Ancient Griffins

A 12^th-century Spanish Jewish traveler named Benjamin of Tudela crisscrossed Europe, Asia and Africa and wrote a book about his travels. The book was translated from Hebrew to Latin and it offered Europeans vivid descriptions of western Asia about a century before Marco Polo.

Benjamin of Tudela had something to say about the mythological bird known as the griffin or gryphon, well known in Arab imaginative literature as the rukh.

Of course, in western legend (dating back to the ancient Greeks and perhaps earlier), the griffin was a more complex creature than a simple giant bird, having the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.

Classical folklorist Adrienne Mayor has suggested that this type of griffin may have been an ancient “misconception” caused when the ancients first saw the fossilized remains of the Protoceratops dinosaur in gold mines in the Altai mountains of Scythia, in what is now southeastern Kazakhstan. Protoceratops had an impressive "beak," like an eagle, and of course four legs like a lion.

Regardless, Benjamin of Tudela knew the griffin as a gigantic bird, and here is what he says:

Thence to cross over to the land of Zin (China) is a voyage of forty days. Zin is in the uttermost East, and some say that there is the Sea of Nikpa (Ning-po?),where the star Orion predominates and stormy winds prevail (1).At times the helmsman cannot govern his ship, as a fierce wind drives her into this Sea of Nikpa, where she cannot move from her place ; and the crew have to remain where they are till their stores of food are exhausted and then they die. In this way many a ship has been lost, but men eventually discovered a device by which to escape from this evil place. The crew provide themselves with hides of oxen.

And when this evil wind blows which drives them into the Sea of Nikpa, they wrap themselves up in the skins, which they make waterproof, and, armed with knives, plunge into the sea. A great bird called the griffin spies them out, and in the belief that the sailor is an animal, the griffin seizes hold of him, brings him to dry land, and puts him down on a mountain or in a hollow in order to devour him. The man then quickly thrusts at the bird with a knife and slays him. Then the man issues forth from the skin and walks till he comes to an inhabited place. And in this manner many a man escapes (2).

NOTES:

(1) Benjamin's statements as to India and China are of course very vague, but we must remember he was the first European who as much as mentions China. Having regard to the full descriptions of other countries of the old World by Arabic writers of the Middle Ages, and to the fact that the trade route then was principally by sea on the route indicated by Benjamin, it is surprising that we have comparatively little information about India and China from Arabic sources. In none of their records is the Sea of Nikpa named, and it is not improbable that Benjamin coined this name himself from the root . . . which occurs in the Bible four times; in the Song of Moses . . . (Exod. xv. 8): "The depths were curdled in the heart of the sea" (not "congealed" as the Version has it), Job x. 10: . . . "curdled me like cheese"; and in Zeph. i.12 and Zech. xiv. 6. The term "the curdling sea" would be very expressive of the tempestuous nature of the China Sea and of some of its straits at certain seasons of the year.

(2) Marco Polo has much to say about the bird "gryphon" when speaking of the sea-currents which drive ships from Malabar to Madagascar. He says, vol. II, book III, chap. 33: "It is for all the world like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous size. It is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its talons and carry him high into the air and drop him so that he is smashed to pieces; having so killed him, the gryphon swoops down on him and eats him at leisure. The people of those isles call the bird "Rukh." Yule has an interesting note (vol. II, p. 348) showing how old and widespread the fable of the Rukh was, and is of opinion that the reason that the legend was localized in the direction of Madagascar was perhaps that some remains of the great fossil Aepyornis and its colossal eggs were found in that island. Professor Sayce states that the Rukh figures much--not only in Chinese folk-lore--but also in the old Babylonian literature. The bird is of course familiar to readers of The Arabian Nights.

[Source: Adler, Marcus Nathan, ed. and trans. The Itinerary of Benjamin Tudela: Travels in the Middle Ages. London: Philipp Feldheim, 1907, pp. 94-95.]

Gaia Hypothesis and Edgar Allan Poe

The Gaia hypothesis (now often called the Gaia theory), was formulated by scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the 1970s. It contends that all living organisms and the inorganic structure of the Earth are integrated in a single, self-regulating system that maintains the conditions for life on the planet. The system includes the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrospheres and pedosphere.

In short, the theory says the Earth acts as if it were a single organism. The hypothesis plays a role in today's ecological/environmental movements.

Edgar Allan Poe gave some thought to the ideas underlying the Gaia hypothesis more than a century before Lovelock and Margulis articulated them. Here are Poe's observations, incorporated into the short story "The Island of the Fay" (1841):

I love, indeed, to regard the dark valleys, and the gray rocks, and the waters that silently smile, and the forests that sigh in uneasy slumbers, and the proud watchful mountains that look down upon all,–I love to regard these as themselves but the colossal members of one vast animate and sentient whole–a whole whose form (that of the sphere) is the most perfect and most inclusive of all; whose path is among associate planets; whose meek handmaiden is the moon, whose mediate sovereign is the sun; whose life is eternity, whose thought is that of a God; whose enjoyment is knowledge; whose destinies are lost in immensity, whose cognizance of ourselves is akin with our own cognizance of the animalculae which infest the brain–a being which we, in consequence, regard as purely inanimate and material much in the same manner as these animalculae must thus regard us.

Poe, incidentally, wrote a major speculation on the universe called "Eureka," described as a prose poem or an essay on the material and spiritual worlds. It can be found here.

Arabian Ostrich Egg Found

Some months back, a rare desert find was donated to the new Cultural Center museum of Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia: a complete, intact egg shell belonging to the extinct Arabian ostrich.

The museum is not scheduled to open for a few years yet, but it is now assembling its collections. Thanks to an Aramco employee, the museum's Natural History Gallery has a fine new addition.

Oil workers discovered the egg not long ago in a long-abandoned ostrich nest on the northern edge of the desert called the Rub' al-Khali, or Empty Quarter. It was the only intact egg in the nest, among many others that had been shattered.

Aramco desert expert Guraiyan M. Al-Hajri brought the egg to Dhahran, where he donated it to the Cultural Center.

Back in the 1930's, Arabian explorer Harry St. John Philby wrote about his own discovery of an intact ostrich egg in roughly the same part of Arabia. He noted that the bird had become extinct in that area some 30 to 40 years earlier.

Here is Philby's report:

"Maqainama (incidentally I was at the time exceedingly sceptical about the very name of the place as reported by Major Cheesman, though on that point I was wrong and he was right) is situated about 70 miles due south of Jabrin. The intervening country represents a sort of transition from steppe to sand and consists of wide alternating strips of the one and the other, a dull, dreary country with good pasturage in favourable seasons. In it hares and other game abound, and we found a single complete but broken ostrich egg in situ to remind us that before the advent of modern firearms the great bird was an inhabitant of these parts. It became extinct here about forty or fifty years ago, and is now confined to the deserts of northern Arabia around Jauf."

– H. St. John Philby, “Rub' al-Khali: An Account of Exploration in the Great South Desert of Arabia under the Auspices and Patronage of His Majesty 'Abdul 'Aziz ibn Sa'ud, King of the Hejaz and Nejd and Its Dependencies.” The Geographical Journal, Vol. 81, No. 1 (Jan. 1933), pp. 1-21.

The Beasts of Ibn Wahshiya

[Ibn Wahshiya – his full name was Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Wahshiya al-Nabati – was a scholar, translator and scientist who lived in Mesopotamia in the ninth century AD. He was an Aramaic- or Syriac-speaking Nabataean, and his translations from Syriac to Arabic were celebrated in their day. He studied the sciences extensively in Damascus, Baghdad and Egypt. Given the society in which he lived, his works are rich with discussions of natural magic and the supernatural. The Book on Poisons, according to its author, was compiled largely from the Syriac writings of two Nabataean elders from Kasadan [possibly near Samarkand] named Yarbuqa and Suhab Sat. The work contains recipes for toxic and lethal substances as well as their antidotes. Ibn Wahshiya’s most famous work was called Nabataean Agriculture. A general comment on Ibn Wahshiya’s mixing of science and magic by translator Martin Levey: “This famous Chaldean was a master of all that touched on miracles, charms, astrology, alchemy, and incantations. These were all considered at that time and place to have scientific value and to be no less objective than Ibn Wahshiya’s writing on poisons and agriculture.” These excerpts are the first step in compiling a collection of Ibn Wahshiya's descriptions of animals of the medieval Middle East. There will be more to come.... ]

Beaver:

The beaver is “an animal of a very ugly appearance.... It may come into existence from water. It is famous among people. In rivers and small waters, they are small; in oceans and large waters, they are large. Both large and small beavers are similar in shape but have various colors [including black, which is favored for poison].” Beaver is used in the recipe for the twenty-first poison. (p. 63)

Chameleon:

The chameleon, says Ibn Wahshiya, has “a small body, a hideous eye, a strange color, and always stays in the sun raising its head towards the sun itself.” He adds: “It is well known to the Kasadānians, Persians, Indians, and Arabs. The Arabs call it al-'iwān.” He uses chameleon in the recipe for the twentieth poison. (pp. 62-63)

Mice and Snakes:

Abu Bakr b. Wahshiya said, Some who are of Kasadan invented a bell which, upon ringing, brings out the mice from their holes, out of fear. They manufactured another bell which brings out snakes and vipers when they hear its sound. They made these to be saved from snakes, mice, and others like them which cause harm to man. (p. 36)

MYSTERIOUS ANIMALS

Yārīshtahīwayā

Abu Bakr said that this is the wild faţāya (?), as I think, or is like it. When it bites a man, he develops an intense thirst, the eyes become red, he is confused mentally, the body burns strongly, and the feet become black. [An antidote follows.] (p. 70)

Karqūqathī Būratā

Abu Bakr said of this beast that it is the hedgehog [cf. al-Jahiz 5:283; 6:22]. It seems to me, however, that qunfudh is a word of which we are doubtful. When this beast bites, there is a sharp pain in the place of the bite, intense colic in the belly, difficulty of breathing, suppression of urine and bowel movement. [An antidote follows.] (p. 70)

Shabbāmaghshā

Abu Bakr said that he knew that the Nabateans called it qarād shabbā and this man called it shabbāmaghshā. I cannot identify this animal. It is an animal which bites man. The bite does not give great grief at first but after one-half day goes by, the place of the bite becomes black. A strong anxiety befalls the victim, both cheeks become red, his belly is swollen, and his penis becomes tumescent. [An antidote follows.] (p. 70)

Shammakā nahri

Abu Bakr said that the author of the book said that this beast resembles the weasel but is a little thinner than it. When it sees a man, it pursues him until it bites him. It rushes on all animals to bite them. When vipers, all kinds of snakes, and most animals see it, they try to escape from it. It is unlike the weasel in the rear but resembles it in the face and head.

When one is bitten by it, there occurs a drying of the throat and cartilage of the nose [ i.e., the mucous membranes], a sharp pain at the place of the bite, excessive perspiration having a bad odor, incontinence of urine to such an extent that it is uninterrupted, and poor blood circulation. [An antidote follows.] (p. 70)

Qīmārāsā

This is an animal similar to the frog. It is found in barren wastelands and deserts where there is no water or moisture. He who is bitten has his flesh fall off little by little in less than an hour in the daytime. With this, there occurs a violent itch in his muscles and in all of his body. He feels colic in his belly together with a strong burning and sharp pricking. The blood is languid. When his flesh falls off and the blood flows, then he perishes. [An antidote follows.] (pp. 70-71)

Qīmārāsā, Treatment of Bite of

This is an animal in the shape of a frog but it creeps. It does not leap as the frog leaps. The worst of them are those in the sand in winter since it comes into existence in winter and, perhaps, remains in the sand until the summer. It has properties giving such strange effects that the explanation is lengthy. One of its properties is that when man grasps it with his hand, the flesh wastes away little by little on his arms, forearms and more of these limbs if the grasp is prolonged with his hand. [An antidote follows.] (p. 78-79)

Nabţūqimūhā, Treatment for Consuming

This is a small, red animal. Often its redness verges toward blue. It has numerous legs and two wings by which it flies not too far. It is often to be found on the cucumber (qiththā‘) and on [another species of] cucumber [khiyar – this is smaller than qiththā‘]. People sometimes confine them until they die and dry. Then they make them into a drink or food. Whoever drinks or eats it, has swelling on his tongue, pain in his stomach, blocking at the mouth of his stomach, a little colic in his bowels which is unbearable, an itch on his entire body, and a violent inflammation. [An antidote follows.] (p. 79)

– Martin Levey, “Medieval Arabic Toxicology: The Book on Poisons of Ibn Wahshiya and Its Relation to Early Indian and Greek Texts,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, Vol. 56, Part 7, 1966.

First Post

This blog is named for an early sci-fi novel by under-appreciated Canadian author James De Mille, "A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder" (1888).

The book was unfortunately published after De Mille's death and following the release of H. Rider Haggard's "She" and "King Solomon's Mines." Critics thought De Mille's novel was derivative of those works, but in fact it was written before both of them. It tells the story of a British sailor who finds a "lost world" and "lost civilization" in Antarctica.

De Mille's novel symbolizes for me the importance of imagination in our lives. This blog will celebrate imagination and the quest for new knowledge. I welcome comments and posts of any kind that contribute to this end.