HYRAX

HYRAX (Heb. שָׁפָן, shafan), the Procavia capens (syriaca), a small mammal about 19½ inches (50 cms.) in length, which is found in the mountainous regions of Israel, in the Negev, and in the Aravah. It makes its nest in the clefts of rocks where it finds refuge (Ps. 104:18) and where it lives in small groups (Prov. 30:26). Its bodily structure is well adapted for rockclimbing: It has a flexible, tailless body, short feet, soles covered with elastic pads, and small ears. It is mentioned in the Bible (Lev. 11:5; Deut. 14:7) among the animals which though chewing the cud are not clovenfooted, and are thus prohibited as food. Its classification as a ruminant may be attributed to the sideward movement of its jaws when feeding or, more probably, to the structure of its digestive system, the protuberances in its large stomach together with its appendix and maw possibly being regarded as analogous to a ruminant's four stomachs. In mishnaic times hyraxes were sold in market places to non-Jews, together with hares, camels, and pigs (Uk. 3:3). In modern Hebrew the word shafan is wrongly applied to the hare, there being no doubt from the biblical description that it is the hyrax, as is evident also from its Arabic name tafan. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Margolin, Zo'ologyah, 2 (19602), 446–7; Tristram, Nat Hist, 75–77; J. Feliks, Animal World of the Bible (1962), 45. ADD BIBLIOGRAPHY: Feliks, Ha-Ẓome'aḥ, 282. (Jehuda Feliks)