explains “green shoulders.” |
| Grooming behavior | ✅ Regular facial grooming and posturing. |
| Bigger than dogs | ✅ Up to 65 cm in length + long tails; heavier than most domestic dogs. |
| Native to Java | ✅ Endemic to Java and Bali; found in montane forests. |
❌ Other Candidates (Less Likely)
| Species | Notes |
|---|---|
| Crab-eating macaque | Found in Java, but typically smaller, less vividly colored. |
| Siamang / Gibbon | Black fur, but lack the described coloration and “moustache” grooming. |
| Proboscis monkey | Unique face, but not native to Java. |
🧠 Symbolism and Marvels
The anthropomorphic moustache-stroking is an intentional embellishment—mirroring Javanese court culture where grooming, presentation, and etiquette held great meaning.
Such details reflect the Arabic fascination with:
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Apes as “almost human” beings,
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Cross-cultural behavioral analogies,
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And the uncanny mirroring of human traits in animals from the exotic East.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The “huge apes” of Zābaj’s Mount al-Jārūd are almost certainly Javan lutungs (Trachypithecus auratus), also known as Javan leaf monkeys. Their dark, glimmering coats, pale chests, visible facial hair, and grooming rituals match the description in both zoological and symbolic detail. The mention of “moustache-stroking” turns them from mere fauna into mirror-beasts—echoes of humans in the distant, enchanted forests of Java.
Ḍ-M-R (ضمر)
The Long-Haired Fly Whisk Beast of India
📜 Text
“There one finds also beasts called ḍ-m-r. They are black and white, and resemble cattle. They have long hair which they drag on the ground, which is used to make fly whisks (midhābb). They originate in India.”
Masʿūdī adds in his Murūj al-Dhahab:
“This is the source of the hair known as ṣ-m-r, which is used for fly whisks with ivory and silver handles, waved over the heads of kings in their audiences.”
🧩 Trait Analysis
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| “Ḍ-M-R” | Likely a phonetic approximation of an Indic or Dravidian name. |
| “Black and white” | Striking coloration—zebra-like or patterned bovids. |
| “Resemble cattle” | Indicates large quadrupeds—likely bovines or yak-like species. |
| “Long hair dragged on the ground” | Strong match with yak or Himalayan cattle breeds. |
| “Used for fly whisks” | Hair is prized and traded—used in elite court settings for ceremonial fans. |
| “Originates in India” | Confirms subcontinental or Himalayan provenance. |
✅ **Most Plausible Identification: The Domestic Yak (Bos grunniens) or Wild Yak (Bos mutus)
Yaks were widely known in India, Tibet, and Central Asia, and traded through northern passes into the Islamic world. Their hair, especially the long white tail hair, was ideal for fly whisks (مذهاب), a luxury item in royal courts.
| Trait | Yak Match |
|---|---|
| Black and white coats | ✅ Common in domesticated yaks. |
| Cattle-like | ✅ Bovines by taxonomy and shape. |
| Very long hair | ✅ Outer guard hairs and tails often sweep the ground. |
| Used for midhābb | ✅ Yak tail hair was the primary source of high-status fly whisks. |
| Indian/Himalayan origin | ✅ Native to Himalayan plateau; traded widely into India and beyond. |
🧠 Cultural and Symbolic Layer
The fly whisk (midhābb) was not just a tool—it was a regal symbol, signifying purity, divine rulership, and ceremonial hierarchy. In both Persian and Indian courts, servants fanning kings with ivory-handled whisks was a common image of power. The association with India reinforces its luxury status and cross-cultural prestige.
📜 Name Note: Ḍ-M-R and Ṣ-M-R
-
The Arabic root ḍ-m-r (ضمر) does not correspond directly to any known animal.
-
The alternate spelling ṣ-m-r (صمر) used by Masʿūdī may indicate a transcriptional variation of the Sanskrit chāmara (चामर), which explicitly means fly-whisk and also refers to the animal whose hair is used to make it—i.e., the yak.
-
This aligns perfectly with both the product and the animal.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The ḍ-m-r (ضمر) is best identified as the yak, most likely the domestic Himalayan yak (Bos grunniens), whose black and white coloration, sweeping ground-length hair, and role in Indian royal ceremonies as the source of fly whisks (midhābb) fits the description precisely. The name likely stems from a distorted rendering of chāmara, the Sanskrit term for both the whisk and the animal.
The Winged Cat of Zābaj (قطة مجنحة)
The Flying Fox of the Malay Archipelago
📜 Text
“In the lands of Zābaj there are cats with wings like the wings of a bat, from the base of the ear to the tail.”
🧩 Trait Analysis
| Trait | Interpretation / Real-World Match |
|---|---|
| “Cats with wings” | Likely refers to a flying mammal with catlike appearance |
| “Wings like a bat” | Accurate description of bat wings—membranous, leathery |
| “From ear to tail” | Suggests a wing membrane stretching along the side of the body |
| “Seen in Zābaj (Java)” | Confirms Southeast Asian tropical setting |
✅ Identification: The Flying Fox (Pteropus spp.)
Flying foxes are megabats native to Southeast Asia and are widely found in the forests of Java (Zābaj). They match the description in several ways:
| Feature | Match Description |
|---|---|
| Catlike head | Flying foxes have fox- or cat-like faces with prominent eyes and ears |
| Bat wings | Membranous wings that extend from shoulders to hind limbs |
| Large size | Wingspans can exceed 1.5 meters in some species |
| Roosting posture | Hanging with wings folded, often mistaken for “winged cats” at rest |
| Region | Native to Zābaj (Java, Indonesia), Sumatra, and nearby islands |
🧠 Symbolism and Marvel
To medieval observers unfamiliar with bats of this size, the flying fox would easily appear to be a hybrid animal:
-
“Cat + Bat”: The visual blend is uncanny, especially at twilight.
-
Seen from a distance, it might be interpreted as a cat flying through the air.
-
Its nocturnal habits and unusual shape align with the ʿajāʾib tradition of blending the natural with the wondrous.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The winged cat of Zābaj is best identified as a flying fox—a species of megabat (genus Pteropus) with a catlike face, bat-like wings, and a wide distribution across the Malay Archipelago, particularly Java. Its appearance, behavior, and habitat make it an ideal candidate for this brief but memorable marvel.
SANNĀD (سَنّاد)
The Thorn-Tongued Beast of India
📜 Text
“In India there is a beast called sannād. It is the size of an elephant or slightly smaller, and larger than an ox. It is the strongest of beasts. When the female is pregnant and the fetus descends in order to come out, it sticks out its head from her vulva and remains grazing in this way until it acquires strength. When it has become fully strong, she chucks it from her vulva, and once it is on the ground it flees from her, fearing that she would lick it and kill it, since her tongue is covered with prickles.”
🧩 Trait Analysis
| Feature | Interpretation / Real-World Match |
|---|---|
| Size of elephant or slightly smaller | ✅ Matches the Indian rhinoceros, which is massive but smaller than elephants |
| Stronger than all beasts | ✅ Reflects the rhino’s legendary strength and bulk |
| Young grazes while partially born | ❌ Mythical birthing behavior—possibly derived from marsupial analogies or symbolic exaggeration |
| Mother’s thorny tongue that can kill the calf | ❌ Clearly mythological, perhaps rooted in fearsome maternal imagery or misunderstood animal behavior |
| Widespread in India | ✅ Accurately reflects the native range of the Indian rhinoceros |
🧠 Cultural and Literary Parallels
This account is part of a mythic cycle that clustered around the rhinoceros (karkadann) in Arabic zoological and ʿajāʾib literature:
-
Jāḥiẓ (9th century) relays this tale, though skeptically, in his Kitāb al-Ḥayawān, emphasizing its dubious nature.
-
Al-Qazwīnī, al-Damīrī, and al-Waṭwāṭ retell it in slightly varying forms, each reinforcing its Indian origin and unnatural birth cycle.
-
Masʿūdī openly mocks the tale’s absurdity, showing how even early Islamic scholars debated the balance between marvel and zoological fact.
These narratives portray the rhinoceros as a creature so powerful and bizarre that even its reproductive process defies nature—a literary tool used to heighten its aura of wildness and danger.
🦏 Zoological Identification: Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)
| Feature | Match Description |
|---|---|
| Native to India | ✅ Indian rhinoceros is endemic to the subcontinent |
| Huge and powerful | ✅ Weighs over 2,000 kg; known for brute force |
| Thick hide | ✅ Plate-like skin resembles natural armor |
| Single horn | ✅ The Indian rhino is known for its iconic single horn |
| Ancient fame | ✅ Known in Greco-Roman, Persian, and Indian sources |
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The sannād (سَنّاد) is best identified as the Indian rhinoceros—a solitary, thick-skinned, single-horned herbivore native to the Indian subcontinent, long admired and feared for its brute strength and exotic form. The strange myth of a calf grazing before birth and the mother’s thorny, lethal tongue reflects the hybrid nature of ʿajāʾib literature, where natural history, marvel, and moral metaphor merge.
The Red-Spotted Mountain Goat of Zābaj
📜 Text
"In the lands of Zābaj there are red mountain goats, spotted with white dots, which have tails like deer. Their flesh is sour."
"In the lands of Zābaj there are red mountain goats, spotted with white dots, which have tails like deer. Their flesh is sour."
This brief but vivid zoological notice from The Book of Curiosities attributes a striking creature to the island of Zābaj (Java), described in terms that are zoologically rich but philologically ambiguous. The original interpretation leaned toward identifying the beast as a serow (Capricornis spp.), due to the phrase "mountain goat." However, serows do not inhabit Java, and closer analysis reveals a better candidate: the Javan rusa deer (Rusa timorensis).
Trait Breakdown
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| "Red" | Reddish or chestnut coat, possibly sunlit summer pelage |
| "Spotted with white dots" | Dotted coat, typical of juveniles or faint in adults |
| "Tails like deer" | Clear cervid identifier – not a goat or caprid |
| "Mountain habitat" | Upland forests and volcanic slopes common to Java |
| "Flesh is sour" | Possibly tough or gamey meat; taste markers common in ʻajāʿib lore |
The juxtaposition of these features directs us away from any true goat species and instead toward a medium-sized deer.
🐾 Zoological Survey of Javan Ungulates
1. ✅ Javan Rusa Deer (Rusa timorensis)
The best fit by far. This cervid is native to Java and surrounding islands and is often seen in upland environments. Key matching traits:
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Color: Reddish-brown in dry season or bright sunlight.
-
Spots: Juveniles have white spots; some faint flecking may persist in adult pelage.
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Tail: Short, tufted, very deer-like.
-
Habitat: Found in forests, savannahs, and volcanic uplands.
-
Flesh: Described by some hunters as "tough" or strongly flavored—potentially aligning with the "sour" descriptor.
Its role as game and presence on trade routes make it highly visible to early Islamic travelers.
2. ⚠️ Javan Muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak)
-
Color: Orangish red ✓
-
Size: Much smaller than described; unlikely to be called a "mountain goat"
-
Spots: Lacks white dots ❌
-
Tail: Deer-like ✓
-
Habitat: Forests and forest edges ✓
Color: Orangish red ✓
Size: Much smaller than described; unlikely to be called a "mountain goat"
Spots: Lacks white dots ❌
Tail: Deer-like ✓
Habitat: Forests and forest edges ✓
This species lacks the distinctive white spotting and robust build. While a potential backup candidate, it falls short on several counts.
3. ❌ Banteng (Bos javanicus)
-
Too large, too bovine. No spots. Long cow-like tail. Not applicable.
Too large, too bovine. No spots. Long cow-like tail. Not applicable.
🌍 Ecological and Cultural Context
Islamic geographers and wonder-writers often described Java (Zābaj) as a land of spice, gold, and strangeness. The animals of the island were not merely zoological entries but emblems of its richness and otherness. Descriptions like "red with white dots" likely reflected actual sightings, especially if the animals were young, hunted, or seen from afar in filtered forest light. The deer’s short, flicking tail and dotted coat, unfamiliar to Arab eyes, could easily be cast as a goat-like marvel.
The reference to "sour flesh" further aligns with the genre of ʻajāʿib literature, which often included gustatory or medicinal notes—not to offer practical culinary advice, but to signify a creature’s place in the exotic or morally coded cosmology of the world.
✅ Final Identification
The so-called "red mountain goat with white spots" of Zābaj is best understood not as a goat at all, but as the Javan rusa deer (Rusa timorensis): a robust, reddish cervid with juvenile spots, deer-like tail, and a notable upland range. All textual and ecological indicators point firmly to this identification. The initial confusion of "goat" reflects a common trend in medieval Arabic cosmography, where foreign quadrupeds were classified by known categories and symbolic morphology.
This correction not only improves zoological accuracy but also sharpens our sense of how the marvelous and the real interweave in the Book of Curiosities, where a deer may become a goat, and flavor, form, and habitat combine to enchant the edges of the map.
The Musk Mouse of Zābaj
📜 Text
“In the lands of Zābaj there are musk mice, which are sometimes brought live to the lands of Zābaj. They are smaller than a small cat. When its testicle is pressed, musk of good odour oozes from it. One can also milk the musk from the female. If it is macerated in the house it exudes the scent of musk, and if you touch it with your hand the musk scent clings to you.”
🧩 Trait Breakdown
| Trait | Interpretation / Match |
|---|---|
| “Musk mice” | A small mammal associated with musk production |
| “Smaller than a small cat” | Indicates a rodent- or shrew-sized animal |
| “Musk from testicle or female” | Describes secretion of musk, either from a gland or sexual organ—a common motif |
| “Macerated, exudes scent” | Musk remains potent even after death—true of real musk-bearing animals |
| “Scent clings to skin” | Matches the clingy, long-lasting nature of natural musk substances |
🐭 Zoological Candidates
✅ 1. Javan Musk Shrew (Suncus murinus)
| Trait | Match Description |
|---|---|
| Range | ✅ Native to Java and Southeast Asia |
| Size | ✅ 10–15 cm in body length—smaller than a cat |
| Odor | ⚠️ Has a musky, acrid body odor, but not true musk |
| Mythical Properties | ⚠️ Commonly misunderstood as musk-producers in pre-modern bestiaries |
| Reputation in Trade | ✅ Sometimes sold in medieval markets as musk-emitting animals |
🔬 Natural Musk and Trade Context
Medieval Islamic writers were deeply familiar with musk (misk), highly prized in:
-
Medicine (as a heart tonic and aphrodisiac),
-
Perfume (as a fixative and fragrance),
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Luxury trade (as an elite good from Tibet, India, and Central Asia).
But real musk comes from male musk deer glands, not mice. The “musk mouse” thus represents:
-
A local analog (shrew or musky rodent),
-
A mythical version of real musk sources,
-
A fusion of biological traits with imported luxury lore.
🧠 Mythic Symbolism
-
The ability to extract scent by “pressing testicles” or “milking the female” mimics how musk is harvested from musk pods.
-
“Macerating in the house” evokes practices of scent infusion, burning or steeping animal parts for incense or perfume.
-
This animal seems to function as both a marvel and a proxy for more distant musk animals.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The “musk mouse” of Zābaj is best identified as a mythologized representation of the Javan musk shrew (Suncus murinus)—a small, sharp-scented mammal whose odor and appearance were misinterpreted through the lens of luxury perfume trade and wonder-literature.
It is a classic example of how local animals were elevated to ʿajāʾib status, embodying the convergence of real biology, exotic trade, and perfumed myth in Islamic cosmography.
The Fireproof Rats of the Turks
Mythic Kerchief-Makers of the Steppe
📜 Text
“In the lands of the Turks there are rats (jirdhān) which shed their skins and pluck their hair. These [hairs] are woven into kerchiefs, which, when soiled, are thrown into a fire. The fire consumes the dirt but the kerchief remains as it is, without burning.”
🧩 Trait Analysis
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| “In the lands of the Turks” | Refers to the Central Asian steppes—lands of the Oghuz, Kipchak, or Khazar Turks |
| “Rats (jirdhān)” | The word jirdhān typically refers to rodents or gerbil-like animals |
| “Shed their skin, pluck their hair” | Stylized or symbolic—could imply natural molting or mythic self-harvesting |
| “Hair woven into kerchiefs” | Suggests fine fur with textile application—like felt or ceremonial cloth |
| “Thrown into fire, dirt burns off, cloth remains” | Classic fireproof motif—likely borrowed from asbestos or legendary salamander hairs |
🔥 The Fireproof Fabric Motif
This story is part of a wider tradition:
-
Asbestos cloth: Widely known in antiquity and Islamic literature; a fibrous mineral woven into cloth that survives fire.
-
Salamander hair/fur: Featured in Islamic, Greek, and Persian sources—e.g., Jāḥiẓ, al-Marwazī, al-Damīrī—believed to be fireproof.
-
Towels from salamander fur: Also seen in earlier Book of Curiosities entries from India and Sind.
Here, the idea is recycled but transposed to the Central Asian steppes, with the animal changed from salamanders to “rats.”
🐀 Zoological Possibilities
We must ask: what large, visible steppe rodents could inspire such a tale?
✅ Candidate: Steppe Marmot (Marmota baibacina) or Long-tailed Marmot (Marmota caudata)
| Feature | Match? |
|---|---|
| Large rodent | ✅ Yes—can weigh 4–9 kg |
| Lives in Turkic lands | ✅ Yes—native to Central Asia, steppes |
| Sheds/moults | ✅ Yes—moults seasonally |
| Soft underfur | ✅ Yes—dense, valuable fur |
| Cultural visibility | ✅ Frequently seen by nomads and travelers |
| Hair for weaving | ⚠️ Possibly used in felting, but not fireproof |
Marmots were widespread, well known, and hunted for fur and meat by Turkic nomads. Their molting behavior and visible presence on grassy steppes make them ideal “fire-rat” candidates.
🧠 Symbolism and Literary Context
This account:
-
Recycles Indian asbestos lore into a Turkic environment;
-
Substitutes the salamander or beaver with a steppe rodent;
-
Preserves the fireproof cloth miracle, used to signify exotic luxury and magical resilience.
This reflects how Islamic geographers localized global marvels—adapting Indian, Greek, and Persian ideas to fit newly explored regions.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The “fireproof rats” (jirdhān) of the Turkic lands are most plausibly inspired by the steppe marmot (Marmota spp.)—a large, shaggy rodent of Central Asia, whose seasonal molting and dense fur could easily be reimagined by travelers into the stuff of marvels.
The “fireproof kerchief” is a transplanted wonder—a ʿajāʾib-style adaptation of the older asbestos/salamander legends, woven anew on the windswept grasslands of the Turkic world.
Alexander’s Beasts of India
Gigantic Lions, Horned Titans, and the Dog-Toothed Women of the East
📜 Text
“It is reported from Alexander that he saw, during his journey in India, a lion coming out of a forest and attacking a garrison, and the lion was the size of a buffalo. He also saw beasts with horns above their nostrils, larger than elephants; and pigs with cubit-long fangs; and tall men, every one of them six cubits, with sharp teeth like the teeth of dogs, while their faces were like the faces of women. And God is capable of all things.”
🧭 Contextual Note: Alexander Romance in Arabic Literature
This account draws on the Alexander Romance (especially its Syriac and Persian branches), a body of semi-legendary narratives describing Alexander’s conquests in fantastical lands filled with wonders, monsters, and strange peoples. In Arabic sources like Nāfiʿ ibn al-Azraq, al-Ṭabarī, and al-Masʿūdī, Alexander is reimagined as a prophet-king discovering marvels of God's creation.
This passage clearly stems from such a cosmographic tradition, blending familiar animals (lions, pigs, rhinos) with giants and monstrous races.
🧩 Creature Analysis
Let’s break the passage into parts and match each creature.
1. The Lion the Size of a Buffalo
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Lion from forest | Realistic, fitting Indian jungle lions |
| “Size of a buffalo” | Exaggeration for grandeur or fear |
2. “Beasts with horns above their nostrils, larger than elephants”
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Horn above nostril | Classic description of the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) |
| Larger than elephants | Mythical exaggeration—common in Greco-Arabic texts |
3. “Pigs with cubit-long fangs”
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Cubit-long fangs | Likely reference to large, visible canines or tusks |
| Pig-like creature | Suggests a wild boar (Sus scrofa cristatus) of India |
4. “Tall men, six cubits, with sharp teeth and faces like women”
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Six cubits tall (approx. 3m) | Echoes giants of Alexander Romance tradition |
| Dog-like teeth | Suggests ferocity, cannibalism, or barbarism—common traits of “monstrous races” |
| Faces like women | Possible allusion to deceptive beauty or androgyny—a moral or symbolic trait |
🧠 Symbolic Interpretation
| Creature | Symbolic Function |
|---|---|
| Giant lion | Sovereign danger, primal kingship |
| Rhino-beast | Power untamed, alien strength |
| Fanged pig | Chaotic appetite, wild danger |
| Giant, woman-faced men | The otherness of foreign peoples; moral ambiguity |
✅ Final Identification
🟢 This bestiary entry is a medieval Arabic crystallization of ancient Greco-Persian lore from the Alexander Romance. The creatures listed correspond to:
-
Lion the size of a buffalo – Asiatic lion with exaggerated size.
-
Horned giants larger than elephants – Indian rhinoceros (karkadān).
-
Fanged pigs – Indian wild boar with massive tusks.
-
Giant men with womanly faces and dog teeth – Mythical races of the edge, drawing from ethnographic allegory.
These are not just animals—they are symbols of fear, wonder, and divine majesty, stitched into Alexander’s cosmic journey through the lands beyond reason.
Conclusion: The Wonders That Walk the Earth
From the jungles of Zābaj to the peaks of the Maghrib, the land beasts of The Book of Curiosities blend the observed and the imagined into a vivid zoological mythology. These creatures—some real, others refracted through centuries of storytelling—reflect not only the natural diversity known to medieval Islamic writers, but also their symbolic imagination. Beasts that detect poison, defy fatigue, shed fireproof fur, or descend from monkeys and sheep, all serve as mirrors for human wonder, fear, and aspiration. In their claws and horns, silken fur and sacred musk, they carry not just the traces of distant terrains, but the weight of meaning.
Part III: Creatures of the Sky — Signs, Spirits, and Sentinels Above
Rising from the peaks of mountains and the edges of legend, the creatures of the sky occupy the final tier of the Book of Curiosities' bestiary. These birds and airborne beasts are not merely animals—they are omens, sentinels, and sometimes divine messengers. Their wings carry echoes of revelation, their feathers shimmer with the glow of distant lands, and their cries herald hidden truths. In medieval Islamic thought, birds held unique cosmological importance: they could soar beyond the earthly domain, inhabit the spaces between heaven and earth, and act as intermediaries between the natural and the sacred.
Some avian marvels described here are familiar in form but imbued with extraordinary power—like the green-feathered parrot that detects poison with a bloody plume. Others are purely symbolic or mythological, with attributes drawn from Persian, Indian, or Hellenistic sources. In each case, these sky-dwellers are more than fauna: they are reflections of moral, medicinal, and metaphysical order—part of a layered universe in which the firmament teems with both wonder and wisdom.
QĀZ (قاز)
The Fire-Colored Francolin of the Hot Sea
📜 Textual Description
“The qāz: A bird resembling a francolin. It is red as a blazing fire, with a white beak, dark blue eyes, and white claws like the claws of the falcon. It is used to hunt hares and large birds. It is found in al-band, which is at the edges of China, next to the Hot Sea, which is a sea of unyielding heat in which no life exists. The people of that region are blacks, who let down their long, loose hair. Gold grows in their land like bamboo. It is present on the surface of the land, and it is impossible to look at it when the Sun shines due to its shimmer. These people have no dwellings but caves. In their land there is a fruit which is nibbled like bread, and it is their sustenance. When this bird [i.e., the qāz] is near a food-tray containing poison or any secret evil, its feathers blacken and scatter off his body, until the person who is familiar with this bird figures out there is a poison and stays away from it. Once the bird is placed in rice-water it regains its feathers after ten days.”
🌍 Geographical and Ethnographic Setting: Al-Band and the Hot Sea
The qāz is located in al-band, a mythic region at the eastern edges of China, abutting a so-called Hot Sea—a scorched maritime zone described as uninhabitable. The accompanying ethnographic details—dark-skinned peoples with long hair, cave dwellings, and surface gold—strongly align with medieval Islamic conceptions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Malay Archipelago (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, etc.). These descriptions reflect tropes common to ʿajāʾib literature, where the peripheries of the known world become canvases for marvels.
🧩 Trait Analysis
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Resembles a francolin | Suggests a medium-sized ground bird, possibly gamefowl, with upright posture and terrestrial habits |
| Fiery red color | Vivid plumage, perhaps symbolic; likely exaggerated to signal danger or divine association |
| White beak and claws | Contrasting features, might hint at pale keratinous parts in real species |
| Dark blue eyes | Likely a poetic flourish, though iridescent or dark-ringed eyes occur in some tropical species |
| Falcon-like claws | Predatory talons—possibly symbolic of spiritual power or hunting prowess |
| Used to hunt hares and birds | Implies martial training—either legendary or influenced by falconry traditions |
| Detects poison by shedding feathers | A mythical diagnostic trait—common in Middle Eastern literature involving birds and purity tests |
| Cured by rice-water | Alludes to ritual purification; rice-water being a common symbol of nourishment and cleansing |
🦜 Possible Zoological Identifications in the Malay Archipelago
While no single bird fits all details literally, several Southeast Asian species likely inspired the qāz’s imagined form:
✅ Most Plausible Match: Male Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus)
| Trait | Match? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Francolin-like build | ✅ | Similar in body size and upright stance |
| Fiery red plumage | ✅ | Brilliant orange, red, and golden tones in males |
| White/pale claws and beak | ⚠️ | Not typically white, but variable in captive-bred variants |
| Symbol of vitality/purity | ✅ | Deeply embedded in Southeast Asian folklore and often ritually significant |
| Poison detection | ❌ (mythic) | No biological equivalent; this is purely symbolic |
Other possible symbolic contributors include:
-
Banded Broadbill (Eurylaimus javanicus) – Striking reddish-purple body and turquoise beak
-
Malayan Black Magpie (Platysmurus leucopterus) – Red eyes, black feathers, white markings
But none of these rivals the Junglefowl’s symbolic heft in Southeast Asia.
🔮 Symbolism and Mythic Function
The qāz’s ability to detect poison and shed blackened feathers links it to themes of:
-
Purity and corruption: The bird acts as a moral barometer
-
Divine discernment: Like the mythical māmnuqār, it can reveal hidden evil
-
Cleansing and rebirth: Re-growing feathers through rice-water suggests healing and renewal
These motifs resonate with Indo-Islamic, Persian, and Greek traditions of animals detecting poisons and warning kings, placing the qāz in a lineage of magical avian guardians.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The qāz (قاز) is best understood as a mythical composite bird, rooted in the Red Junglefowl of Southeast Asia, then enhanced through the lens of Islamic wonder literature. It is:
-
🔥 A fire-colored sentinel of purity
-
🐔 A junglefowl transformed into a guardian-hunter
-
🧪 A mystical poison detector at the edge of the world
Its domain—al-band near the Hot Sea—marks it as a creature of liminality and marvels, part real, part symbol, and fully evocative of the spiritual geography of the Kitāb al-ʿAjāʾib.
The Egg-Layer of the Open Sea
📜 Text
“In the sea of Fārs (Persian Gulf) there is a bird which lays its eggs on the surface of the water. It collects wisps floating over the sea, flutters over it and lays its eggs. It only knows the middle of the oceans.”
🌍 Geographical Context
This creature is situated in the Sea of Fārs, i.e., the Persian Gulf, specifically the stretch between Basra and Oman. This location sits at the crossroads of maritime trade, myth, and natural observation. The account reflects an ancient fascination with pelagic (open-sea) life, seen in sources like Ibn Khurradādhbih, who similarly notes a bird that “never goes on land” and hatches its eggs on the open sea.
🧩 Trait Analysis
| Trait | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Lays eggs on surface of the sea | Implies nesting behavior that appears to float—likely misunderstood raft-nesting or ocean-drifting |
| Collects “wisps” from the sea | Suggests nest-building from floating vegetation or marine debris |
| Never lands on solid ground | Suggests a pelagic lifestyle, constantly airborne or sea-bound |
| Lives in the middle of the ocean | Consistent with birds that spend most of their life far from land, possibly even oceanic species |
🐦 Possible Real-World Correlates
The account is mythologized, but seems based on real seabird behavior seen in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Candidates include:
✅ Noddies (Anous spp.)
Particularly the Black Noddy (Anous minutus) and Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)
| Feature | Match? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lives far out at sea | ✅ | Common in open ocean, sometimes dozens of kilometers offshore |
| Nests on floating debris | ⚠️ | Typically nests on cliffs or trees, but often seen resting on flotsam |
| Dark, fluttering, delicate | ✅ | Often confused for “wispy” or smoke-like birds by early observers |
| Mythologized as egg-layers on sea | ✅ | Mistaken observation of nesting on floating mats or shipwrecks |
✅ Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus)
-
Also lives in pelagic zones and known to avoid land except when nesting.
-
In folklore, sometimes seen as "never resting," due to constant gliding flight.
-
May have been observed dropping eggs on floating debris, leading to the myth.
🧠 Symbolism and Marvel Tradition
The idea of a bird that never touches land, lives on floating wisps, and hatches eggs on the sea merges natural observation with profound symbolic meaning:
-
Restlessness and self-sufficiency—it “knows only the middle of the oceans.”
-
A being of liminal space, never anchored to earth, associated with freedom, instability, or otherworldliness.
-
The "wisps" it collects may also metaphorically link it to ephemeral things—clouds, spirits, dreams, or winds.
In Islamic ʿajāʾib literature, such birds often embody cosmic balance—beings between water and sky, reliant on neither land nor fire. They are emblems of God’s hidden wisdom in creation, animals whose very nature defies fixed categories.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The bird described in the Sea of Fārs is likely inspired by open-sea terns or noddies, especially species like:
-
Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus)
-
Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)
These birds, due to their rare visits to land and habit of resting or foraging around floating marine debris, gave rise to tales of creatures that nest on the sea itself. The notion of egg-laying on water is mythical, but it likely originated from misreadings of their nesting or roosting behavior during calm seas.
The Split-Crested Ducks of Zābaj
Spotted Waterfowl of the Southern Islands
📜 Text
“In the land of Zābaj there are white, red and spotted ducks, with split crests, short legs, and long spurs.”
🧭 Geographical Context: Zābaj (Java and the Southeast Asian Archipelago)
Zābaj, a recurring toponym in medieval Islamic geography, refers to the Malay Archipelago, particularly Java and surrounding islands. This tropical region—rich in biodiversity—was famous in Arabic and Persian marvel literature for its exotic fauna, including brightly colored birds and hybrid-like species.
🦆 Species Identification: The Comb Duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos)
Of all known species in the region, only one duck convincingly fits the entire description—from crest to coloring to size:
✅ Comb Duck
| Trait | Match | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Split crest | ✅ | Males of the species possess a prominent cranial knob or comb |
| White, red, and spotted | ✅ | Plumage is usually black-and-white spotted, with iridescent tones |
| Short legs | ✅ | Stocky build, especially pronounced when grounded or resting |
| Long spurs | ✅ | Males develop sharp leg spurs, especially visible during mating season |
| Native to Zābaj’s region | ✅ | Widely distributed across India, Southeast Asia, and the Indonesian archipelago |
Though some might associate the “split crest” with ornamental domestic ducks, the comb duck’s striking natural features, wild range, and territorial behavior all make it the most compelling match—especially for a bestiary that prizes the exotic and the martial.
🔮 Symbolism and Significance
In the context of The Book of Curiosities:
-
The crest becomes a crown—signaling nobility or martial aggression.
-
The spurs evoke readiness for battle, rarely attributed to waterfowl.
-
The spotted patterning may symbolize beauty, status, or divine variation.
-
The setting of Zābaj, a land of treasures and marvels, frames the duck as part of nature’s luxury.
These ducks likely stood out to travelers not for their docility, but for their regal appearance and combative temperament, which is how they earned a place in a text that blends natural history with symbolic imagination.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The split-crested ducks of Zābaj are best identified as comb ducks (Sarkidiornis melanotos)—a striking tropical species known for its knobby crown, spotted plumage, short legs, and occasional spurs. Their vivid presence and unusual features secured them a place in Islamic geographical lore as marvels of the sea-girdled South.
The Giant Cocks of D-N-B-L-A
Cassowaries: The Ostrich-like Roosters of the Tropics
📜 Textual Description
“In the lands of D-n-b-l-a there are huge cocks, with long legs, almost the size of an ostrich.”
🧭 Geographical Context: Decoding D-N-B-L-A
The toponym D-n-b-l-a (دنبال) is likely a stylized rendering of a Southeast Asian locale, perhaps a corrupted form of Dambara, Dembel, or a variant of an Indic or Indonesian island name. In the literary context of The Book of Curiosities, which clusters Zābaj (Java), Fuzhou, and the Indian Ocean, D-n-b-l-a almost certainly refers to a tropical island within the Malay Archipelago, possibly eastern Indonesia or western New Guinea.
🐦 Species Identification: The Cassowary
There is only one real bird that matches the full description of the so-called "giant cock" with ostrich-like dimensions:
✅ Cassowary (Genus Casuarius)
| Trait | Match? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Huge size (nearly ostrich) | ✅ | Cassowaries reach 1.5–1.8 meters, second only to ostriches in size. |
| Long legs | ✅ | Powerful, muscular legs with dagger-like claws. |
| Looks like a cock/rooster | ✅ | Upright stance, feathered body, and helmeted head resemble a monstrous rooster. |
| Found in tropical Asia | ✅ | Native to New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and some nearby islands. |
| Striking plumage | ✅ | Dark body feathers, vivid skin on the neck, and a prominent casque. |
Though cassowaries are not true galliformes (fowl), their unfamiliar appearance and fierce presence could easily lead observers—especially from the Islamic world unfamiliar with them—to describe them as massive roosters, especially in the absence of local taxonomies.
🔮 Symbolic and Literary Dimensions
Calling the cassowary a giant cock in The Book of Curiosities:
-
Reinforces its otherworldliness,
-
Amplifies the association with masculinity, vigilance, and aggression—qualities linked with roosters in Islamic and global folklore,
-
Highlights the tropics as a realm of unusual proportions and natural marvels.
Cassowaries are known for their solitary nature, explosive speed, and lethal kicks. These traits may also have filtered into legends of dangerous “giant roosters” in jungle islands.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The “giant cock” of D-n-b-l-a is unmistakably a cassowary—a towering, flightless bird of eastern Indonesia and New Guinea that startled medieval observers with its size, powerful legs, and rooster-like silhouette.
Its comparison to an ostrich, the largest bird known to Arab and Persian scholars, seals the identification. In the literary imagination, the cassowary became not merely a zoological fact but a symbol of nature’s exaggeration at the margins of the known world.
The White Falcons of Qāqla (قاقله)
Ghostly Raptors of the Jārūd Highlands
📜 Text
“In the land of Q-a-q-l-h, at the mountain of al-Jārūd in the land of Zābaj, there are white falcons.”
🗺️ Geographic Context: Qāqla and Jabal al-Jārūd in Zābaj
This location lies within the broader mythogeographic framework of Zābaj, which corresponds to the Malay Archipelago—especially Java. The mountain of al-Jārūd appears repeatedly in The Book of Curiosities as a site of rarities and marvels. “Qāqla” likely refers to a highland subregion or legendary settlement near this peak.
🦅 Species Identification: Pale or White Morph Raptors of Southeast Asia
While no raptor is pure white by default in the region, several known light-colored or pale-morph raptors do inhabit Southeast Asia and may inspire this entry:
✅ Most Likely Candidate: Changeable Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus) – pale morph
| Feature | Match | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| White or near-white | ✅ | Pale morphs of this eagle are almost entirely white, striking in flight |
| Falcon-like behavior | ✅ | Agile and aggressive; known for fast dives and woodland hunting |
| Highland habitat | ✅ | Common in montane forests and tropical uplands |
| Found in Java | ✅ | Widely distributed in Java and Sumatra |
Other possible pale raptors include the white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) and crested goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus), but neither is as white nor localized to mountain settings as strongly as the hawk-eagle.
🔮 Symbolism and Interpretation
In Arabic and Persian falconry literature, white birds of prey are often considered:
-
Rare and noble (associated with kingship or divine favor),
-
Ghost-like sentinels—their color marking them as sacred or otherworldly,
-
Signs of blessing or supernatural protection in some contexts.
Thus, this entry may reflect both real sightings of pale raptors in Java and the elevated status given to light-colored falcons in elite hunting culture.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The white falcons of Qāqla are best identified as pale morphs of the Changeable Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus), large, agile raptors native to Southeast Asia. Their ghostly plumage, mountainous habitat, and ferocity would make them natural candidates for inclusion in The Book of Curiosities—as both zoological marvel and royal omen.
Al-Kharābī (الخرابي)
The Talking Bird of Sofala
📜 Text
“In the land of Sofala there is a species of birds called the al-kharābī. It can learn how to speak eloquently, but lives no longer than a year.”
🌍 Geographical Context: Sofala (Mozambique)
Sofala was a key port on the southeastern coast of Africa—modern-day Mozambique—famous in Arabic geographies for its gold trade, Bantu-speaking peoples, and maritime contacts with Oman, Persia, and India. It appears in numerous Islamic works as the southernmost known coastal city of eastern Africa.
🐦 Trait Breakdown
| Trait | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Learns to speak eloquently | Likely a parrot or mynah species—birds known for mimicry |
| Lives no more than a year | Possibly symbolic or tied to species with high mortality |
| Located in Sofala | Implies East African coastal forest or trade-related origin |
✅ Most Plausible Identification: African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus)
| Feature | Match? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Speech mimicry | ✅ | One of the most intelligent talking birds in the world |
| Trade presence | ✅ | Widely traded from Central and East Africa along Indian Ocean routes |
| Lifespan | ❌ | Actually lives for decades, but short lifespan could reflect captivity |
| Eloquence | ✅ | Known to form human-like phrases and complex vocalizations |
Though the African Grey’s range is more central, young individuals were heavily traded into port cities like Sofala. Their brilliant mimicry and tendency to die quickly in foreign captivity may explain the reported lifespan.
🔮 Symbolism and Interpretation
The short lifespan of the al-kharābī, despite its eloquence, may symbolize:
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Fleeting brilliance: Wisdom that burns out quickly,
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Captive tragedy: A foreign bird unable to thrive far from home,
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Moral allegory: A reflection on vanity or the costs of imitation.
Arabic literature often infused birds with allegorical significance, and the al-kharābī may be both a zoological and symbolic entry.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The al-kharābī of Sofala is best identified as the African Grey Parrot—a brilliant mimic traded across the Indian Ocean. Its “one-year lifespan” likely reflects a combination of folklore, trade observation, and symbolic exaggeration, making it a perfect specimen of ʿajāʾib literature: a real marvel adorned with mythic pathos.
The Water-Cock of Kumkam (Konkan)
A Crested Waterbird from the Western Coast of India
📜 Text
“In a region called Kumkam (Konkan) there is a cock-like bird with a huge crest, known as the water-cock.”
🗺️ Geographical Context: Kumkam / Konkan
Kumkam is a transcription of Konkan, the lush, coastal region of western India, stretching from modern-day Mumbai to Goa. It was a well-known trade zone in early Islamic geographical literature and formed part of the Rāshṭṛakūṭa dynasty.
This area is rich in tropical wetlands, mangroves, and river systems, making it a fitting environment for aquatic and semi-aquatic bird species.
🐓 Trait Breakdown and Identification
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| “Cock-like bird” | Suggests upright posture, strong feet, possibly comb or wattles |
| “Huge crest” | Indicates prominent cranial plumage or structure |
| “Water-cock” | A literal translation likely pointing to a known species |
✅ Most Plausible Identification: Watercock (Gallicrex cinerea)
The Watercock is a marsh bird found throughout South and Southeast Asia, including coastal India. It is a member of the rail family and matches the description well:
| Trait | Match? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cock-like | ✅ | Upright bird with strong legs; “cock” is even in the name |
| Huge crest | ✅ | The breeding male has a striking red frontal shield and “helmet” |
| Water habitat | ✅ | Inhabits swamps, paddy fields, and wetlands of Konkan |
| Range | ✅ | Native to the Indian subcontinent |
Though not a true “crest” of feathers, the male’s red crown and aggressive display posture likely inspired the description of a “huge crest.”
🌐 Symbolism and Literary Context
Watercocks are elusive, vocal, and appear dramatically during the monsoon season—fitting traits for inclusion in ʿajāʾib literature. Their bold head markings and unusual cries make them seem exotic or mysterious, especially to travelers.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The cock-like bird of Kumkam (Konkan) is best identified as the Watercock (Gallicrex cinerea), known for its red helmet-like head crest, cock-like posture, and wetland habitat. The description reflects both accurate zoological observation and the stylized framing typical of medieval wonder literature.
Al-Jarshī (الجرشي) and al-Juwānkark (الجوانكرك)
Aerial Symbiosis in the Skies of the Sea of Fārs
📜 Text
“In the Sea of Fārs (Persian Gulf) there is a bird called jarshī, larger than a pigeon. When it excretes dung, a bird flying behind it receives the dung—as if assigned to do this—and swallows it. This second bird is called juwānkark.”
🧭 Geographical Context: Sea of Fārs
The Sea of Fārs refers to the Persian Gulf—known in Arabic sources as Baḥr Fārs—a warm, shallow sea renowned for its ecological richness. This region serves as a crossroads between Arabia, Persia, and India, and is home to a diverse array of seabirds and migratory avifauna. For sailors and merchants navigating the Indian Ocean, the skies above these waters offered a natural theater of animal behavior, and medieval observers often interpreted what they saw through a symbolic or moral lens.
🧩 Behavioral Analysis
| Element | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Jarshī | A coastal or pelagic bird, larger than a pigeon, likely observed flying frequently over the sea. It defecates in flight, which is characteristic of many seabirds. |
| Juwānkark | A second bird, trailing behind the jarshī, that appears to consume the dung midair—“as if assigned” to do so. The language suggests ritualized or symbiotic behavior, whether real or imagined. |
🐦 Zoological Possibilities
While no known bird species is known to feed directly on another’s excrement in mid-flight, real seabird interactions may have inspired the scene:
✅ Jarshī: Most Likely a Gull or Cormorant
| Trait | Match | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Larger than a pigeon | ✅ | Medium to large seabirds like gulls, terns, or cormorants fit this size category. |
| Coastal habitat | ✅ | All are abundant in the Persian Gulf. |
| Frequent flyers | ✅ | Especially gulls and terns, known for trailing ships and flocks. |
| Defecates in flight | ✅ | A common behavior among seabirds. |
✅ Juwānkark: Most Likely a Misidentified Follower or Symbolic Addition
There is no known bird that specifically consumes another’s feces in midair. However:
-
Frigatebirds, skuas, and some gulls engage in kleptoparasitism: following and harassing other birds to steal food or scavenge vomit or dropped fish.
-
This behavior may have been misinterpreted by sailors as ingestion of excrement, especially from afar.
The detail that the juwānkark swallows the dung “as if assigned to do this” suggests a symbolic or imagined relationship, framed as a form of cosmic duty or servitude.
🧠 Sailor's Perspective: Misinterpreted Observations at Sea
Seafarers, watching flocks of seabirds from below, might have observed:
-
One bird trailing another in close pursuit (a scavenger hoping for dropped food),
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The lead bird defecating, and the follower seemingly catching it or passing through it,
-
Interpreted as intentional ingestion, due to the clean, ritual language of “assignment” or duty.
Such observations, refracted through wonder, exaggeration, and moral imagination, yield the vivid tableau recorded in the Book of Curiosities.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The jarshī is most plausibly a medium to large seabird—likely a gull, tern, or cormorant—commonly seen defecating while flying over the sea.
🟢 The juwānkark is not a separate biological species with such behavior, but a symbolic or misinterpreted observer—possibly a frigatebird or kleptoparasitic gull seen following others for food. Its role in the text is to allegorize servitude, purification, or the divine structuring of the natural world.
Together, they reflect how medieval Islamic naturalists merged empirical observation with cosmological vision, turning seabird behavior into a parable of order, duty, and the strange harmony of creation.
HOSHGHARĀNĪ (هشغاراني)
The Poison-Sensitive Singer of the Deccan Court
📜 Text
“In India, in the kingdom of Balharā, there is a bird called hoshgharānī. It is the size of a goose, beautifully coloured, with a green head and yellow inner corners of the eyes. Kings keep them in their houses. When it sees something poisonous, it screams loudly, and its scream indicates the presence of the poison. However, when its mind is at rest it sings in a beautiful voice. [Therefore], kings drink in its presence. It is rare, and found only in small numbers.”
🗺️ Geographical and Historical Context
Balharā refers to the title of the monarchs of the Rāshṭrakūṭa dynasty, who ruled much of the Deccan Plateau between the 8th and 10th centuries CE. This area corresponds roughly to modern-day Maharashtra, Karnataka, and parts of Andhra Pradesh, a biodiversity-rich region that bridges northern India with the tropical south.
-
This courtly setting, paired with poetic, symbolic attributes, suggests a high-value exotic bird kept for both aesthetic pleasure and ritual protection—a common theme in Indo-Islamic royal bestiary lore.
🧩 Trait Breakdown
| Trait | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Size of a goose | Large-bodied bird, approx. 60–90 cm |
| Beautifully coloured | Likely vibrant, ornamental plumage |
| Green head | Key identifying trait—points to certain peafowl, parrots, or pheasants |
| Yellow around the eyes | Facial detail—found in certain peafowl or ornamental pheasants |
| Rare and courtly | A bird kept by kings, possibly symbolic or ritually used |
| Screams when poison is present | Mythical trait—linked to Persian and Indian lore of poison-detecting animals |
| Sings sweetly when calm | Reinforces its symbolic link to harmony, music, and courtly serenity |
Based on the description and historical setting in the Deccan Plateau, two birds stand out:
✅ 1. Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) — Most Likely Candidate
| Feature | Match? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Size of a goose | ✅ | Peafowl males (peacocks) are large birds, up to 100–115 cm long |
| Green head | ✅ | Males have brilliant iridescent green and blue head/neck plumage |
| Yellow near eyes | ✅ | Yellowish orbital skin ring and facial highlights in some variants |
| Courtly bird | ✅ | Frequently kept in Indian palaces for beauty and symbolism |
| Rare and prized | ✅ | Selective breeding of color variants could lead to rare types |
| Mythical abilities | ✅ | Peafowl were long believed to detect poisons and symbolize vigilance |
| Sweet voice when calm | ⚠️ | Peacocks are not musical but can produce rhythmic, haunting cries |
❌ 2. Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus)
| Feature | Partial Match | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ✅ | Goose-sized |
| Green and iridescent | ✅ | Iridescent head and neck |
| Courtly appeal | ✅ | Kept in some Himalayan courts, but native to farther north |
| Geographic mismatch | ❌ | Native to Himalayas, not southern Deccan |
🔮 Mythical and Cultural Resonance
The hoshgharānī reflects several long-standing motifs in Indian and Islamic court culture:
-
Poison detection by animals is an Indo-Persian trope. Peacocks were especially believed to warn of tainted food.
-
The contrast of scream vs. song represents spiritual tension—between alertness (danger) and beauty (order).
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The hoshgharānī is best understood as a symbolically enhanced Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus), particularly a rare or selectively bred palace specimen. Its traits—regal plumage, green head, golden facial markings, and mythical vigilance—made it a fixture of courtly decorum and esoteric natural lore.
Its function as a poison sentinel and spiritual accompanist reflects the synthesis of zoological observation, Indo-Islamic mysticism, and medieval courtly performance.
B-L-D-A-M (بلدام)
The Crimson Hunting Giant of China
📜 Text
“In China there is a bird called b-l-d-a-m. It is red, the size of an ostrich, and is used to hunt wild asses.”
🧩 Trait Breakdown and Interpretation
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Found in China | The setting places this in East Asia, likely northern or central China. |
| Color: Red | Brilliant or vivid plumage—may suggest ornamental birds like cranes or pheasants. |
| Size of an ostrich | Enormous bird, possibly exaggerated—ostriches are the largest modern birds. |
| Used to hunt wild asses | Suggests speed, aggression, and trainability; unusual for any bird. |
While no bird native to China truly matches an ostrich in size, and no known bird is used to hunt large prey like wild asses, we can consider both symbolic and exaggerated referents.
✅ Most Plausible Candidate: The Red-Crowned Crane (Grus japonensis)
| Trait | Match? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Found in China | ✅ | Native to Northeast China, especially Manchuria |
| Red color | ✅ | Though not fully red, its crown is a vivid red and striking in contrast |
| Large stature | ✅ | One of the tallest flying birds (1.5–1.6 meters tall) |
| Symbolic value & royal associations | ✅ | Highly symbolic in Chinese and Japanese cultures—longevity, nobility |
| Used in hunting | ❌ | No evidence of hunting behavior; this may be a legendary addition |
❌ Other Candidates Considered but Rejected
| Species | Reason for Rejection |
|---|---|
| Ostrich | Native to Africa; not found in China |
| Cassowary | Southeast Asian but not Chinese; also more closely linked to Indonesia |
| Golden Pheasant | While vividly red, far too small |
| Domesticated Emus (via trade) | Very unlikely in medieval China |
🔮 Symbolism and Literary Role
The idea of a massive red bird “used to hunt wild asses” is likely a literary exaggeration. Several possibilities arise:
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Mythic Retooling of a Real Species: A red crane or similar bird may have impressed travelers enough to be cast as a “hunter.”
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Symbol of Imperial Authority: Wild asses (onagers) were elusive quarry. Associating a bird with the power to hunt them might imply regal or divine hunting capabilities.
-
Cosmic Imagery: Large red birds often represent celestial omens or spirits in East Asian lore—this one may encode imperial watchfulness or divine justice.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The b-l-d-a-m (بلدام) is best understood as a mythic enlargement of the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), a stately and rare bird known in China for its size, beauty, and spiritual symbolism. Its alleged role in hunting likely reflects allegorical associations—strength, regality, and cosmic order—rather than zoological fact.
In the imaginative literature of marvels (ʿajāʾib), it embodies the fantastical East: elegant, vast, dangerous, and otherworldly.
D-Y-W-R-A (ديورا)
The Vermin-Slaying Red Bird of India and Zanj
📜 Text
“In India there is a bird called d-y-w-r-a, which is the size of a pigeon. It is red, with a white beak. It is also found in the open country of the Zanj. Wherever it is found, it kills all snakes, scorpions, mice and vermin.”
🧩 Trait Breakdown
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Size of a pigeon | Small-to-medium bird, approx. 20–30 cm |
| Red plumage | Vivid coloration, perhaps chestnut, scarlet, or rusty hues |
| White beak | Distinctive feature; common in some tropical or semi-arid birds |
| Kills snakes, scorpions, mice | Suggests a predator of small animals and reptiles—perhaps insectivorous or opportunistic carnivore |
| Range: India and Zanj (East Africa) | Must be a species native to both the Indian subcontinent and eastern/southeastern Africa |
🌍 Geographical Context
-
India: Likely western or peninsular regions—where vermin-hunting birds are widespread.
-
Zanj: Medieval Arabic term for the East African coast—modern Tanzania, Kenya, and northern Mozambique.The open countryside (badw) of Zanj refers to dry savannas or bushlands, home to opportunistic bird predators.
🐦 Most Plausible Identification: The Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis) or Abyssinian Roller (Coracias abyssinicus)
| Trait | Indian Roller (C. benghalensis) | Abyssinian Roller (C. abyssinicus) |
|---|---|---|
| Range | India, Southeast Asia | East Africa (Zanj coast) |
| Size | 25–27 cm (pigeon-sized) | Slightly larger but comparable |
| Coloration | Vivid blue with chestnut / rufous patches | Vivid blue and purple with reddish tones |
| White beak? | Pale or yellowish in some morphs | Often ivory-colored or light in appearance |
| Diet | Insects, small reptiles, scorpions | Same—known to attack small snakes |
| Habitat | Open fields, roadsides, semi-arid zones | Savannas and open bushlands |
🔮 Mythical and Symbolic Layer
The d-y-w-r-a’s behavior reflects common ancient beliefs in animals that purify land and dwellings by destroying vermin. Birds like the roller—brightly colored, aggressive hunters—would naturally inspire mythic associations:
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Snake- and scorpion-killing marks it as a divine protector.
-
Its dual continental presence enhances its status as a cosmopolitan marvel.
-
The name may reflect a corruption of local names for rollers or shrike-like birds.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The d-y-w-r-a (ديورا) is best understood as a marvel-enhanced reflection of real-world birds like the Indian Roller and Abyssinian Roller—both vividly colored, widely distributed between India and East Africa, and known for attacking snakes, scorpions, and small mammals.
Their dazzling plumage, terrestrial hunting habits, and wide range would make them ideal candidates for admiration and exaggeration in ʿajāʾib literature.
BĀDRŪS (بَادْرُوس)
The Red-Healing Housebird of All Climes
📜 Text
“In all climes one finds a bird called bādrūs. It is red, with a yellow pupil (iris) like the ring-dove. It enters houses. Its brain has the power to thwart major poisons. Its gall bladder is dried, powdered, and snuffed to treat facial paralysis and hemiplegia. Its gizzard is burned with camphor as an ointment for cataracts and eye diseases. Its blood combats contagious ocular ailments. No vermin survive where it lives. Its voice breaks spells, curses, and spirits (al-rūḥāniyyah). Whoever carries its pupil (ḥadaqah) receives love and respect. Kings wear it as a talisman.”
🗺️ Geographic Context
The bird is said to live “in all climes,” suggesting it is common, familiar, and deeply embedded in daily life across the Islamic world. Its presence in households and association with healing and magic underscores its role as a spiritual domestic companion—part of the intimate human environment.
🧩 Trait Breakdown
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Found in all climes | A ubiquitous species—likely widespread across Afro-Eurasia |
| Red body | A vivid, possibly symbolic color—may suggest finch-like or ornamental plumage |
| Yellow pupil like a ring-dove | Possibly means a bright yellow iris, a metaphorical gloss on golden eyes |
| Enters houses | A synanthropic bird—lives near or within human settlements |
| Medicinal body parts | Reflects the logic of tibb (traditional medicine): organ heals corresponding ailment |
| Dispels spirits with its voice | Loud or sharp cry; considered spiritually disruptive to malign forces |
| Talismanic power of its eye | Eye = seat of vision, insight, charisma; commonly used in sympathetic magic |
🐦 Zoological Identification
Though mythical in its full form, several real birds offer partial correspondences:
✅ Most Plausible Match: The Red Avadavat (Amandava amandava)
| Feature | Match |
|---|---|
| Size like a dove | ✅ Small bird, ~10 cm, slightly smaller than a ring-dove |
| Bright red body | ✅ Males have brilliant red plumage with white spotting |
| Yellowish eye appearance | ⚠️ Not literal, but glinting eyes can appear yellowish in strong light |
| Common near humans | ✅ Found in rural gardens, fields, and sometimes near dwellings |
| Cultural familiarity | ✅ Known across South Asia, where it is appreciated for beauty and song |
Secondary contenders—such as the house sparrow or common myna—fit some behavioral traits (domesticity, ubiquity, loud voice), but not the red plumage or talismanic prestige. The red avadavat aligns with both visual and symbolic traits, making it the strongest candidate.
🔮 Mythical and Cultural Symbolism
The bādrūs is less a single species than a vessel for layered meanings:
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Healing: Brain for poisons, gall for nerves, gizzard for eyes—reflects humoral and magical medicine.
-
Protection: Its mere presence repels vermin and breaks enchantments, showing its role as a spiritual shield.
-
Social power: Its eye grants charisma and love, invoking ideas of inner light and divinely bestowed charm.
Its voice as a spell-breaker also fits within Islamic and Greek magical traditions, where birds are credited with the ability to sense or disrupt unseen forces.
✅ Final Interpretation
🟢 The bādrūs is best understood as a mythicized red finch, rooted in the red avadavat, a widespread South Asian songbird. Its red color, dove-like size, and affinity for human presence inspired centuries of folklore and wonder-lore.
But beyond the physical, the bādrūs symbolizes the convergence of beauty, medicine, and mysticism—a bird whose song clears spirits, whose organs cure illness, and whose eye bestows grace and favor. A healer, a guardian, and a talisman in feathered form.
B-H-Q-R-A-M (البهقرام)
The Restless Steppe Bird of Prophecy and Night-Vision
📜 Text
“The b-h-q-r-a-m is a bird with the body of a pigeon, white feathers, and two green lines down its back. It has a red beak and legs, red eyes, and a pointed beak like a falcon’s. It has a pleasant, beautiful voice and never stays silent except when eating or drinking. It is found at the far end of the land of the Turks. When it sees poisonous food, it becomes restless, clutches the ground, and goes silent. It eats what other birds, wild beasts, and predators eat. The Turks smear their eyes with its gall bladder and are then unaffected by darkness, and nothing is hidden from them.”
🗺️ Geographic Context: The Steppe Frontier
The bird is located in the "far end of the land of the Turks"— referring to the Central Asian steppe, an area rich in nomadic cultures and a frontier zone in Islamic and Persian geographical imagination. This terrain supports diverse migratory and resident birds adapted to open spaces, long flights, and extreme climates.
🧩 Trait Breakdown
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Body of a pigeon | Small-to-medium size; compact body and wing structure |
| White feathers with green stripes | Specific color contrast; green striping may resemble iridescence or actual plumage patterns |
| Red beak and legs; red eyes | Bright ornamental coloring; common in certain doves, parakeets, and tropical pigeons |
| Falcon-like pointed beak | Suggests sharpness or light predatory tendencies; unusual for typical seed-eating birds |
| Beautiful and constant voice | Likely a songbird or cooing species; expressive vocalization |
| Becomes silent near poison | Mythical trait shared with other poison-detecting birds in Islamic wonder-literature |
| Feeds on the prey of predators | Suggests scavenging behavior or a wide, opportunistic diet |
| Gall grants night-vision | Symbolic or medicinal use of gall; typical in folk remedies involving animals with “keen sight” |
The b-h-q-r-a-m combines attributes of small steppe birds, sharp-billed doves, and symbolic features drawn from falconry and medicine.
✅ Most Plausible Match: Oriental Turtle Dove (Streptopelia orientalis)
A steppe-adapted bird common across Central Asia and China with traits that align well with the text:
| Feature | Match | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Body like a pigeon | ✅ | It is a pigeon species, larger than common doves |
| White-gray plumage with greenish marks | ✅ | Iridescent patches on the neck/back can appear green in sunlight |
| Red eyes and red legs | ✅ | A defining trait of the species |
| Falcon-like beak | ⚠️ | Slightly pointed but not hooked; stylized exaggeration possible |
| Vocal behavior | ✅ | Known for melodic, frequent cooing |
| Found on the steppe | ✅ | Ranges widely across Central Asia, from Iran to Mongolia |
🔮 Symbolism and Mythic Function
The b-h-q-r-a-m embodies classic ʿajāʾib traits:
-
Poison Detection: A major motif in medieval bestiaries. Birds that sense corruption symbolize purity, divine warning, or inner light.
-
Silence as Omen: Its sudden silence signals danger—bridging the natural and supernatural.
-
Gall Bladder as Night-Vision Elixir: Echoes tibb traditions where animal organs grant sensory powers. The eye-smearing practice aligns with Turkic and Chinese folk remedies involving gall or fat of eagles and owls.
The green stripes may symbolize basīrah (inner sight), and its steppe origins connect it to the realm of warriors, spirits, and sky-worship.
✅ Final Identification
🟢 The b-h-q-r-a-m is best interpreted as a mythologized Oriental Turtle Dove, layered with folkloric attributes drawn from steppe medicine, Islamic wonder-literature, and poetic imagination. Its soothing voice, bright colors, and prophetic silence rendered it not just a bird, but a living omen, a feathered detector of hidden harm, and a guardian of night-vision for the nomad and king alike.
S-H-W-A-N (الشهوان)
The Prophetic Bird of the Northern Forests
📜 Text
“The s-h-w-a-n is a bird in the land of the Slavs and the lands which border on the land of the Franks. It is in the shape of an ostrich, but the pupils of its eyes are green, and it has a red beak, as long as a cubit, from which handles of knives are made. It has cloven hoofs. It flies a purposeful, quick flight, and cannot be overtaken. Once it is hunted, it lives in the quarters of kings, where it is always next to a basin of water. It drinks from the basin drop by drop, for otherwise it is disturbed and dies. It often attacks anyone who comes near it. It is rare, and has been found only once in a long time. If a sick person is brought before it, and it turns its face from him three times, then one knows that this person is going to die; however, if it looks at him, and then uses its beak to pick a peck of dirt from the ground and eat it, then they take it as indication of the recovery of that sick person. The bird lives as long as a horse.”
🗺️ Geographical Setting
The s-h-w-a-n is said to dwell in the forested borderlands between the Slavic territories and the Frankish realms—a vast, rugged frontier teeming with dense woods, towering pines, and untamed fauna. This places it in the boreal forests of Eastern and Central Europe, regions rich in avian biodiversity but largely unfamiliar to Islamic and Mediterranean observers. Its extraordinary features and symbolic roles point to it being an embassy marvel, known through travelers’ tales, royal menageries, or merchant testimony.
🧩 Trait Breakdown
| Feature | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Ostrich-like shape | Suggests a very large, ground-dwelling bird with a long neck and bulk |
| Green pupils | A stylistic or mythic flourish—implying strangeness or supernatural awareness |
| Cubit-long red beak | About 45–50 cm long; likely metaphorical exaggeration of a large curved or ridged beak |
| Beak used in knife handles | May symbolize rarity, strength, or status; perhaps confused with ivory or horn of other animals |
| Cloven hooves | Mythical detail—possibly a mistaken interpretation of feathered, rounded feet seen from afar |
| Swift, untouchable flight | Reflects the real-world difficulty of hunting shy forest birds, especially in flight |
| Drop-by-drop drinking | Symbolic of ritual purity or sacred delicacy; may refer to cautious behavior at watering spots |
| Aggressive and rare | Matches real-life territoriality and scarcity of large forest birds |
| Divination behavior with sick | Embeds it in a folkloric and prophetic framework, echoing ancient animal-based prognostication practices |
| Lives “as long as a horse” | Approx. 20–30 years—suggesting remarkable longevity by avian standards |
🐦 Zoological Identification: Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)
The most plausible real-world inspiration for the s-h-w-a-n is the Western Capercaillie—a massive forest grouse found across Europe’s boreal and alpine woods.
| Trait | Match | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Size and bulk | ✅ | Largest grouse in Europe, often described as turkey- or bustard-sized by historical observers |
| Red facial features | ✅ | Has bright red combs above the eyes—easily stylized as “red beak” |
| Aggressive nature | ✅ | Known to attack intruders during breeding season |
| Rarity | ✅ | Rare, reclusive, and difficult to spot—especially in densely forested or mountainous areas |
| Vocal behavior | ✅ | Male’s song includes clicks and dripping-like sounds—may have inspired “drinks drop by drop” |
| Feathered feet | ✅ | In winter, their feet are heavily feathered, resembling hooves to foreign observers |
| Symbolic longevity | ⚠️ | Typically lives 10–12 years in the wild; comparison to a horse is symbolic of dignity and rarity |
🔮 Symbolic and Mythological Dimensions
The s-h-w-a-n is far more than a bird. Within the imaginative cosmography of Islamic ʿajāʾib literature, it occupies the role of:
-
Oracle: Like the lion’s sneeze or the poison-detecting parrot, it foretells health or death through subtle actions.
-
Talismanic Creature: Drinking from a basin of water and avoiding contact with others gives it the aura of a sacred relic or ascetic sage.
-
Beast of Judgment: Like the feather of Maʿāt in Egyptian mythology or the Phoenix of late antiquity, it becomes a moral mirror to the soul of the sick.
✨ Imagery and Cultural Significance
The details of the s-h-w-a-n echo several literary and artistic motifs:
-
Its green pupils and red beak suggest otherworldliness—a chromatic inversion of the familiar.
-
Its violent defense of solitude parallels the symbolic guardians of thresholds found in Persian and Byzantine bestiaries.
-
The ritual use of water and response to death firmly place it in the realm of the liminal—between life and death, the mundane and the mystical.
Its narrative function—coming last in the list—fittingly closes the avian bestiary on a note of high mystery and death-tinged revelation, linking the sky’s creatures with the oracles of fate.
✅ Final Interpretation
🟢 The S-H-W-A-N (الشهوان) is a mythologized capercaillie, transformed in the ʿajāʾib imagination into a forest prophet—a beast of omen, sovereign solitude, and hidden wisdom. Its fearsome form, strange rituals, and prophecy of health or doom echo both Slavic forest lore and Islamic fascination with the wild north.
Where the falcon of kings wielded talons, the s-h-w-a-n wielded silence and fate—a last, solemn guardian of life’s mysteries in the sky-bound realms of wonder.
Conclusion: The Marvelous Menagerie of the Fatimid Imagination
From the steaming coasts of Zābaj where bat-winged cats perch in banyan trees, to the forests of the Slavs, where the prophetic s-h-w-a-n sounds its judgment, the creatures catalogued in The Book of Curiosities are not merely zoological oddities—they are living emblems of a world brimming with moral insight, sacred pattern, and the arcane rhythm of the divine.
Here, the sea teems with secrets: luminous eels, singing whales, and birds that lay their eggs on waves as calm as glass. The land surges with beasts: horned monkeys born of mountain sheep, poison-sniffing parakeets, and weasels of silken fur who flow through rivers like water made flesh. Above, the sky is alive with omens—flaming francolins, green-eyed falcons, and parrots who speak in every tongue under heaven, from Arabic to Zanj.
Together, they form a bestiary that is neither wholly real nor entirely imagined. It is a world filtered through the curious gaze of 11th-century Fatimid Egypt—a courtly society where astrology, pharmacology, alchemy, and geography converged in illuminated manuscripts and whispered tales from foreign ports.
To the Fatimid cosmographer, the world was a layered, living book: each creature a letter, each behavior a sign, each hybrid a cipher in the divine text of creation. Whether drawn from Indian epics, Zanj folktales, Greek natural science, or Bedouin marvel-lore, these animals were bound by more than parchment—they were stitched together by wonder (ʿajab), utility (manfaʿa), and a thirst to decode the meanings of God’s world.
What emerges is a Fatimid mirror of the universe, polished not only by observation but by imagination trained to revere the numinous in the natural. The cassowary of New Guinea—a “cock as tall as an ostrich”—stands alongside the African grey parrot of Sofala, eloquent and transient. From India’s poison-detecting songbirds to the capercaillie of Russia, whose feathered feet became hooves in the eyes of Arab geographers, all are enrolled in this astonishing cosmic theater.
In this menagerie, nothing is too far, too strange, or too small. The world itself is a curiosity—and each beast, a footnote in the endless commentary of creation.
ٱلْـحَـمْـدُ لِلَّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَـٰلَمِـينَ
Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.
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