Keresh

Keresh

Region of origin: Bei Ila’i

An enormous deer- or unicorn-like creature discussed in the Talmud, the keresh was one of two animals mentioned to inhabit the mythical forest of Bei Ila’i, the other being a massive lion known as the tigris. The Babylonian Talmud compares the keresh to the tachash, a desert animal whose parts were used to construct the Tabernacle that functioned as the earthly dwelling place of God during the Biblical Exodus, while other versions may refer to the two synonymously. It is thought accounts of the keresh may have been based on living animals such as the giraffe, oryx or rhinoceros or their megafauna ancestors.