Kate found an interesting document the other day, which this entry reproduces and comments on. The document was published in the “Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale Zoologique D’Acclimatation“, a French scientific society founded in 1854 during the French Second Empire, under Napoleon III. Th document concerns the grey Arabian stallion “Bawab”, also known as “Aneze”, gifted in 1855 by the Viceroy of Egypt and his presumptive heir to French entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps. De Lesseps, of Suez Canal fame, imported the stallion to France along with a mare and another stallion, also gifts from the Viceroy and his heir. A third stallion joined them from Syria, a gift from De Lessep’s brother Edmond, then France’s Consul General in Beirut. The Viceroy of Egypt at the time was Said, under whose tenure work on the Suez Canal begun. His presumptive heir was Prince Ahmed Rifaat Pasha, who died drowning in 1858 and was replaced by Ismail Pasha as Said’s heir. The description the bulletin gives of Bawab is unenthusiastic: Le deuxième étalon, du nom arabe Bawab dit Anézé, gris clair comme le précédent. Sa taille est de 1 mètre 48 centimètres . Il est âgé de douze ans . Ce Cheval…