The beheaded “donkey” found under a bronze age residence in Israel
The remains, about 5000 years old, of a “donkey of sacrifice” and three other donkeys were discovered under a bronze age house in Israel. The herd leader was beheaded and had his feet tied.
The remains of a “Donkey of sacrifice”whose head was cut and their feet tied, were discovered under a bronze age house in Israel.
According to a study this Wednesday in PLOS Onethe donkey was buried with three more. Will have been part of a ritual involving the sacrifice of young working animals and females of a distant land – the ancient Egypt.
A first study, in 2016 also at PLOS One, that the donkey had grown in the Nile Valley.
It is not known why these donkeys were “killed at the height of their lives” during the age of bronze III of Canaan – about 2900 to 2550 BC.
As Live Science writes, archaeologists have been finding the remains of donkeys in ancient Gate (the modern Tell Eṣ-Afi), about 20 kilometers from the Mediterranean coast.
The investigators were surprised when he had found the beheaded donkey in 2010. Head had been “totally cut and carefully placed in the abdomen, turned in the opposite direction ”to the bodywrote the team in the new study, published now.
In addition, the front and rear legs of these newly discovered donkeys had been tied. And although these donkeys have not been beheaded, the “skulls of the four donkeys are facing east, possibly towards the rising sun,” the authors wrote in the new study.
Researchers think that the unexpected Egyptian origin of animals suggests that their owners were people with power – Traders or traders.
“Sacrificing such an important animal is a exaggerated demonstration of wealth or position in society, ”said the investigation leader, Elizabeth Arnoldin statements to.
“The selection of dumb only from Egypt probably highlighted this connection with an important commercial partner,” added anthropologist and environmental archaeologist at the Grand Valley State University in Michigan.
A trend that jumped in sight
The investigators noticed that All donkeys were females.
The donkeys were especially valuable “to be sacrificed, as they would be able to generate more donkeys,” said Arnold.
