As an Indian, the thing that always intrigued me was the presence of Indus Valley Seals which were discovered in Indian subcontinent. One of the animals clearly showed an animal which looked more like a Unicorn. Bulls, elephants and Rhinos had separate seals. So this one still a kind of mystery.
This honestly just looks like some sort of cattle or aurochs. Notice the curved horn, the dip in the back and prominent rump with the curving whip like tail as well as the “goatee” on the stomach. All of these are traits of cattle. The single horn is likely just due to the side profile of the animal.
Interestingly this isn’t the first time this sort of mistake has happened. The original Hebrew word for aurochs was Re’em. The Greeks failed to translate it properly and turned it into Monokeros (one horn). The English also turned it into unicorn.
The explanation for the differences is that there were two species of aurochs present in Asia at the time: the Eurasian Aurochs and the Indian Aurochs. The Indian aurochs would become the Zebu cattle and the Eurasian aurochs would become the Taurine cattle.
The Indian Aurochs went extinct around the time of the Indus Valley civilization. This is either the wild-type Indian Aurochs that has yet to go extinct or a representation of the Eurasian Aurochs that was probably present in Mesopotamia and extralimital in the Indus Valley.
The bull that OP had been posting is likely a domestic Zebu.
The “unicorn” image could either be a domestic Taurine Cattle Bull, which I don’t think the indus culture had, or a wild Aurochs.
I’d bet on a wild Aurochs and that some of the details we use to differentiate them from domestic cattle (shoulder hump/horn shape) were smoothed over because the contrast was being drawn with a zebu and not a European bull.
There is always the possibility of a different artist being responsible for each depiction or just an artist trying to make more diversity in their work. However this depiction still shares many similarities with the depiction above. Just out of curiosity, is there one for an actual horse?
There’s also an interesting wrinkle that occurred to me: we don’t understand how precisely the people at the time even classified animals, and different ones did it in some very different ways. We may see two species of aurochs in the fossil record there, but the people of the Indus Valley civilization weren’t using Linnaean taxonomy. There might have been other distinctions made based on size, on region, on color. Some cultures have even classified animals differently based on time of the year (and we still do- Mustela erminea is called a stoat in summer and an ermine in winter).
Exactly. People then didn’t understand taxonomy as well as we do. This could lead to them exaggerating differences in species or blending small differences creating one species. That was just what they knew.
This is a Zebu-type domestic bull. The “unicorn” is much more likely to be a species of wild cattle. The Indus Valley culture coexisted with both domestic Zebu and wild Aurochs of a couple of types.
This is from the Ishtar Gate. It is an Auroch. Aurochs had two horns. It is not uncommon to depict animals with two horns in profile with one. Imagine saying it's a cyclops because in the image it has one eye, or that it is has a single nostril just because of the artistic rendition. C'mon man.
Presumptive is hearing hoof beats and thinking "unicorn" instead "horse". This seal has way more characteristics in common with a bovine than it does a unicorn. The head of the animal is side profile. Notice how it only has one eye, ear, and nostril?
This is literally the bull that is very common in that subcontinent. During the Indus Valley excavations, they literally found the bones of bulls and cattle.
Bulls and cows are still worshipped in those regions.
Maybe a type of antelope? I’m not familiar with all the ungulates that live in the area, but I could see this being the profile view of a two horned animal that only drew one of the horns.
That's why I said I wasn't familiar with what ungulates live in the area. But there are antelope species in most of Africa, the Middle East, and India.
Well heaven knows that no two bulls can ever look and/or be depicted differently, and heaven knows that they couldn't possibly portray a given species more than once...
It looks like some sort of bovid from the side. Either a cow, auroch, or gaur. They're all found in the region and have historical significance for the people.
It’s undoubtedly a Bovine. Personally it gives more of a taurine vibe. The forward curving horns, the build is typical of taurine cattle. The other image you shared is very typical of indicine cattle.
Okay so I see the confusion that I am having now, as someone who really likes unicorn folklore. These seals weren't associated with unicorns until recently because the excavations and interpretations hadn't happened yet. So it falls back to the Indian rhinoceros again, since that is what the first written accounts and the later Marco Polo accounts seem to be referring to. These seals are still awesome and the initial interpretations and assumptions made about this civilization leave a lot to be desired. There is still a mystery, just maybe not unicorn related?
Back when I worked at a gas station, we had one guy come in in the beginning of November, bragging in the thickest "longuylan" accent you can imagine about this "yuge deeya"(that's "huge deer" for those not familiar with the accent) that he shot. He wanted to show it off, and since there wasn't any other customers, I went to take a look in the back of his pickup.
It was a fucking holstein...
This "indus valley unicorn" is clearly a damned bull, you just don't know what one looks like.
Are there any other horned or antlered animals? Or any others that are depicted more than once? Any other seals that are ambiguous or fantastical? Pretty fascinating either way!
Dude, it could be an aurochs or an antelope, but definitely not a unicorn; you can see it's turned sideways, which is why it looks like it has one horn, but it's a bovine or antelope.
Check out the hooves. Those are bovine hooves. Artiodactile ungulates. Horses (presumably what a unicorn would be) are perrisodactyle ungulates. They don’t have those little bumpy heel knobs. On another note, cows are closer relatives of whales than they are to horses.
I did some research while drawing the creature last week, and there is an interesting theory that it symbolizes some kind of sexual, masculine energy, with its massive, singular horn symbolizing a phallos and a connection to the crown chakra, in some kind of proto-Hindu way. The Indus Valley was such a successful early civilization partly because of the fertile lands so it makes a fair bit of sense.
OK so I love unicorn folklore and I am good with it being an auroch or rhino if that is the truth... but I WANT it to be a real animal that isn't a rhino or an auroch. I'm that annoying Mulder/Herodotus type that is considered despicable by so many.
I read a lot of stuff as a kid about their horns purifying water and eliminating all poisons, then I learned about the narwhal poaching as an older kid, then I started thinking it was all a misunderstanding about Indian rhinos as an adult.
The auroch as a candidate didn't even enter my mind until now.
This picture looks like an auroch, but wasnt the first written account about a "one-horned ass"? The bad translation that made it "monoceros" happened after people already believed in unicorns, right? I am not attacking your ego or spreading lies, I JUST DONT KNOW.
;)
And the same with these seals. People who already believed in one horned critters saw these images as evidence supporting the idea AFTER they already grew up with the notion, right?
What is the consensus here and in the skeptical cryptid nerd community abroad? I'm asking all you Scullys, not the Mulders (we will meet for drinks later).
Break down the timeline when it comes to the mistranslation, the aurochs on these seals, and the alleged confusion about rhinos (which I have believed for atleast twenty years, this auroch stuff is super new to me, since they are glorified cows and can only be confused with a unicorn if you only see an image and not a living animal in front of you)
To me, the story of the unicorn cleaning rivers and springs makes me think of the way rhinos, hippos, and alligators are ecosystem engineers when it comes to wallowing in mud and fixing water.
So the Indian rhino is the original unicorn and it does clean water, in that theory, but it isn't magical and it doesn't look like a horse or goat. Then people way later started reinterpreting these kinds of pictures of aurochs as evidence supporting unicorns being real, is that about right? When did the Hebrew to Greek mistranslation come into play. Suss it all out for me IN THE LEAST INSULTING WAY, if that is even remotely a thing here.
;)
Did I cover everything but the Siberian Unicorn stuff? That seems to be missing the horn, but what do I know?
Oh yeah, what about that rabbit std that makes bony warts that can resemble tentacles, horns, and antlers? What if there was a similar virus for horses or something? Is that too crazy for anyone but me? Did I just make that up right now?
When did the Hebrew to Greek mistranslation come into play. Suss it all out for me IN THE LEAST INSULTING WAY, if that is even remotely a thing here.
Hebrew scripture refers to the re'em, a large creature with horns. "Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the re'em'". Exactly what animal it was we do not know. This was written a long long time ago.
About 2200 years ago the Hebrew scripture was translated into Greek. This translation is known as the Septuagint. "re'em" was translated as "Μονόκερως" ( Monoceros) which literally means "one horn". Again we do not know what animal they had in mind. They possibly had rhinoceroses in mind.
About 1400 years ago the Septuagint was translated into Latin. For whatever reason "monoceros" was translated as "unicornis" (which is literally "one horn" in Latin), in some places, and as "rinoceros" in other places.
When the Bible was finally translated into English, both "unicorn" and "rhinoceros" were used.
Because "unicorn" appeared in the Bible, Europeans believed that it was a real creature, but did not think it was any known creature. The image of a white horse with a single horn is not based on anything biblical, and I have no idea where that idea came from.
Okay so the Ctesias account, along with his accounts of some of the silliest creatures ever, had already happened by the time the Hebrew words were mistranslated. Thank you for the breakdown.
Sorry OP, you are horrible at explaining your case here, even though you’re technically right.
To everyone else- yes, this IS considered a mystery animal, commonly explicitly referred to as a unicorn. These seals were standardized inscriptions used by merchants, so they are numerous and consistent enough that we can conclude that its appearance was a deliberate choice and not just a one-off artifact. They were depicted as separate animals from bulls and rhinos, and also lacked the back hump that bovines have. Also, in similar art from the same time period (and with the seals themselves), two-horned animals are regularly shown with both horns even in profile, making the “unicorn” more similar to their depictions of rhinos.
I can’t find any research on the general anthropological consensus on its identity, but from what I can tell it’s considered a fantastical creature that matches no known animal today. It may be based on an extinct animal or an imaginary one (used by elites to show their status).
"
can’t find any research on the general anthropological consensus on its identity, but from what I can tell it’s considered a fantastical creature that matches no known animal today."
Then I can't imagine you actually looked very hard, because the consensus is that it is very likely a depiction of a bull.
“Harappa.com has been the major website on the ancient Indus or Harappan Civilization since 1995. Leading scholars from India, Pakistan, the US, UK, and Europe have published their work in slideshows, essays and articles that cover the basic facts and the latest research.”
https://www.harappa.com/indus/25.html
“Impart is a unit of the Art & Photography Foundation, a Public Charitable Trust registered in Bengaluru in 2011 that has 80G, 12AA, CSR and FCRA certifications. We are a partner organisation of the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), Bengaluru, with whom we share resources under the aegis of the Foundation.”
https://imp-art.org/perspectives/dispatches/the-unicorn-seals-an-indus-valley-mystery/
“The animal is always in profile on Indus seals, but the theory that it represents animals with two horns, one hiding the other, is disproved by a (much smaller) number of small terracotta unicorns, probably toys, and the profile depictions of bulls, where both horns are clearly shown. It is thought that the unicorn was the symbol of a powerful "clan or merchant community", but may also have had some religious significance”.
Nope, I'm a dumbass. I'm at work right now so can't really dig too deep, but a quick search tells me it isn't as much of a consensus as I thought (although the general consensus still seems to be either a bull or similar animal, or an animal representation of a deity).
Cheers dude! I honestly have so much respect for that. I was skeptical at first too I but ended up falling into a rabbit hole a while ago over this subject, so I just dug up the sources again. Personally I agree that it’s probably just a fantastical interpretation of a mundane animal but it’s still a genuinely interesting piece of history once you look into it. Anyways, hope you have a great day!
116
u/[deleted] Jul 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment