Re: [tied] Re: horses

----- Original Message -----
From: John Croft <jdcroft@...>
To: <cybalist@egroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2000 12:40 AM
Subject: [tied] Re: horses


> Gerry asked of Piotr
>
> > Actually it was Alekseev who mentioned an early relief in Iraq
> which dates to the third millennium BC depicting the horse as a
> loading animal. I remember researching the Behistun relief and
> perhaps misread that it was at Persepolis. I should have some free
> time tomorrow to research it again but could you perhaps give me some
> preliminary info on the Behistun relief? If it wasn't at Persepolis,
> then where was it located?
> >
> > And thanks for the description of an onager. Guess it looks more
> like a donkey. Do you know anything about the habits of an onager.
> For example, were they loners or herd animals?
>
> The onager was a herd animal.
>
> Often defined as a half donkey the Onager are actually independently
> related to the horse, whose former habitat extended over far sections
> of the asiatic continent. As steppe inhabitants they are very fleet
> of foot. Nowadays it widely hunted, because of alleged competition to
> domestic animals or for use in theaters of war (e.g. Afghanistan) as
> cheap source of meat. The stalion either leads a herd with up to 15
> mares and foals or it shows territorial behavior, staking a territory
> and waiting for any females which come by. During the drought the
> stalion drives the females long distances over a huge range. The
> females drop their first foal after approx. 3 years. The foal is
> fully grown after about 1 year. Over her breeding life the mare
> delivers a max. of one new generation every two years. About 150 of
> these animals survive in the zoos of the world.
>
> The onager attracted a reputation for its "toughness", which is why
> its name was given to a Roman seige engine.
>
>
> A good site for information on the onager is at
> http://www.arabianwildlife.com/past_arw/vol1.2/onager.htm
>
> Regards
>
> John

While researching Dereivka on Google I came upon the last link on
Domestication: A Cooperative Venture and discovered that horses are herd
dwelling animals and donkeys are territorial and solitary in nature. Social
hierarchy and interdependence are important traits for survival and
authority in the herd is yielded by the alpha MARE (not male). I have
confirmed that indeed the Behistan relief is at Persepolis, attributed to
the time of Darius, dates to the mid 1st millennium and doesn't depict any
animals. Need to look further.

Gerry