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The Largest of Ethiopia's Living Animals, I.

Addis Tribune (Addis Adaba)
December 20, 2002

Richard Pankhurst

The History of Elephants in Ethiopia

Today we consider the history of Ethiopia's largest living animals!

Interest in Ethiopian elephants was first generated in Egypt at the time of the Ptolemies around the third century BC - that is about two or three centuries after the establishment of the great northern Ethiopian city of Yéha, and a little over half a millennium after the time of the Biblical King Solomon.

Babylonians then ruled by the Seleucid dynasty, was then the main enemies of the Ptolemies, and were then making use of Indian elephants. These animals have aptly been termed the "tanks" of the ancient world - and were soon involved in an old-times arms race.

Rostovtzeff, the historian of the ancient world, observes that the Ptolemies "could not remain inferior in this respect". The "starting point" of Ptolemaic policy was therefore "to have their own war elephants", for, without a supply of them, their army would be "hopelessly inferior" to that of their rivals.

Ptolemy I

The first expedition of the Ptolemies in quest of elephants was apparently despatched during the reign of the first Ptolemy, Soter (305-285 BC). He entrusted it to a captain called Philos, who subsequently wrote an account of his exploits in a book entitled Aethiopika, which unfortunately has long since been lost.

Ptolemy II

The capture of elephants along the southern Red Sea coast of Africa was later organised and expanded, according to the Greek historian and geographer Agarthachides, by the second Ptolemy, Philadelphus (280-246 BC). This Ptolemy was responsible for opening the old canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, thereby facilitating Egyptian contact with the latter region.

Ethiopian elephants, from a drawing in the 6th century AD christian Topography of cosmas

The expansion of elephant-hunting at this time is mentioned by the Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily. Basing himself on Agathachides, whose original text is likewise no longer extant, he observes:

"The second Ptolemy, who was passionately fond of hunting elephants and gave great rewards to those who succeeded in capturing against odds the most valiant of these beasts, expending on this hobby great sums of money, not only collected great herds of war-elephants, but also brought to the knowledge of the Greeks other kinds of animals which had never been seen and were the objects of amazement".

This Ptolemy, according to Agarthachides, as cited by Photius, a ninth century Patriarch of Constantinople, also attempted to persuade the local (Ethiopian?) elephant-hunters to abandon the killing of elephants so that he could more easily obtain them alive. He therefore made these hunters "many beautiful promises", but he did so in vain, for the men allegedly replied that "they would not change their way of life for all his kingdom".

Despite this failure, Ptolemy II gave instructions for the construction of specially designed boats, which were called elephantegoi, or "elephant-carriers". They were designed to transport the animals from the southern Red Sea coast, and to bring back grain and other supplies for the hunters. Mention of such expeditions are referred to in many papyrus texts of the second half of the third century BC.

Elephant Parks

Elephant-hunting was so fruitful, and the animals so highly regarded, that special parks for the animals were established in Egypt, both at Thebes and Memphis.

This period also witnessed the establishment, by the Ptolemies, of a series of fortified ports along the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts of Africa. The modern British historian Elgood, basing himself on the Greek geographer Strabo, states that a Ptolemaic commander called Satyrus "examined the African shore, selecting anchorages, dropping garrisons, founding new stations, examining existing and surveying new ports". Oliver Thompson, another modern authority, claims that "at least fourteen officers of the second and third Ptolemies are mentioned as engaged in this service and as giving their names to capes and roadsteads all the way down [the Red Sea] and a little outside". Yet another modern historian, Crowfoot, comments: "The early Ptolemaic era reminds us curiously in many ways of the great European age of discoveries".

Permanent Military Stations

A good idea of the multitude of forts established in the area by the Ptolemies is provided by the modern author Bevan, who likewise following Strabo, observes:

"Permanent military stations appear along the Red Sea coast - Ptolemais Teron ('of the Elephants') fortified by Eumedes, near Suakin; Berenice Panchrysus 'All-golden' (Massowah); Arsinoe, near the Straits of Bab-al-Mandeb; Berenice epi Dires, just outside the Straits - and further, along the Somaliland coast, points called after the commanders who directed the elephant-hunting in the interior, and often left memorials of themselves in the shape of stele and altars -'Pythangelus' 'chase', 'Lichas' chase', 'Cape of Pitholaus', 'Leon's Watchtower', 'Pythngelus Haven'". Elephant-hunting,we may comment, was thus taking place along the entire coast bordering on what later became known as Ethiopia.

Ptolemy III

The exploitation of elephants along the southern Red Sea coast was intensified during the reign of the third Ptolemy, Eurgetes I (245-221 BC), who styled himself "master of the Mediterranean and the Sea of the Indies". Diodorus, basing himself on Agartharchides, states that this ruler was "passionately fond of hunting the elephants which are to be found in that region", and accordingly "sent one of his friends Simmias to spy out the land", after which Simmias made "a thorough investigation of the nations lying along the coast".

Adulis

One of the harbours visited by Ptolemy III was Adulis, which some two centuries or so later was to become the principal port of the Aksumite empire. This harbour was described by the Roman author Pliny as "two days' sail" beyond Ptolemais, i.e. Suakin. A Greek inscription erected at Adulis in the name of "Ptolemy, son of King Ptolemy and Queen Arsinoe, twin gods", states that this ruler had "made an expedition into Asia with forces of infantry and cavalry, and a fleet of elephants from the Troglodytes and Ethiopia - animals which his father and himself were the first to capture by hunting in those countries, and which they took to Egypt, where they had them trained for employment in war".

Two of the most south-easterly elephant-hunting grounds of this period were known as the Hunting-grounds of Pythangelus and Lichas. They were located, according to Strabo, in the vicinity of Deire, near the extremity of the Red Sea coast of Africa, in what is currently the Republic of Djibouti.

Ptolemy IV

Elephant-hunting continued during the reign of the fourth Ptolemy, Philipator (221-204 BC). This is evident from a Greek inscription dedicated to Ares, the Bearer of Victory in War and the Giver of Good Luck in Hunting, by a party of officers and soldiers bound for the southern Red Sea coast around 208-6 BC.

Shipping Difficulties

An idea of the difficulties which the Egyptians engaged in the southern Red Sea elephant business encountered can be obtained from a Greek letter of 224 BC. It was written from a group of elephant-hunters at Berenice (Massawa?) to their comrades at a station further south (perhaps along what is now the Eritrean coast), whose elephant-carrier had sunk on the return journey. The letter, which was written to keep up the spirits of the men in the southern station, states that a new boat was being constructed, and was almost ready - it would soon be despatched with a fresh supply of grain.

Further evidence that the transport of elephants presented major problems is also provided by Diodorus, who, once more quoting Agartharchides, states that ships carrying these large animals required considerable draft. They on occasion brought upon their crews "great and terrible dangers", for running as they did under full sail they were "oftentimes driven during the night before the force of the winds", which sometimes caused them to "strike against rocks and be wrecked or sometimes run around on slightly submerged spits".

The nearby coast, according to Diodorus, was in consequence dotted with broken Egyptian ships. They remained there "for many years, like a group of cenotaphs, embedded on every side in a heap of sand... for it is the King's command to leave in place such evidences of disasters that they may give notice to sailors of the region which works their destruction".

"Terrors"

The terrors of navigating such heavily laden vessels made a deep impression on Photius, who quotes a few additional details given by Agarthachides. He observes that the accidents suffered by the elephant transports evoked "great pity for the victims", as many boats were crushed against the rocks or stranded on the sand. Some boats thus grounded had been known to be washed free at high tide, particularly if it coincided with a strong wind, but others could not be moved at all. Many crews, thus stranded, ran out of supplies, endured "innumerable sufferings", and killed themselves by the sword, or by throwing themselves into the sea, rather than endure slow death by starvation.

Declining Interest in Elephants

Ptolemaic interest in elephants, intense as it was, lasted little more than a century. Max Cary, a modern historian of the ancient world, observes that in the second century BC "the use of elephants for military purposes came to an end", though their tusks "continued to be in request for the ivory trade".

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