Early Reference to Waterbuffalo

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:32 am

Finally found it. Same book, Anzaf Fortress..., by O. Belli, 1999, p.30. According to a rock carved Cuneiform inscription at Meher Kapisi, waterbuffalo, among others, are to be sacrificed to the gods according to their rank. The date of the inscription is dated 820-810 BC.

This is the earliest reference I have found of Waterbuffalo being raised in the Near East. This means that hornbows of the 9th century BC could have been made from Waterbuffalo.

This contrasts Egyptian tomb art of the 14th century BC showing Ibex horns being imported and processed in Royan bowmaking workshops. Jack

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:23 am

Jack,
Did they mention the word used for water buffalo? An Ugarit text mentions the tendons of wild bulls and the horns of wild goats (probably ibex).

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:11 am

Bede; I do not ever know if they will finally settle on an exact translation of that (and other) passage from the Aqhat epic from UGARIT. Ugarit is a mound of cuineiform tablets from Syria on the Israel border and is Cannanite culture of the 14th century BC.

The Anzaf Fortress is an 8th century BC site in Turkey of the URARTU culture. This is my understanding. The book by Belli acknowledges the preliminary nature of the material.

There is no mention of the word for waterbuffalo in Semitic.

I am on the trail of other info for waterbuffalos in the area as early as 2800BC. Will inform. -j-

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 11:59 pm

I have just been made aware of "The Archer's Bow in Homeric Poems", by Henry Balfour, published in The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol 51, 1921, pp 289-309.

Balfour concludes that the water buffalo is probably indigenous to the near East as well as India. Fossil remains were determined to be that species as well as rock art. Cylinder seals of the time of Saragon, 2870 BC, commonly represent these in the swamps of Southern Babylonia as well as much earlier engravings.

Aristotle alludes to wild bovines in Afghanistan, differing completely from the domestic type; being black, with powerful build and backward sweeping horns. 4th cent. BC.

Hunting scenes of archers taking waterbuffalos continue till approximately 700AD. in the ancient Near East.

If one does a google search of Bos, one finds approximately 50 kinds, none of which will crossbreed with cattle. -j-

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:13 am

Jack,
You are correct. The two cultures are distinct. A cuneiform alphabet was used in Ugarit to write a Semitic language while in Uhartu they used a cuneiform syllabary to write their own unique language. However, both used Akkadian cuneiform for diplomatic letters and I was wondering if the word for ox or buffalo was from the Akkadian.

Balfour's article is very early and there is a possibility he was not basing his conclusions on archaeology. Still, it is a good and thorough article that must be taken seriously.