Utente:Panjabi/Prove: differenze tra le versioni

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[[File:Giraffe cave art.jpg|thumb|Bushman rock art in Namibia depicting a giraffe]]

Humans have interacted with giraffes for millennia. The [[Bushmen]] of southern Africa have medicine dances named after some animals; the giraffe dance is performed to treat head ailments.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Ross, K.|year=2003|title=Okavango: jewel of the Kalahari|publisher=Struik|page=168|isbn=1-86872-729-7}}</ref> How the giraffe got its height has been the subject of various African [[folktales]],<ref name=sim1996/> including one from eastern Africa which explains that the giraffe grew tall from eating too many magic herbs.<ref>{{cite book|author=Greaves, N.; Clement, R.|year=2000|title=When Hippo Was Hairy: And Other Tales from Africa|publisher=Struik|pages=86–88|isbn=1-86872-456-5}}</ref> Giraffes were depicted in art throughout the African continent, including that of the [[Kiffian culture|Kiffians]], [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]] and [[Meroë|Meroë Nubians]].<ref name=Williams>{{Cite book|author=Williams, E.|year=2011|title=Giraffe|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=1-86189-764-2}}</ref>{{rp|45–47}} The Kiffians were responsible for a life-size rock engraving of two giraffes that has been called the "world's largest rock art petroglyph".<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|45}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/giraffe/|title=The Dabous Giraffe rock art petrograph|publisher=The Bradshaw Foundation|accessdate=2011-11-06}}</ref> The Egyptians gave the giraffe its own [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyph]], named 'sr' in [[Old Egyptian language|Old Egyptian]] and 'mmy' in later periods.<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|49}} They also kept giraffes as pets and shipped them around the [[Mediterranean]].<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|48–49}}

[[File:Yongle-Giraffe1Tribute Giraffe with Attendant.jpg|thumb|left|Painting of a giraffe imported to China during the Ming Dynasty]]

The giraffe was also known to the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], who believed that it was an unnatural hybrid of a [[camel]] and a leopard and called it ''camelopardalis''.<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|50}} The giraffe was among the many animals collected and displayed by the Romans. The first one in Rome was brought in by [[Julius Caesar]] in 46 BC and exhibited to the public.<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|52}} With the [[fall of the Roman Empire]], the housing of giraffes in Europe declined.<ref name=Williams/>{{rp|54}} During the [[Middle Ages]], giraffes were only known to Europeans through contact with the Arabs, who revered the giraffe for its peculiar appearance.<ref name="Prothero 2003">{{Cite book|author=Prothero, D. R.; Schoch, R. M.|year=2003|title=Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|pages=67–72|isbn=0-8018-7135-2}}</ref>