Names
According to Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, she was called The Beautiful Animal of the King (le bel animal du roi) during her trip from Marseille to Paris. A 1998 book written by American author Michael Allin (Zarafa: A Giraffe's True Story, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris) and a 2012 French animation film both refer to her as Zarafa, which is the Arabic for "Giraffe". Another Arabic word with a similar pronunciation, meaning "charming" or "lovely one" was mentioned by Allin as a possible etymology, but this is ruled out as both words are spelled with different Arabic letters.
Read more about this topic: Giraffe Given To Charles X Of France By Muhammad Ali Of Egypt
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