Daniel 8:3

The "ram" (male sheep) that Daniel saw standing before the canal represented Medo-Persia (Daniel 8:20). It corresponds to the lopsided bear in the chapter 7 vision (Daniel 7:5). The two horns, representing power, symbolized Media and Persia, the two kingdoms that formed an alliance to create Medo-Persia. The longer horn stood for Persia, which had become more powerful in the alliance and had risen to displace Media in leadership after the two nations merged. [Note: See Walvoord, The Nations . . ., pp. 70-71, for a brief history of Medo-Persia, or Siegfried J. Schwantes, A Short History of the Ancient Near East, pp. 140-51.]

The ram was an especially important symbol for the Persians. The guardian spirit of the Persian Empire was portrayed as a ram. When the Persian king went into battle, he carried the head of a ram. [Note: Keil, p. 290.] Also, in the ancient world, different zodiac signs represented various nations. Aries, the ram, stood for Persia, and Capricorn (Latin caper, goat, and cornu, horn) was Greece. [Note: F. Cumont, "La Plus Ancienne geographie astrologique," Klio 9 (1909):263-73.]