Assyrian bas-relief from 710 BC

Gleaned off Facebook.

By the way, in case I haven’t written this before, I don’t believe these was yet such a thing as an “Arab horse breed” — the term ‘breed’ is a socio-cultural construct — at that early time, but there clearly was an oriental horse, some descendants of which eventually came to form the Arab breed. Notice the long, thick tail and the trimmed mane.

The pair does look like my Jamr. Just saying.

One Reply to “Assyrian bas-relief from 710 BC”

  1. The tail of the Assyrian horse looks crimped, as if it had been in braids to create a wave, and then loosed. I imagine the tail tie and the collar would have been quite colourful, and possibly embroidered. Wonder how much of the height difference between the pair of horses and their handler is hierarchical perspective and how much reflective of reality. Love the veining on the inside of the off hind; it really is a lovely relief.

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