Symbolic Metal Bit and Saddlebag Fastenings in a Middle Bronze Age Donkey Burial

Bar-Oz, Guy; Nahshoni, P.; Motro, Hadas; Oren, Eliezer D.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058648

Cited by 21 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…8.16–18; Brink , 46–7; Klenck , 55; Schiestl ; Way , 6–13, 137–70; , 212–15; Forstner‐Müller , 132; Bar‐Oz et al . ). Burials of humans with weapons near equids can indicate high status and a military role.…”

Section: Elite and Part‐time Warriorsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Middle Bronze Age Burials in the Southern Levant: Spartan Warriors or Ordinary People?

Kletter

Levi

2016

Oxford J Archaeology

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Summary Intermediate and Middle Bronze Age tombs with weapons (mainly daggers) in the southern Levant were often interpreted as ‘warrior graves’. Taking into consideration new data from Rishon Le‐Zion (Israel), recent work on early warfare and warriors, and a study of so‐called ‘warrior graves’ in Mesopotamia (Rehm 2003), we suggest that most of these graves are not graves of elite warriors, but typical male burials. We also discuss the assumed ‘burial kit’ and the decline in numbers of weapons per burial, which is in our view related to the shift from individual burials (in the Intermediate Bronze and Middle Bronze IIA periods) to multiple shaft burials (in the Middle Bronze IIB period).

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Section: Elite and Part‐time Warriorsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Middle Bronze Age Burials in the Southern Levant: Spartan Warriors or Ordinary People?

Kletter

Levi

2016

Oxford J Archaeology

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“…com.). Equid burials are not uncommon in the Middle East during the Bronze Age and often have ceremonial or symbolic significance (see especially Vila 2006 andWapnish 1997;Way 2010;2011;also Al-Zawahra and Ezzughayyar 1998;Bar-Oz et al 2013;Boessneck and von den Driesch 1986;Greenfield 2012). …”

Section: Donkey Burialmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fauna of Tell Nebi Mend (Syria) in the Bronze and Iron Age—a diachronic overview. Part 1: Stability and change—animal husbandry

Grigson¹

2015

Levant

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Caroline GrigsonThe analysis of the large sample of domestic animal bones excavated from Tell Nebi Mend in northwest Syria shows that there was remarkably little change in patterns of husbandry from the Early Bronze Age to the Iron Age, probably due to the propinquity of the River Orontes. Although the most numerous bones were those of sheep and goats, estimates of body weight suggest that cattle were of greater importance in the economy. Camels were present in the Iron Age levels and unexpectedly also in Late Bronze Age II contexts; the latter seem to be the earliest domestic camels known from the northern Syria.

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“…The earliest unambiguous evidence for bridles and bits in equids in the Near East appear only in the Middle Bronze Age [ 52 , 62 , 63 ], and horses become common only in cuneiform texts and the archaeological record after the turn of the second millennium BC [ 44 ]. For example, at the Middle Bronze Age site of Tel Haror, a metal bit was found associated with a donkey burial [ 63 ].…”

Section: Antiquity Of the Bit In The Near Eastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earliest evidence for equid bit wear in the ancient Near East: The "ass" from Early Bronze Age Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel

et al. 2018

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Analysis of a sacrificed and interred domestic donkey from an Early Bronze Age (EB) IIIB (c. 2800–2600 BCE) domestic residential neighborhood at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel, indicate the presence of bit wear on the Lower Premolar 2 (LPM2). This is the earliest evidence for the use of a bit among early domestic equids, and in particular donkeys, in the Near East. The mesial enamel surfaces on both the right and left LPM2 of the particular donkey in question are slightly worn in a fashion that suggests that a dental bit (metal, bone, wood, etc.) was used to control the animal. Given the secure chronological context of the burial (beneath the floor of an EB IIIB house), it is suggested that this animal provides the earliest evidence for the use of a bit on an early domestic equid from the Near East.

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Symbolic Metal Bit and Saddlebag Fastenings in a Middle Bronze Age Donkey Burial

Cited by 21 publications

References 13 publications

Middle Bronze Age Burials in the Southern Levant: Spartan Warriors or Ordinary People?

Middle Bronze Age Burials in the Southern Levant: Spartan Warriors or Ordinary People?

The fauna of Tell Nebi Mend (Syria) in the Bronze and Iron Age—a diachronic overview. Part 1: Stability and change—animal husbandry

Earliest evidence for equid bit wear in the ancient Near East: The "ass" from Early Bronze Age Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel

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