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Document Details :

Title: The Fantastic Three Thousand
Subtitle: Nero's Nile Expedition and the Make-Believe Elephants of Meroe
Author(s): MOLLER, T.O.
Journal: Ancient West & East
Volume: 21    Date: 2022   
Pages: 127-153
DOI: 10.2143/AWE.21.0.3291141

Abstract :
In classical literature and interpretations of local archaeology, elephants are strongly associated with the kingdom of Meroe in the Sudan (ca. 300 BC-AD 400). This paper seeks to locate the extent to which Meroe played an active part in the development of this association, which it argues was cultivated for protection. It uses evidence recorded about the Nile Expedition of the Roman emperor Nero to reassess the authority given to classical accounts for both elephant and rhinoceros.

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