Equids at Karkemish during the Iron Age. Faunal remains, artefacts, and written sources

How popular were equids at Karkemish during the Iron Age period? Did their presence leave us any trace? This paper aims at demonstrating the widespread use of equids at Karkemish. Neo-Assyrian royal annals inform us on tributes from Syro-Hittite Kingdoms, in which horses, donkeys and mules are a constant. This paper integrates those written sources with the new material evidence from the Turco-Italian expedition of the University of Bologna. Indeed, on the basis of the osteological evidence, equids are the third most represented animal group in the local faunal assemblage, almost as abundant as bovids, while sheep/goats are by far the most significant taxon. Domestic equids include mainly horses (Equus caballus), followed by donkeys (Equus asinus) and possibly mules, while the presence of wild equids (Equus hemionus) is rare. Considering the age at death and the scarcity of butchering traces, equids were not primarily exploited for food, but were mainly used as beasts of burden and, in the case of horses, also as status symbols and in warfare activities. In fact, equids were killed mainly as adults, when their contribution as workforce began to become unprofitable. The importance of equids is also testified through the artistic repertoire, both in official and minor arts. On the one hand, horses are one of the most attested subjects in the Syro-Hittite relief sculpture as testified, for instance, in the chariots slabs from the Long Wall of Sculpture of Karkemish. On the other hand, between the mid-8th and full 7th century BC, we assist in the rise of a new massive coroplastic production. The majority of these figurines were harnessed horses, known as Handmade Syrian Horses and Riders (HSHR’s). It is currently believed that those terracottas were a lively expression of socio-political changes that occurred in the Middle Euphrates valley under the Assyrian hegemony.