"phute'okicu" and other new animals

[willemdereuse at unt.edu]

Quoting Rory M Larson <rlarson at unlnotes.unl.edu>:

>
> I'm not following why ancient Hebrews and 7th century Arabs should have
> been ignorant of whales.  They both had coasts, or were very close to
> people that did, the former on the Mediterranean and the latter on the Red
> Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.  Even if whales were never sighted at
> sea by sailors, they would still be known through occasional beachings.
> This was not the middle of a large continent, as for MVS peoples.  I'm sure
> whales would have been well known throughout most of the Middle East since
> the beginning of human habitation there.
>
> Rory


I agree.  I am not sure if whales are often seen in the Red Sea and in 
the Mediterranean, but the Phoenicians, neighbors of the Hebrews, and 
who sailed way beyond these seas would certainly have known about 
whales.  There must have been at least a Phoenician word for a whale.

Willem