Hunting Kings

Abstract

Nimrod, the builder of cities from Babel to Calah, was the first “mighty man” on earth, a “mighty hunter before the Lord.” So were other Near Eastern, North African, Far Eastern, European, and New World kings. They hunted everything from lions to guanacos, on four of six continents, from the beginning to the end of recorded time. But why? Hunting provided meat, and perhaps military exercise; but most kings subsisted on domesticated animals and plants, and delegated their wars to specialists. Besides, chasing animals cost money and time, and more than a few kings were killed or maimed in the act of bringing down game. The costs seem to outweigh the benefits. Much about human history seems to have been adaptive. Royal hunts do not. Hunting was the human adaptation on the savannah for hundreds of thousands of years. But it seems to be a vestige most kings can't shake.