WORK AND SADDLE ANIMALS, HEBREW:
This article deals with certain animals used for
draft and riding and in those relations; for further
information concerning them see
ASS;
Camel;
Horse;
Mule;
Pastoral Life, Hebrew. Of neat cattle the bull was used for field work, hence
the large proportion of the male in the herd
(Gen. xxxii. 15);
oxen in pairs drew the plow
(I Sam. xi. 7),
the harrow (Job. xxxix. 10), and the threshing
sled
(II Sam. xxiv. 22);
they were employed also to tread out the grain
(Deut. xxv. 4).
The ox was a valued possession; whoever took a widow's ox
as a pledge was an oppressor (Prow. xiv. 4;
Job xxiv. 3).
A goad was and is still used in driving the
animal
(Judges iii. 31;
I Sam. xiii. 21).
Ox and ass were not to be yoked together
(Deut. xxii. 10);
neat cattle were used before the cart
(I Sam. vi. 7)
and as
beasts of burden
(I Chron. xii. 40).
For the ass there were many names:
hamor; athon,
"she ass"; `ayir, Gk. onus, pblos,
"young ass "; pere', "wild ass." Before the introduction
of the horse the ass and neat cattle were the agri
culturist's only work animals. In early times ass
and ox were doubtless yoked
together; the prohi
bition of Deut. xxu. 10 arose from the sentiment
against any commingling of unlike. In plowing
heavy land the ass was not in use; it was used, how
ever, to turn millstones. Its principal value was
for Tiding by rich and poor, with or without saddle
or bridle, while the driver traveled on foot
(II Kings iv. 24).
Women especially rode it, also children
(Ex. iv. 20),
and the feeble
(II Chron. xxviii. 15);
even a corpse might be carried on it
(I Kings xiii. 29);
the young asses served children as riding ani
mals
(Judges x. 4).
Only in very early times was it used in war, except as a pack animal
(II Kings vii. 7, 10;
but cf.
Isa. xxi. 7),
being especially em ployed in times of peace
(Zech. ix. 9).
In patri archal
times it was a pack animal
(Gen. xlii. 26
and often), and in New-Testament times ox and ass
were of animals the most common possessions
(Luke xiii. 15, xiv. 5).
By peredh the Hebrews denoted the offspring
of the
ass and the mare. This animal was used
for riding, being too costly for use in early
times for ordinary pack purposes; as a sad
dle animal it was used by kings and princes
(I Kings i. 23, xviii. 5).
It seems to have come
from the Armenian highlands by way of Phenieia
(Ezek. xxvii. 1 4).
The single-humped camel is the variety of which
some mention is made in Scripture, used generally by the caravans, therefore seldom by Hebrews
(cf.
I Chron. xii. 40;
Isa. xxx. 6);
but the returning exiles employed it
(Ezra ii. 67).
Its burden was about three hundredweight, and was distributed on
both sides of the hump in a
sort of saddle; the beast
knelt while the load was adjusted. Freight camels
move slowly, and last for from twelve to fifteen
hours; the riding camel can surpass in endurance
the best horse. Different forms of saddle are used
for men and women, the latter being upholstered
and with high knobs, surmounted by a pannier.
The rider often dismounted with the aid of a
pole carried by the driver. The animal might
be adorned with rings and chains upon the
neck
(Judges viii. 21, 26).
It was useful also in war, and was employed by Arabs, Bactrians, and Africans as
a sort of cavalry. Camel's milk is mentioned
(Gen. xxxii. 15),
but its flesh was forbidden to Hebrews
(Lev. xi. 4),
although the heathen used it in sacrifice; its hair was woven into a rough cloth,
used also for tent covering
(Matt. iii. 4;
Jer. xlix. 29).
For the horse there are several designations in
Hebrew: sus is the general name;
parash is a saddle horse; the exact sense of rekhebh is
doubtful; kal means "the runner," and is
applied to the horse
(Isa. xxx. 16),
while 'abbir, "the strong," is so applied
Judges v. 22.
The New-Testament term is hippos, often in Revelation. The horse was introduced into Palestine after the time of Solomon;
when David overcame Hadadezer of
ZobA and took as booty horses and chariots, he knew only to destroy the chariots and hock the horses-except sufficient for 100 chariots
(II Sam. viii. 4).
Solomon is said to have had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen
(I Kings x. 26).
It is usually held that the probable market of the horse for the Hebrews was
Egypt, in which it-had long been prized, while Egyptian influence was stronger at the time than that of
Assyria. Israel appears to have been the latest of
the people of Hither Asia to introduce the horse for
the army, especially for the use of cavalry; at first
reserved for the use of the king (I. Kings i.. 5), the
horse was used by the nobles in the time of Jeremiah. The reference in
I Kings x. 28
is probably to be read Muzri
instead of Mizraim,
"Egypt" (see
Assyria, VI., 2, § 1). Accordingly Winckler holds that
Cilicia and Cappadocia were the marts where the
Israelites obtained their horses; while
Muzri in Arabia may be the reference in such passages as
Isa. xxxi. 1.
The much-debated passage
I Kings x. 28;
cf. verse 26, is probably the starting-point of
much legendary matter regarding Solomon's relation to the establishment of the horse as a possession among the
Hebrews. The arrival of the horse
from Cappadocia among the Babylonians is demonstrable for the period 1420-1100, and among the
Egyptians after the eighteenth dynasty. The breed
of the horses derived by Solomon from Asia can no
longer be determined. Tradition attributes the derivation of the celebrated breed of Arab horses from
those brought back by the exiles
(Ezra ii. 66),
which
were supposedly from Solomon's brood. Riding
never appears among the Hebrews as a pastime,
and such passages as
Job xxxix. 19-25
show the sentiment with which the animal was regarded. In
war the Israelitic leader rode not on horseback but
in a chariot (see
Vehicles, Hebrew); but this was not the case with Assyrians and Chaldeans. Cyrus
first made riding an accomplishment of the noble
(of.
Esther vi. 8
sqq.;
Eccles. x. 6-7);
indeed, even in later times this remained an accomplishment
foreign to the Jew. The Bible
knows horses of all
colors
(
Zech. vi. 2-3;
Rev. vi. 2
sqq.). Shoeing of the animal was unknown, hence hardness of hoof
was a valuable quality (Ira. v. 28); and this explains partly their employment only on the plains.
In the earlier times stirrups were
unknown, and in a still earlier period the saddle was not used. Decorations for the horse, the bridle, and the plume for
the head appear in the Scriptures, and are pictured
on Assyrian reliefs. In poetical imagery the horse
figures frequently; in
Rev. xix. 11, 14,
Christ rides as victor a white horse.
(R. Zehnpfund.)
Bibliography:
The literature on the subject is ~ already principa ly given under ASS,
Camel,
Horse, and
Mule. Consult further: A. Zeller, Das Pferd, der Eael und der Hund in der
heiligen Schrift, Plaven, 1890; J.Wimmer,
Palastinas Boden Twit seiner
Pfanzen- and Tierwelt,
Cologne, 1902; Nehring, Die geographischeVerbreitung der Sdugetiere in Paldatina and
Syrien, in Globus, vol. lxxxi.; W. R.
Arnold in JAOS, vol. xxvi.; DB, i. 173, 344,
829, ii. 416, iii. 456.
