Israeli Mythology

Re’em

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Tradition: Israeli Mythology
Alternative names: Reëm, Re’em (רְאֵם), Rəʾēm
Category: Cow

The Myth

The re’em is an animal mentioned nine times in the Hebrew Bible. Its exact identity has been debated for centuries, and different traditions and translations have understood it in several different ways.

The creature has been translated as a “unicorn” in the Latin Vulgate and the King James Version. Other translations have rendered the name as “oryx,” “wild ox,” “wild bull,” “buffalo,” or “rhinoceros.” In Modern Hebrew, the word has been associated with the oryx.

One of the best-known descriptions appears in the Book of Job, where God challenges Job by asking whether the re’em can be made to serve mankind:
“Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow?”

The passage emphasizes the creature’s great strength and its independence from human control. Job is asked whether he can trust the re’em’s strength or make it perform agricultural labor and bring in his harvest.

Because of these descriptions, the re’em has often been imagined as a powerful wild bovine rather than an ordinary domesticated ox. Some modern interpretations identify it with the aurochs, the enormous wild ancestor of domestic cattle. Others have associated it with the oryx or other large horned animals.

The famous image of the re’em as a unicorn therefore comes largely from later translation traditions rather than from a detailed biblical description of a one-horned monster. The original Hebrew term itself does not definitively establish what animal was intended.

Sources

“Re’em.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re%27em

Bar Juchne

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Tradition / Region: Israeli Mythology
Alternative names: Bar-Yuchnei
Category: Bird

The Myth

The Bar Juchne is a colossal bird whose enormous wings are said to be large enough to block out the sun.

One day, a gigantic egg fell from the Bar Juchne’s nest. When it struck the ground, it shattered with such force that three hundred cedar trees were destroyed, and the liquid from the broken egg flooded sixty villages.

The destruction astonished those who heard the tale, for it was said that the Bar Juchne normally laid its eggs safely upon the ground. The story explains that this particular egg had not developed properly, so the great bird cast it away from its nest, causing the disaster.

Sources

“Bar Juchne.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed July 27, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Juchne

Bar Yokni

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Tradition / Region: Israeli Mythology
Alternative names: Bar Yochni, Son of the Nest
Category: Bird

The Myth

The Bar Yokni is a gigantic bird renowned for its immense size. It is said that one of its eggs once fell from a great height, and when it struck the earth, it destroyed three hundred cedar trees and flooded sixty cities.

The bird is said to carry its eggs high into its nest before gently setting them down. The famous tale of the fallen egg explains that the disastrous incident was an extraordinary event rather than its normal behavior.

Some Jewish traditions also tell that, in the Messianic Age, the Bar Yokni will become part of the great feast prepared for the righteous.

Sources

“Bar Juchne.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed July 27, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Juchne

Ziz

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Tradition / Region: Israeli Mythology
Alternative names: Renanim, Sekwi, Son of the Nest
Category: Bird

The Myth

The Ziz is a colossal bird that rules over all the birds of the world, just as Leviathan rules the creatures of the sea. Its body is so immense that its feet stand upon the earth while its head reaches the heavens. When it spreads its enormous wings, they are said to darken the sun and shield the world from the destructive southern winds.

Travelers once saw what they believed was an ordinary bird standing in the sea, with water reaching only to its knees. Thinking the water was shallow, they prepared to bathe, but a heavenly voice warned them to stay away. An axe had fallen into those waters seven years earlier and had still not reached the bottom. The bird before them was the Ziz.

The Ziz’s eggs are equally gigantic. On one occasion, a rotten egg fell from its nest and burst upon the earth, flooding sixty cities and crushing three hundred cedar trees. Normally, however, the Ziz gently lowers its eggs into the nest, making such disasters extremely rare.

The bird is also called Renanim, the celestial singer, and Sekwi, the seer. Another tradition calls it the Son of the Nest, because its young emerge directly from the nest without being hatched by their mother.

Jewish tradition also teaches that, at the end of time, the flesh of the Ziz will be served together with that of Leviathan as a feast prepared for the righteous.

Sources

“Ziz.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed July 27, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziz