Symbology has always been important for Christians since the beginning of the Church, and animals as well as the natural world have been used to communicate theological truths for thousands of years. In the early centuries of the Church, the physiologus , a symbolical book of beasts, stones and plants, began to circulate around the Christian world. The original is believed to have been written in Greek, in Alexandria, Egypt, sometime around the end of the second to the beginning of the third century. The symbolical and mystical nature of the text reflects the style of hermeneutics popular in Alexandria during the time of their composition. It was quickly circulated throughout the Christian world, was translated into many languages and became a very influential writing for Christendom until the time of the Reformation. There are multiple textual traditions, with many versions having different animals, legends, and allegories. Many of the animals legends are taken from prior sources, such as Pliny’s Naturalis Historia , then these legends are given Christian morals and allegories. Eventually the physiologus was incorporated into medieval bestiaries along with additional material from other works such as St. Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae and St. Basil’s Hexaemeron . This translation is based on a Greek text and is the work of James Carlill. The translation was published in a larger work, The Epic of the Beast and is in the public domain.