More Assyrian horses
I still taken by the realism and accuracy of the Assyrian representations of horses of distinct Arabian type on the walls of their palaces. Here is one more. Note that I am not saying “desert-bred Arabian horses” but rather “horses of distinct Arabian type”, because there is no way to tell whether these horses came from Bedouins.
Their horses did not come from the bedouins but from the Medes. The Assyrians learned riding and cavalry employement from the Medes, they also obtained horses from the Medes. The Medes finally destroyed Assyria as well.
Considering the resemblance, it is probably safe to say that the bedouin obtained descendants from Assyrian horses, that is unless there where wild horses in the Arabian peninsula and they caught their own 🙂
Indeed, Mede cavalry was famous, and what you write makes total sense, but what would you make of Assyrians boasting that they got tributes from Arabia in the form of horses? Maybe there were more than one source..
Maybe … didn’t find that on Wikipedia 🙂
Check this:
http://daughterofthewind.org/the-earliest-mention-of-horses-and-bedouins/
What is the source of this second panel? Are you sure it is Assyrian ? — I’m simply noting the dress of the person in the panel. I’d love to hear where it is from and the period.
Tzviah