mountains,” and ANŠE.ZI.ZI, “speedy ass.” The Sumerograms first appear in texts
from the Ur III period (2112–2004 BC, middle chronology). The name “ass from
the mountains” suggests that in central Anatolia, Syria and Mesopotamia hor -
ses were brought either from the mountainous land of southern Caucasia or—much
less likely—form the eastern foothills of the Zagros.^52 In one of his vaunts King
Shulgi of Ur claimed that he darted from Ur to Nippur as rapidly as an
ANŠE.KUR.RA of the god Šakkan, waving its tail as it races on the road.^53
Inventions on the steppe
In the Near East, the taming of horses provided sport, entertainment and danger.
On the Eurasian steppe, where domesticated horses were everywhere, the taming
of horses had much greater consequences. Probably here too the first “free” riding
done with at least some confidence may have depended on the rider’s grasping a
rope attached to a copper or bronze ring in the nose of a pack horse that was
accustomed to carrying a person. However that may be, by ca. 2000 BCsome people
on the steppe had discovered a much better device with which to control a
galloping horse. This was the bit, a mouthpiece placed across the diastemata, the
gaps between the horse’s incisors and pre-molars. The mouthpiece was tied to
two cheekpieces, each with sharpened points that when tugged against the cheek
caused the horse enough discomfort to cause it to turn its head in the desired
direction. The bit functioned as a brake when the rider pulled back on the reins,
bringing the mouthpiece back against the sensitive corners of the horse’s mouth.
The earliest known cheekpieces, carved from bone, have been found in the forest
steppe east of the Urals: they would have been connected by a mouthpiece made
from leather or some other perishable material. Until evidence to the contrary is
found we may suppose that the invention of the bit took place in the forest steppe
near the Urals.
It has been argued, however, that bits were first used in the Near East, for con -
trolling donkeys used as draft animals. Although draft equids in Sumer had long
been controlled by nose-rings, some specialists believe that by 2200 BCat least
a few donkeys in the Jazirah were being controlled by copper or bronze bits. At
Tell Brak, in the upper Habur area of eastern Syria, archaeologists in 1992
discovered the skeletons of five donkeys near the foundations of a small temple.^54
The donkeys had been sacrificed, ca. 2200 BC, to the god Šakkan, who preferred
donkeys to other sacrificial animals. The pre-molars of the donkeys were worn,
and on three of the donkey skulls the pre-molars were stained blue-green. Juliette
Clutton-Brock and Sophie Davies concluded that “the donkeys were bridled with
bits made of copper or bronze.” With some hesitation Mary Littauer and Joost
Crouwel accepted the conclusion, noting that such blue-green stains were
unparalleled.^55
If Clutton-Brock and Davies were correct about the teeth from Tell Brak, the
donkeys were very likely used as draft animals, pulling the heavy disk-wheeled
carts that were fairly common at Tell Brak and other sites in Syria and
Mesopotamia.^56 We would then conclude that the bit was originally devised for
The Kurgan theory and taming of horses 41