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The Hippopotamus and the Maned River Horse: Descriptions of an Egyptian Wetland Mammal in Ancient Hellenic and Roman Texts

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: The hippopotamus is one of the most prominent wetland animals of the ancient Nile, where it roamed along the river. Whereas there is a large and accurate ancient Egyptian cultural record, the descriptions of hippopotamuses in Hellenistic and Roman texts are all somewhat inaccurate, implying that caution is needed when interpreting ancient texts for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. In this paper various Hellenistic and Roman descriptions of hippopotamuses are presented and compared with the actual biology of the animal and with the ancient Egyptian cultural records.

Source: Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15301551

Authors: de Klerk, Pim, Joosten, Hans

Institutions: State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe, Institute of Sustainable Development of Landscapes of the Earth, Universität Greifswald

Language: English

Topic: Ancient Egypt and Archaeology

Subfield: Archeology

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W6911768023

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