The Unicorn In The Bible Was An Oryx – Ancient Translation Mistake
Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - The unicorn is a legendary animal that has fascinated people for ages. Depictions of this magical and beautiful animal have been found on ancient seals, and early Greek writers believed the unicorn originated from India.
During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, people were incredibly interested in this mysterious creature no one had seen. As discussed in our previous article on Ancient Pages, Vikings used the opportunity and started selling faked unicorn horns and fooled Europeans with their bluff for hundreds of years.
Being in possession of a unicorn horn was everyone’s desire, but hardly possible due to the high price. It was believed that the alicorn, the horn itself, and the substance it was made of held magical and medicinal properties. Even the great painter Leonardo da Vinci was fascinated by the unicorn and wrote about it in his notebooks.
The Holy Bible. Credit: Kevin Probst - Public Domain - Unicorn by Maerten de Vos (1532–1603). Credit: Public Domain
Knowledge of the unicorn came from ancient Greek authors and the Bible, but no one knew the magical animal had been misidentified.
The Bible mentions the unicorn seven times, but only by mistake.
The mistake happened long before the birth of Christianity. The Old Testament was originally composed in Hebrew.
In 250 B.C., Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the second King of Egypt's Greek period, ordered 72 elders to translate the sacred Hebrew texts into Greek. That Greek translation is called the Septuagint. During the translation, the Jews encountered a problem. Their texts contained several references to an animal called "Re'em".
Re’em is the Hebrew name for oryx leucoryx or oryx, but the Jewish ancient scholars were confused by the descriptions in the Old Testament.
Left: Virgin Mary holding the unicorn (c. 1480), detail of the Annunciation with the Unicorn Polyptych, National Museum, Warsaw. Credit: Public Domain - Right: Maiden with Unicorn, tapestry, 15th century (Musée de Cluny, Paris). Credit: Public Domain
Modern Bible scholars believe that the Jewish texts are likely to refer to the two-horned oryx. Oryx leucoryx was once a lord of the entire Middle East. Its domain embraced most of the Land of Israel, but during the reign of King Ptolemy II Philadelphus, it had already been extinct in North Africa and the Middle East.
The original Jewish texts mention nothing about the animal having a horn, but the King's scribe chose, despite this, to call the animal monoceros, which can be translated into "a horn". The translation was continued when the Jewish texts became the Old Testament.
Unicorns still captivate modern people, and scientists have tried to find proof of their existence. Some years ago, a unicorn fossil was discovered in Siberia. The discovery caused a sensation. Scientists said unicorns were in fact real, but they looked slightly different from what we imagine today.
Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com
Copyright © AncientPages.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of AncientPages.com
More From Ancient Pages
-
Prehistoric ‘Cinema’ – Unique Karelian Rock Carvings With Special Light Effects
Featured Stories | Jul 14, 2014
-
Unknown Holographic Technology Hidden In Old Monastery Reveals A Surprising Secret
Featured Stories | Dec 7, 2018
-
Ancient DNA Reveals Migration From North America Across The Bering Sea And Unknown Prehistoric People In Siberia
Archaeology | Jan 12, 2023
-
More Than 2,000 Seal Impressions Found In The Ancient City Of Doliche
Archaeology | Nov 24, 2023
-
Unique Ancient Gold Cloth Found In The Necropolis Of Saint-Pierre-l’Estrier Is The Largest Antique Piece Found To Date
Archaeology | Aug 13, 2022
-
Fossils Of Mysterious Homo Naledi Change Our Understanding Of Evolution
Archaeology | May 10, 2017
-
Llangernyw Yew: Chilling Prophecy Of The Oldest Tree In Wales
Featured Stories | Oct 28, 2022
-
DNA From Mysterious Hominin In China Suggests Native Americans’ East Asian Roots
Archaeology | Jul 14, 2022
-
Pazzi Conspiracy – Failed Murder Attempt On Lorenzo de’ Medici Made Him Even More Powerful And Threw Renaissance Florence Into Chaos
Featured Stories | Apr 28, 2021
-
Dazu Rock Statues Of Clairvoyance And Clairaudience: Is One Of them Holding A Snake Or ‘Telephone Receiver” In His Hand?
Archaeology | Mar 8, 2017
-
Ancient Underwater ‘Lion City’ Rests Beneath The Thousand Island Lake
News | Feb 11, 2014
-
Knowledge Of Divine Alien Beings And High-Tech In Ancient Egypt Described In Sacred Books And Papyrus – Reincarnation, Cloaking Technology And Space Travel – Part 2
Featured Stories | May 16, 2021
-
Dragon Empress Wu Zetian Challenged Confucian Beliefs Against Female Rulers
Featured Stories | Dec 12, 2017
-
Humans Were Living Around Fort McMurray, Alberta 13,000 Years Ago – Scientists Reveal
Archaeology | Aug 3, 2022
-
Unexpected Underwater Discovery Of 50,000 Ancient Coins Off Sardinia Hints At Hidden Shipwreck
Archaeology | Nov 10, 2023
-
Artificial Intelligence Reveals The Out Of Africa Expansion Is More Complex Than Previously Thought
Archaeology | Oct 18, 2021
-
Charles VI Of France – The King Who Was Made Of Glass
Featured Stories | Jan 22, 2016
-
Astronomers Confirm Solar Eclipses Mentioned In Indigenous Folklore And Historical Documents In Japan
Folklore | Nov 9, 2022
-
Secrets Of A Lake That Could Re-Write Ancient History Of America – Interesting Artifacts And Buildings – Part 2
Artifacts | Jun 5, 2018
-
Sacred Number Four – Perfect Number And Deep Meaning Behind It
Ancient Symbols | Nov 7, 2017