As part of my daily Bible reading today I read Mark 14. At the end of Mark 14 we read about Peter’s denial of Christ that happened before the crowing of the cock. Growing up in rural areas I well remember the sound of a cock crowing. At one time we also raised chickens and had a magnificent black rooster. I wondered what the cock or rooster looked like that crowed in Jerusalem. I did a little bit of research and found that it would have most likely been a domesticated rooster. However, this would have been well before the emergence of the many breeds of chickens that we have today. So what would it have most likely looked like? I would imagine that it would look very much like the Red Junglefowl.

Crowing Cock

I took this picture at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. The Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) is the bird from which our chickens of today (Gallus gallus domesticus) originated. I tend to like the original. The Red Junglefowl came from Southeast Asia and was domesticated  over 5,000 years ago. I can still hear the crowing of this magnificent bird in my memory as I look at this picture. You can just imagine the volume of the crow. I really like this picture as it looks like the cock is crowing for all its worth.

One of the interesting facts that I found out about the cock or rooster, was that they was kept by Roman soldiers as watch birds. Can you imagine the alarm that they would give. During the second temple period the Talmud says that there was a ban on priests keeping chickens as they were very messy to keep. There may have also been a prohibition about keeping them in the city of Jerusalem. However, I am sure that Roman soldiers quartered in Jerusalem would have had them in their camps. I can imagine that it would have been one of these cocks that Peter heard crowing.

I also found out that a seal dating from just after the beginning of the Babylonian captivity was found at Tell en-Nasbeh. The seal has an image of a cock or rooster that looks very similar to the Red Junglefowl.

Here is another picture of the Red Junglefowl.This is the same bird. You can tell from the bands on the legs. They are the same color combination. I really like the coloring of this bird and the way the two long tail feathers curve over the rest. Look back at the first picture to see both of the longer feathers.

Altogether a magnificent bird.

Steven