Gier Eagle

The gier eagle is listed among the unclean birds in the Mosaic law (Lev. 11:18; Deut. 14:17). The Hebrew word rendered "gier eagle" is racham, derived from a root meaning tenderness, possibly because the bird was thought to show affection to its young. Modern scholars generally identify it as the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), a scavenging bird common throughout the Near East. Like all birds of prey and scavengers, it was ceremonially unclean for Israel.