Hybrid, mixture of interbreed beasts, or species of its own? The nature of the giraffe in Medieval Arabic Natural History

International audienceThe aim of this paper is to study the informations given by Arabic authors on the giraffe, in encyclopaedias, adab literature, books of marvels and geographical works. This exotic animal, imported from Eastern and Western Africa to enrich the sultan’s menagerie in Cairo and in other cities and kingdoms, was frequently used as a diplomatic gift. In this context, the giraffe was quite well known from direct observation and from continuous transmission of written sources as well, combining Greek authors, such as Timotheus of Gaza, and Persian and Abbasid authorities such as al-Jahîz. One important controversy concerns the nature of the giraffe: is it a species sui generis, or an hybrid coming from the successive intercourse of three animals (camel, wild cow – or oryx – and hyena)? This debate is important considering the legal status of meat consumption of this savage animal, attested in Islamized African kingdoms, according to Arabs geographers. Some scholars do observe giraffe parturition in captivity (in 13th century menageries) ans thus criticize the old legend of hybridity – which may probably have Greek background, considering the influence of the translations of Timotheus of Gaza book On animals.Arabic medieval sources give many informations on another aspects of the natural history of the giraffe: its classification as a ruminant, its natural habitat (location and type), its parturition, its peculiar pace, and some attempt to explain the unusual length of its neck and its utility. In contrast to the Latin tradition, which is very poor about the giraffe until the end of the 15th Century, medieval Arabic natural history provide us very rich and interesting information, sometimes rather modern. This confirms Robert Delort’s assertion: “Finally, it is the Arab world that has made the greatest contribution to zoology”, and every historian of animals has to keep it in mind when he is studying some species for itself or, for example, the transmission of zoological knowledge.BibliographyBuquet, Thierry. “Les légendes relatives à l’origine hybride et à la naissance des girafes selon les auteurs arabes”. Bulletin d’études orientales 62 (2013) (2014): 125‑47. DOI: 10.4000/beo.1320Buquet, Thierry. “Nommer les animaux exotiques de Baybars, d’Orient en Occident”. In Les non-dits du nom. Onomastique et documents en terres d’Islam, ed. by C. Müller et M. Roiland-Rouabah, 375‑402. Beyrouth: Presses de l’Ifpo, 2013. DOI: 10.4000/books.ifpo.5728.Robert Delort, Les animaux ont une histoire, Paris: Seuil, 1993 (Points. Histoire 174) (1st ed. 1984)Kruk, Remke. ‘Zarāfa. Encounters with the Giraffe, from Paris to the Medieval Islamic World”. In Classical Arabic Humanities in Their Own Terms, ed. by B. Gruendler and M. Cooperson, 568–92. Leiden: Brill, 2008