Symbolism of the ibex motif in Negev rock art

Avner, Uzi; Horwitz, Liora Kolska; Horowitz, Wayne

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.11.009

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…5). A similar dominance is noted for ibex representations in the Negev (Avner, Kolska Horwitz, & Horowitz, 2017;Eisenberg-Degen & Rosen, 2013), where a disinterest in rendering domestic sheep and goat is also similar. Although the style of pecking is not directly similar, like those from Wisad Pools, the depictions are unmistakable given the exaggerated arch or curling large horns, sometimes including the horizontal bosses.…”

Section: Animals On the Landscapesupporting

confidence: 58%

“…While structures are visible across the landscape in remotely sensed data from the region, rock art is also ubiquitous on the landscape, but can only be identified by intensive boots‐on‐the‐ground surveys. Pecked rock art is documented in the desert regions of Israel, Jordan, the Arabian Peninsula, and in the eastern Badia (Anati, 1968, 1996, 2015; Avner, Kolska Horwitz, & Horowitz, 2017; Betts, 1998; Betts & Helms, 1986; Corbett, 2012; Guagnin et al, 2015; Harding, 1953; Jobling, 1986; Nayeem, 2000; Searight, 1983; Searight Macdonald, 1982; Ziolkowski, 1998, 2007). Although these examples depict some similar motifs, most differ stylistically.…”

Section: Regional Petroglyphsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inscribed landscapes in the Black Desert: Petroglyphs and kites at Wisad Pools, Jordan

Hill

Rowan

Wasse

et al. 2020

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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Petroglyphs are well known in the Negev, eastern and southern Jordan, and the Arabian Peninsula. Intensive documentation of hundreds of petroglyphs at the site of Wisad Pools in the Black Desert of eastern Jordan records animals, humans, hunting traps and geometric designs, connecting people and places to the larger landscape. These were recorded at the landscape scale with drones and photogrammetry, and the local scale through the construction of a database combined with GPS recording and terrestrial photogrammetry. Petroglyphs of animals and hunting traps are significant because the site is located within a landscape that includes enormous and enigmatic hunting traps (desert kites). Mapping these depictions highlights typological distribution, association of types, and relation to landscape features as well as the topography of the basalt boulders on which they were pecked. The depictions of animals and hunting traps provide clues about the use of desert kites, the social role of hunting, communal gatherings, and feasting in the region.

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Section: Animals On the Landscapesupporting

confidence: 58%

Section: Regional Petroglyphsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inscribed landscapes in the Black Desert: Petroglyphs and kites at Wisad Pools, Jordan

Hill

Rowan

Wasse

et al. 2020

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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“…Moreover, rock‐art depictions may also provide an inaccurate representation of the types and numbers of animals actually present in an environment; for example, it has been noted that rock art and faunal assemblages from archaeological contexts often represent different groups of species (Guagnin et al, 2018; Hill et al, 2020). Avner et al (2017), for instance, note the predominance of ibex in rock‐art depictions of hunting in the Negev, which are absent from excavated faunal assemblages from the Late Neolithic. The methodology of this study, with a primary survey and identification of structures conducted remotely, was not well‐suited to the systematic identification of rock‐art.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Nubian ibex (Capra ibex nubiana) is also well adapted to the bare highlands and rugged mountainous terrain but requires a higher water availability than the gazelle (Habibi, 2009), which Holzer et al (2010, p. 815) suggest may have been a weakness that hunters could have exploited. Hunting of ibex with kites however is not well supported by evidence from the archaeological record (Avner et al, 2017). AlUla County residents have witnessed gazelle and ibex on the Ḥarrat ʿUwayriḍ, though in depleted numbers (Yousef AlBalawi, personal communication, December 16, 2021).…”

Section: Ecological Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kites of AlUla County and the Ḥarrat ʿUwayriḍ, Saudi Arabia

Repper

Kennedy

McMahon

et al. 2022

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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A comprehensive remote sensing survey of AlUla County in north‐west Saudi Arabia has revealed 32 examples of the ancient, stone‐built animal traps known as ‘kites’. Noting that most (27) are located on the Ḥarrat ʿUwayriḍ, a satellite survey of parts of that lavafield outside of AlUla County was undertaken, identifying a further 175 kites. These show commonalities with ‘V‐shaped’ kites previously identified in mountainous areas along the western extents of the Arabian Shield in the Sinai Peninsula, Negev Desert and south‐west Saudi Arabia. A study of the form and placement of these kites in their ecological and geological contexts suggests that they are representative of a distinct complex, exhibiting sophisticated morphological adaptations to target specific games over similar terrain.

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“…While we can assume that the engravers and painters could only create naturalistic and anatomically accurate depictions of species they were familiar with, there are also a number of constraints that result from the ‘artistic filter’ that underlies the creation of these images. The frequency with which a particular species is depicted is culturally driven and probably relates to the symbolic value of the animal (Avner, Horwitz, & Horowitz, ; Guagnin, et al, ; Guagnin ; Rollefson, Wasse, & Rowan, ). The rock art therefore allows a deduction of what species were present, but the frequency of the animal in the landscape and its economic importance can only be identified through skeletal remains of the animals themselves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rock art provides new evidence on the biogeography of kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis), wild dromedary, aurochs (Bos primigenius) and African wild ass (Equus africanus) in the early and middle Holocene of north‐western Arabia

Guagnin

Shipton

el-Dossary

et al. 2018

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Our knowledge of the prehistoric distribution of animal species is so far largely dependent on the location of excavated archaeological and palaeontological sites. In the absence of excavated faunal remains, many species that were present in the Levant and North Africa have been assumed to have been absent on the Arabian Peninsula. Here, we explore representations of four species that were identifiable in the rock art, but had not previously been reported in north‐western Arabia. Location Jubbah and Shuwaymis UNESCO world heritage rock art sites in Ha'il province, north‐western Saudi Arabia. Methods In total, the rock art panels surveyed and recorded in Jubbah and Shuwaymis contain 6,618 individual animal depictions. Species were identified based on diagnostic features of the anatomy. The resulting dataset was then compared to the faunal spectrum reported in the (archaeo)zoological literature. Results The rock art dataset provides evidence that the distributions of lesser kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis), wild camel and African wild ass (Equus africanus) extended into the north‐west of Arabia and that the engravers may have had knowledge of aurochs (Bos primigenius). Main conclusions The presence of previously undocumented mammal species in Arabia provides new information regarding their distribution, as well as the types of habitat and vegetation that were available in prehistoric landscapes. Moreover, the presence of kudu on the Arabian Peninsula indicates that the identification of palaeo‐distributions based exclusively on faunal remains may miss key species in the Afro‐Eurasian faunal exchange.

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Symbolism of the ibex motif in Negev rock art

Cited by 15 publications

References 16 publications

Inscribed landscapes in the Black Desert: Petroglyphs and kites at Wisad Pools, Jordan

Inscribed landscapes in the Black Desert: Petroglyphs and kites at Wisad Pools, Jordan

Kites of AlUla County and the Ḥarrat ʿUwayriḍ, Saudi Arabia

Rock art provides new evidence on the biogeography of kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis), wild dromedary, aurochs (Bos primigenius) and African wild ass (Equus africanus) in the early and middle Holocene of north‐western Arabia

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