View source for Pygarg

[[File:Addax_nasomaculatus_Zoo_Praha_2011-1.jpg|thumb|The [[addax]] (''Addax nasomaculatus''), possibly the original ''dishon''/''pygarg''.]]
The '''pygarg''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|aɪ|g|ɑː|g}}<ref name=OED/>) is an animal mentioned in the [[Bible]] in {{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|14:5|KJV}} as one of the animals permitted for food. The [[Septuagint]] translates the Hebrew ''yachmur'' (יחמור) as {{Transliteration|grc|pygargos}} in [[Koiné Greek]] ("white-rumped", from [[wikt:πυγή|{{Transliteration|grc|pyge}}]] "buttocks" and [[wikt:ἀργός|{{Transliteration|grc|argo}}]] "white"),<ref name=OED>{{OED|pygarg}}</ref> and the [[King James Version]] takes from there its term ''pygarg''.

[[Henry Baker Tristram]] (1867) proposed that the pygarg was the Saharan antelope [[addax]] and described it as "a large animal, over {{convert|3+1/2|ft|0|abbr=out|disp=sqbr}} high at the shoulder, and, with its gently-twisted horns, {{convert|2+1/2|ft|cm|-1|abbr=out|disp=sqbr}} feet long. Its colour is pure white, with the exception of a short black mane, and a tinge of tawny on the shoulders and back".<ref>[[Henry Baker Tristram]], ''The Natural History of the Bible'' (1867).</ref>

Outside the biblical use, the term was also applied to the [[Siberian roe deer]] in the 18th century,<ref>{{cite book|last=Pallas|first=P.S. |author-link=Peter Simon Pallas |title=Voyages du professeur Pallas, dans plusieurs provinces de l'Empire de Russie et dans l'Asie septentrionale |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQ5UAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA25 |year=1793|page=25 | language = Latin, French}}</ref> whose [[specific name (zoology)|specific name]] is ''{{lang|la|{{linktext|pygargus}}}}'' in [[scientific Latin]].  This deer, like other roe deer, has a white rump,  which is consistent with the Septuagint translation while the addax is all-white during the summer (rather than just having a white rump).

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{EBD|Pygarg}}

[[Category:Animals in the Bible]]
[[Category:Kosher meat]]
[[Category:Capreolini]]
[[Category:Book of Deuteronomy]]