Syrbotae
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (Retd.) |
Syrbotae was an Arabian tribe mentioned by Pliny.[1] They were twelve foot tall African men. [2]
Variants
Jat Gotras Namesake
Mention by Pliny
Pliny[4] mentions Ethiopia.... Beyond these are the Dochi, and then the Gymnetes, who always go naked; and after them the Andetæ, the Mothitæ, the Mesaches, and the Ipsodoræ, who are of a black tint, but stain the body all over with a kind of red earth. On the African side again there are the Medimni, and then a nation of Nomades, who live on the milk of the cynocephalus, and then the Aladi and the Syrbotæ22, which last are said to be eight cubits in height.
History
Syrbotae, a species of giant mentioned in many medieval bestiaries, were said to live in Africa and stand about eight cubits tall (a cubit is the distance from a man's elbow to the tip of his middle finger)[5]
Source: Pliny the Elder, Pliny's Natural History, Volumes 1–3, 160; Weber, Process of the seuyn Seuyn Sages, 327.