Ziz

 


 The Ziz is a giant bird from Jewish mythology. It also appeared in earlier versions of the bible, but has since been edited out. The Ziz was one of the archetypal animals, like the Leviathan and Behemoth. As Leviathan was the king of the sea creatures and Behemoth the king of the beasts, Ziz was king of the birds.


The Ziz was said to look like a gryphon. Its exact appearance beyond that is left vague, other than its great size, which is discussed in two stories.


One story said there were some sailors who saw a giant bird standing in the water when they were out at sea. The water was only ankle deep on the bird, and it was so massive its head towered into the heavens. The sailors assumed the water must be shallow there where the bird stood, so they planned on bringing their ship ashore and swim in the water. God called out to the sailors and told them, “Do not stop there. That bird is the mighty Ziz, who towers above all beings. The water there is so deep once a carpenter lost his axe in the water and it took seven days to reach the bottom.”


Another story tells of the Ziz tossing a rotten egg from its nest. The egg crushed three hundred cedar trees and flooded sixty villages when it broke on the ground.


It was believed the Ziz would be eaten by the faithful at the end of time along side the Behemoth and Leviathan.


There are two possible places the Ziz may have one time appeared in the old testament, but there’s much argument over if this is actually what was meant or not. In the Talmud version of Psalms 50:11 it says “I know all the birds of the mountains and the things that move through the air are mine.” And again in Psalms 80:14 “The boar from the forest ravages it, and the things that moves through the air devours it.” This is usually interpreted as the Ziz. However identifying proper nouns in ancient Hebrew is difficult, so it’s left the identity of this thing open to question. It’s been suggested that the phrase actually meant, vultures, or birds in general, or even a swarm of locusts. Today “things that move through the air” is usually translated as beasts in the Christian bible, and not even identified as a flying creature. Still, in the medieval period the Ziz often appears along side the Leviathan and Behemoth in Christian artwork as well as Jewish writings.


Sources


https://the-demonic-paradise.fandom.com/wiki/Ziz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziz



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