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Alongside the ox, sheep and goat, the list of ungulate animals permitted for consumption in Deuteronomy includes the aqqo, dishon and zemer - but what exactly are these species? Could it be that part of the Israelite diet included rhinoceros, bison and giraffe, as some interpretations have offered? A new archaeozoological study has examined zoological findings at 133 biblical sites and is exploring the possible answers to these questions.

Deuteronomy 14 provides a list of ten ungulate species permitted for consumption: “These are the beasts which ye may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat; the ayal, the zvi, and the yakhmur; and the aqqo, the dishon, the teo and the zemer.”(Deuteronomy 14:4-5)

The first three species have been easily identified, but the rest have been disputed over the years. Besides the fact that there is no species today as the zemer, the names of other species have been translated over time between different languages and only hundreds of years later returned to the Hebrew language, so that the biblical yakhmur and teo were not necessarily the species as we know them today.

The study was conducted by the University of Haifa.
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For the most part, linguistic and cultural studies have provided the basis for identification of the “clean” animal species mentioned in Deuteronomy. The current research, led by Prof. Guy Bar-Oz of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa and Prof. Zohar Amar of Bar-Ilan University, along with Ram Buchnik, also of the University of Haifa’s Department of Archaeology, examined all the remains of animals uncovered at 133 sites around Israel dating back to the beginning of the biblical period, the late Bronze Age (12th century BCE) and up to the Persian Era (7th century BCE). The study was based on the hypothesis that animals described in the Bible existed at the time and place of its writing. The researchers examined the remains of various mammals and their prevalence at a significant number of biblical sites around Israel that have been exposed in archaeological surveys. Their findings have enabled the researchers to compare the customary identifications for the biblical species and establish identifications based on actual archaeological findings.

Based on the animal remains that were examined, the zvi mentioned in Deuteronomy includes the mountain gazelle and Dorcas gazelle. The ayal includes the red deer and Mesopotamian fallow deer, which is also a member of the deer family. According to the researchers, based on the sites and location where the remains of the fallow deer were found, it can be assumed that it was luxury fare for high society.

However, if the fallow deer belongs to the deer family, what was the yakhmur? According to the researchers, an analysis of the biblical text and the animal remains that they examined indicates that the Bible’s yakhmur was in fact an antelope of the hartebeest species, a large African antelope that became extinct in Israel but is still found in eastern Africa.

The archaeozoological remains indicate that the aqqo can be identified with the ibex or what is still known as the wild goat. The biblical dishon has been given various identities over the years, including affiliation with the rhinoceros. Archaeological remains from the time of the Bible, however, do not show any hint of rhinoceros; the researchers explain that it is most likely to be an Arabian oryx. The teo mentioned in Deuteronomy is a species that over the years and due to the various translations of the name, has been identified as bison, even though such an animal has also not been found amongst the archaeological remains. The current study suggests that the teo be identified with buffalo, which was a commonly hunted animal in biblical times.

Finally, the zemer has also been given various identities in translation, including the giraffe. This is a highly unlikely identification of the zemer, seeing as here too, there is no hint of archaeological remains of giraffes in the biblical land of Israel. Based on their new analysis, the researchers propose that this species is a member of the ibex family.

“Our archaeozoological findings reinforce the assumption that there is some significance in the order of appearance of each species in the Bible’s list of animals deemed clean for consumption. By arriving at a more precise identification of the animals, we can more confidently confirm that at first domesticated animals are named and following that the verse mentions the animals in order of their importance for human consumption in the biblical Land of Israel,” the researchers conclude.

This story was a press release from the University of Haifa.