Xiphis

 



The xiphis was a confusing animal that appeared on two Roman mosaics, one was the Nile Mosaic of Palestrina and the other in the House of the Physician in Pompeii. It’s a heavy bodied creature, similar to a rhino or hippopotamus, with a long snout and carnivorous teeth similar to a crocodile.


Many theories have been put forth to explain what the xiphis is. Most people assume it’s just a poor rendition of a hippopotamus. That might be the case for the House of the Physician, but there’s a much more realistic hippo on the Palestrina mosaic. Rhinos and crocodiles have also been suggested, but these also appear in the Palestrina mosaic. As well the animals on the Palestrina mosaic have their names written under them as part of the mosaic, with the hippo, rhino, and crocodile clearly labelled. The name xiphis comes from the labelling on this mosaic. Xiphis was a type of sword in Rome, not an animal, but this may have been part of a longer name or out interpretation of it is misspelled, as the part of the mosaic showing the name xiphis is somewhat damaged.


Another animal that has been suggested as the identity of the xiphis is the elephant. While the head is completely wrong, if the artists never saw an elephant before and was just told it has a long snout and large teeth without knowing what a trunk and tusks look like this might be what they come up with. Another possibility is the xiphis is one of the African species of wild pig, with the giant forest hog being the most commonly suggested. A more fringe theory is that the xiphis might be some sort of extinct animal, such as an entelodon or an andrewsarchus.


There’s possibly one more appearance of the xiphis, in the Artemidorus papyrus. This creature has a panther like body, and a very narrow snout, almost like a bird with teeth. It’s labelled xiphius instead of xiphis. Although the xiphius, or ziphius is a different, fish like monster, that later gave it’s name to the swordfish genus.


The Romans never wrote anything about the xiphis, with our only information on this beast being a handful of labelled art. This has led some people to call it an ancient Roman cryptid. Although distinguishing cryptids from mythical beasts this far back is dubious. The appearance of the xiphis along side ordinary animals in murals and cartography papyri gives the impression that the Romans thought the xiphis was just another ordinary animal. Many animals in old bestiaries were just misinterpreted animals even if they sound outright mythical to us today. Although all of our attempts to figure out what the xiphis was a misinterpretation of have failed.


Sources:


https://cryptidarchives.fandom.com/wiki/Xiphis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuOo3lamPpA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RUUov9-gDA&t=463s


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