Environmental Biology of Fishes (2006) 75:361–363 DOI 10.1007/s10641-006-6698-7 Ó Springer 2006 Identifying the ancient shibuta fish Ari Z. Zivotofskya & Zohar Amarb a The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel; (e-mail: zivotoa@mail.biu.ac.il) b Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archeology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel Received 22 February 2005 Accepted 12 January 2006 Key words: Talmud, shabut, Tigris, Babylonian, Barbus grypus Synopsis The Talmud, a massive Jewish work completed in Persia approximately 1500 years ago, contains references to a fish named the shibuta. Various previous attempts to identify it over the last several centuries took place in lands other than Iraq and consequently the true identity seems to have escaped those Jewish scholars. In this paper we summarize the previous work and present evidence to support the identification of the talmudic shibuta with Barbus grypus. Discussion The Babylonian Talmud is a 2711 page encyclopedic work of Jewish law and lore that was redacted in Persia approximately 1500 years ago and has served as the focus of Jewish religious study and the foundation of Jewish jurisprudence ever since. Among the intricate legal debates and anecdotes, the Talmud student spies myriad glimpses of the daily life of the Jews living in Persia during the period of the Sassanian Empire. Because the Jews in Persia lived clustered around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, it is reasonable to assume that fish were an important part of their diet. Probably the most frequently mentioned fish in talmudic literature is the shibuta, a species that appears in a variety of contexts and is described as a popular and tasty fish. Scholars throughout the ages have attempted to identify the shibuta. However, most of these scholars conducted their research far away from Iraq, resulting in a wide range of almost certainly erroneous theories. In this paper we summarize the previously suggested identifications, cull from the Talmud clues to the fish’s true identity, and finally suggest that the talmudic shibuta is a freshwater Iraqi fish bearing the contemporary Arabic, Farsi, and Aramaic common name shabbout and the scientific name Barbus grypus. The Talmud records that the shibuta, a permitted food, tastes like prohibited pork (Chullin 109b), that it was commonly prepared for the festive Sabbath meal (Shabbat 119a), that salted shibuta was recommended as a treatment for ‘‘yarkuna’’ (perhaps jaundice) (Shabbat 110b), and that eating shibuta in the spring can lead to a specific skin ailment (Pesachim 112b). The Talmud (Baba Kamma 55a) also indicates that the shibuta is a relatively large fish. Even after the closing of the Talmud, the term shibuta appears in Jewish legal literature, although it is by no means clear whether the post-talmudic writers located in Europe and the Mediterranean region knew the identity of the fish. Iraqi Jews in the early medieval period (e.g. Rav Hai Gaon, 969 – 1038 C.E) referred to it by its Arabic name, shabout, while European Jews (e.g., Nathan b. 362 Jehiel, 11th century Italy), offered European or Mediterranean based identifications. In the last 150 years a variety of attempts have been made by scholars to identify the talmudic shibuta. The suggestions have included: Scomber scomber (mackerel), turbot (steinbuut) (Low 1969), Acipenser (sturgeon) (Lewysohn 1858), Merlucius rafinesque (codfish) (Dor 1997), and mullet (Rosner 1972). An important clue to the identity of the shibuta is the statement of the Jerusalem Talmud, redacted in Palestine around 1600 years ago, (Ta’anit ch. 4) that the species was not available in the Land of Israel, i.e. Roman-occupied Palestine. Thus, the shibuta is a species that existed in Persia, but not along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. Importantly, a long-standing tradition has survived in Iraq regarding the identity of this fish. For local residents, the identity of the large, tasty shibuta is no secret – any native Arabic speaker from Iraq or native Aramaic speaker from the Kurdish regions can identify it. In the context of discussing medieval Babylonian cuisine, Nasrallah (2003) states: ‘‘Fish from the river Tigris was highly valued by the medieval Baghdadis ... Top quality fishes were shabout (carp), ... Of the commercially important fishes that are still swimming in the two rivers the medieval favorites still hold their ground, especially the shabout (carp). The British called it ‘‘the salmon of the Tigris’‘‘ for, apparently, besides their delicious flavor, both swim against the current.’’ Unquestionably, the talmudic shibuta can be identified with the shabout. Indeed, recent rabbis of Iraqi origin have consistently done so. Rabbi Abdullah Avraham Yosef Somach (1899) identifies the contemporary shabout with the talmudic shibuta. His student, the famous Rabbi Yosef Chaim (1994), also listed the shaboot as a kosher fish that was commonly consumed in Baghdad. And he commented that it is the talmudic shibuta. Nonetheless, its identity perplexed more than just talmudic scholars. In an 1896 letter from Ourfa (Edessa) (Armenia) there is a detailed discussion about the confusion caused by the ‘‘Shebyta’’ fish. Various fish lists and articles identify a freshwater Iraqi fish with the common name of shabbout and the scientific name B. grypus. For example, an FAO website lists under the impor- Figure 1. Barbus grypus caught in Karoon River, Ahvaz, Khoozestan, Iran and purchased in late 2004 in the Kaveh market, a local old market in Ahvaz. tant fish in Iraq the B. grypus, which is known as the shabbout. It further states that the most important Iraqi indigenous fishes belong to the genus Barbus. Barbus grypus is also found in the Khuzestan Province in Iran in the Gulf and Hormuz basins where it is known as shirbot, shilbot or shaboot in Farsi. It reaches a maximum size of 2 m and 60 kg. In modern times, the most popular freshwater fish in southern Iraq is B. sharpeyi. Two other species of that genus common in Iraq are B. xanthopterus (kattan) and B. luteus (himri). Today, some people refer to the closely related B. esocinus as the ‘‘Tigris salmon’’ or ‘‘Euphrates salmon.’’ According to the Fishbase website B. grypus is in the Family Cyprinidae (minnows and carps), and Order Cypriniformes (carps), and is found in the Tigris-Euphrates basin (Figure 1). There is little question that the true identity of the talmudic shibuta is the Iraqi shabout, a type of carp known today by the binomial designation B. grypus. It meets all of the Talmudic descriptions: it is common, tasty, relatively large, found in Iraq and not the Mediterranean, and most importantly, there appears to be a continuous local tradition regarding its identity. A mystery to one person is obvious to another. For centuries people outside of Iraq have struggled to identify a fish that every resident of Baghdad could have identified without difficulty. Thus, while this ‘‘finding’’ will not surprise anyone intimately familiar with Iraqi and Iranian fish, it may be of interest to the other 99% of the world’s 363 ichthyologists and scholars of the ancient near east. And the message that it carries – that to identify a fish found in literature one needs to know the language and culture of the place of origin of the text – is certainly relevant to all scholars who attempt to make such identifications. Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the assistance of Amy McCune and Joe Regenstein of Cornell University, Brian Coad, Klaus Rottach, Ronald Fricke Dani Golani and the special assistance of Kenneth Ovitz. References Chaim, Y. 1994. Ben Ish Chai, Merkaz Hasefer, Jerusalem, second year, end of Emor: 18. Dor, M. 1997. Ha’chai b’ymei hamikra hamishna,v’hatmud, Grafor-Daftal Books Tel Aviv. p. 174. FAO website http://www.fao.org/fi/fcp/en/yem/irq/profile.htm downloaded December 27, 2004. Fishbase website http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?id=54808 downloaded December 27, 2004. Lewysohn, L. 1858. Die Zoologie des Talmuds. Eine umfassende Darstellung der rabbinischen Zoologie, unter steter Vergleichung der Forschungen älterer und neuerer Schriftsteller. Frankfurt a.M., Baer. Low, I. 1969. Fauna und Mineralien der Juden, Hildesheim, p. 12. Nasrallah, N. 2003. Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine, Authorhouse publishing. Ourfa letter. Downloaded from http://armenianhouse.org/harris/armenia/letter11.html on Dec 26, 2004. Rosner, F. 1972. Yerakon in the Bible and Talmud : Jaundice or Anemia? Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 25(6):626–628. Somach A.A.Y. 1899. Zivchei Tzedek, Baghdad YD 83: 11.