This 8,000-Year-Old Rock Art in Saudi Arabia Is The Earliest Depiction of Domesticated Dogs

[GBU-28]

Man's best friend. The Islamic world needs to stop seeing dogs as dirty and embrace them.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Man's best friend. The Islamic world needs to stop seeing dogs as dirty and embrace them.

Dogs are highly respected in Arabia.

As well as cats.

Both originate from our lands and were first domesticated in our lands.

Saluki dog races and hunting are a several million big industry.

I have noticed that we have always had a close relationship to numerous useful animals (don't take this in a wrong way as some perverts would). The best example is the world famous Arabian horse, falcons (falconry) or the camel. Or sheep. All animals domesticated in Arabia/Arab Near East (where the first large-scale domestication of animals occurred in the world) so not really strange.

 

[Sinnerman108]

Interesting, it would greatly help in understanding evolution & migration of humans.
It seems a lot of prehistoric sites lie unexplored in Arabian peninsula. Hope more such discoveries are made and researched thoroughly to get better understanding of our mankinds past.

This is very very nice.
Once we figure and map this more accurately,
I believe some great mysteries will be solved.

@KapitaanAli & @Saif al-Arab

I was going through some of my old stuff , and I realised this

Ibraheem ( May the love and blessing of Allah always be with his friend ) -> Brahma -> Brahmin

I really believe this equation one day will be solved. and the books of Ibraheem ( The lovely friend of Allah ) will one day be read and understood.

--صُحُفِ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ وَمُوسَىٰ == Veda purana

 

[GBU-28]

Dogs are highly respected in Arabia.

As well as cats.

Both originate from our lands and were first domesticated in our lands.

Saluki dog races and hunting are a several million big industry.

I have noticed that we have always had a close relationship to numerous useful animals (don't take this in a wrong way as some perverts would). The best example is the world famous Arabian horse, falcons (falconry) or the camel. Or sheep. All animals domesticated in Arabia/Arab Near East (where the first large-scale domestication of animals occurred in the world) so not really strange.

Dogs are definitely seen as dirty in the Arab world. Not by all, but a big part of it. Cats were revered in ancient Egypt so don't have as bad a reputation.

I remember when I had an Iranian visit me for the first time and saw I had a dog in the house. He couldn't believe that the dog actually lives in the house. He even said "that's dirty".

15 years later he now has his own dog and a cat in the house.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Dogs are definitely seen as dirty in the Arab world. Not by all, but a big part of it. Cats were revered in ancient Egypt so don't have as bad a reputation.

I remember when I had an Iranian visit me for the first time and saw I had a dog in the house. He couldn't believe that the dog actually lives in the house. He even said "that's dirty".

15 years later he now has his own dog and a cat in the house.

I am not sure about that. I know for a fact that dogs are not considered as dirty in KSA unless they are stray dogs and roaming the streets of cities. Basically wild dogs. On the countryside dogs are very useful for many people and even in cities many people use dogs as watch dogs etc. There is nothing wrong with this.

Cats are hugely popular in KSA and people tend to feed even stray cats in major cities.

In KSA/Arabia there is a tradition of many pursuits involving animals. From dog races, to horse racing to camel races to falconry to even more absurdly (they exist in all countries) beauty contests of various animals.

Cats are sometimes walking around in Al-Majsid al-Haram and Al-Masjid An-Nabawi.

My favorite cats are the Arabian sand cats but they are very elusive animals only found in wild areas and they are only active at night and not very approachable at all.

Check this Najdi sheep out, lol. The most expensive ones cost a fortune.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Najdi_sheep

1.7 million views.

I think that KSA is doing a lot of good to preserve animals and we treat them very well in general.

We have the largest number of national parks in the Middle East and the largest in size and we also have very expensive facilities that treat various animals from horses, camels to many other animals.

This is very very nice.
Once we figure and map this more accurately,
I believe some great mysteries will be solved.

@KapitaanAli & @Saif al-Arab

I was going through some of my old stuff , and I realised this

Ibraheem ( May the love and blessing of Allah always be with his friend ) -> Brahma -> Brahmin

I really believe this equation one day will be solved. and the books of Ibraheem ( The lovely friend of Allah ) will one day be read and understood.

--صُحُفِ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ وَمُوسَىٰ == Veda purana

I don't see a connection between Abrahamic/Semitic/monotheistic religions and Hinduism and Buddhism although most religions resolve around similar topics.

You can find similarities to ancient Semitic polytheistic and pagan religions (the first known religions in the world) too.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Rock Carvings of Ancient Dogs Getting Taught New Tricks

Engravings in the Saudi desert may be the earliest depictions of human-canine companionship.

Trilobites

By NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR NOV. 20, 2017

A prehistoric scene, enhanced with digital tracings, top, is etched into rock in the Saudi desert showing what may be the earliest depictions of human-dog companionship. The engravings are 8,000 to 9,000 years old. Credit Huw Groucutt

Our bond with dogs is etched in stone.

For thousands of years man’s best friend has been by our sides, helping us hunt, herd and heal from emotional stress. Now, in a study published Thursday, archaeologists exploring rock engravings in the Saudi desert have found what they say may be the earliest depictions of human-canine companionship.

The ancient carvings date back about 8,000 to 9,000 years and depict hunters using dogs to overwhelm prey such as gazelles and ibex before they fired killing blows with bows and arrows.

“You can almost hear the dogs barking and the humans yelling,” said Melinda Zeder, a curator of Old World archaeology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the study. “You can almost smell the fear in the animals.”
Photo

The etchings are hard to date because they left little indication of when they were carved. Researchers had to correlate the art with nearby archaeological sites that had been dated. CreditHuw Groucutt
With their pricked ears, angled chests and curly tails, each dog in the rock art resembles the modern breed of Canaan dogs. In one scene there are two lines connecting the necks of two dogs to the hips of the humans.

“This is the first imagery of a dog with a leash,” said Michael Petraglia, an archaeologist from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, in Germany, and an author of the study, which appeared in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology and was first reported by Science. He said that because of where the lines were on the dog and human’s anatomy, they most likely represented actual leashes and were not mere symbolic lines.

Dr. Petraglia added that the rock art most likely dated to the early Holocene period, which began around when the Paleolithic ice age closed. But he acknowledged that the team was unable to date it directly because the etchings left little indication for when they were carved. Instead the team correlated the rock art with nearby archaeological sites that they had dated.

The team also found that the dog images were carved beneath images of cattle, which they said indicated that the dog images came earlier. They said earlier evidence had suggested these particular ancient humans had domesticated dogs before they began keeping cattle. They added that the transition from being hunter-gatherers to herding most likely occurred between 6,800 B.C. and 6,200 B.C., which they used to hypothesize that the rock art featuring dogs appeared before humans began herding.

“We can now say about 9,000 years ago people already controlled their dogs and had them on leashes and used them for really complex hunting strategies,” said Maria Guagnin, an archaeologist from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and lead author. She worked in partnership with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.

Photo

Dogs overwhelming a gazelle, left, and fighting a lion, right. CreditLeft, Ash Parton; Right, Huw Groucutt
Dr. Guagnin analyzed more than 1,400 panels of rock art that contained more than 6,600 animals across two sites. The images showed dogs helping humans hunt equids, or African asses, as well as fearsome lions and leopards. Some artwork depicted the dogs taking down medium-size prey, and in others they were used to corner larger prey.

“It’s a little bit heart wrenching, the equids are usually mothers with their young being attacked,” said Dr. Guagnin. One such image featured 21 dogs, two with leashes, surrounding an equid and its children. “It’s quite interesting to see these scenes with the dying animals and there are dogs hanging off them.”

Dr. Guagnin was not sure why the dogs would have been leashed, but she speculated it might indicate the dog was young and learning to hunt or it was important and the hunters wanted to keep it away from danger.

Dr. Zeder questioned the dating, saying that the team needed stronger evidence to support their claim that the images were as old as they believed. But she called the images striking and said they showed a collaboration between humans and dogs where humans were in control, which is a rare find among archaeological remains.

“This is giving us an actual window into the visceral thrill of the hunt,” she said. “With the rock art you’re putting flesh on the bones.”

Photo

The dogs depicted in the art resemble the modern breed of Canaan dogs. CreditHuw Groucutt

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/20/science/dogs-rock-art.html

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

 

[Hack-Hook]

That's not first images of dogs . these are only 8000years old there are images as old as 19000 year its better to say first image of doubling used by humans

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

That's not first images of dogs . these are only 8000years old there are images as old as 19000 year its better to say first image of doubling used by humans

Science Magazine begs to differ.

These may be the world’s first images of dogs—and they’re wearing leashes

By David GrimmNov. 16, 2017 , 8:00 AM

Carved into a sandstone cliff on the edge of a bygone river in the Arabian Desert, a hunter draws his bow for the kill. He is accompanied by 13 dogs, each with its own coat markings; two animals have lines running from their necks to the man’s waist.

The engravings likely date back more than 8000 years, making them the earliest depictions of dogs, a new study reveals. And those lines are probably leashes, suggesting that humans mastered the art of training and controlling dogs thousands of years earlier than previously thought.

“It’s truly astounding stuff,” says Melinda Zeder, an archaeozoologist at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. “It’s the only real demonstration we have of humans using early dogs to hunt.” But she cautions that more work will be needed to confirm both the age and meaning of the depictions.

The hunting scene comes from Shuwaymis, a hilly region of northwestern Saudi Arabia where seasonal rains once formed rivers and supported pockets of dense vegetation. For the past 3 years, Maria Guagnin, an archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany—in partnership with the Saudi Commission for Tourism & National Heritage—has helped catalog more than 1400 rock art panels containing nearly 7000 animals and humans at Shuwaymis and Jubbah, a more open vista about 200 kilometers north that was once dotted with lakes.

Starting about 10,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers entered—or perhaps returned to—the region. What appear to be the oldest images are thought to date to this time and depict curvy women. Then about 7000 to 8000 years ago, people here became herders, based on livestock bones found at Jubbah; that’s likely when pictures of cattle, sheep, and goats began to dominate the images. In between—carved on top of the women and under the livestock—are the early hunting dogs: 156 at Shuwaymis and 193 at Jubbah. All are medium-sized, with pricked up ears, short snouts, and curled tails—hallmarks of domestic canines. In some scenes, the dogs face off against wild donkeys. In others, they bite the necks and bellies of ibexes and gazelles. And in many, they are tethered to a human armed with a bow and arrow.

The researchers couldn’t directly date the images, but based on the sequence of carving, the weathering of the rock, and the timing of the switch to pastoralism, “The dog art is at least 8000 to 9000 years old,” Guagnin says. That may edge out depictions of dogs previously labeled the oldest, paintings on Iranian pottery dated to at most 8000 years ago.

“When Maria came to me with the rock art photos and asked me if they meant anything, I about lost my mind,” says co-author Angela Perri, a zooarchaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Perri has studied the bones of ancient dogs around the world, and has argued that early dogs were critical in human hunting. “A million bones won’t tell me what these images are telling me,” she says. “It’s the closest thing you’re going to get to a YouTube video.”

The ancient hunting dogs of Saudi Arabia (bottom) may have resembled the Canaan breed of dog (top).

(TOP TO BOTTOM): ALEXANDRA BARANOVA/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; M.GUAGNIN ET AL., JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 2017
The dogs look a lot like today’s Canaan dog, says Perri, a largely feral breed that roams the deserts of the Middle East. That could indicate that these ancient people bred dogs that had already adapted to hunting in the desert, the team reports this week in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Or people may even have independently domesticated these dogs from the Arabian wolf long after dogs were domesticated elsewhere, which likely happened sometime between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago.

But Zeder notes that the engravings may not be as old as they seem. To confirm the chronology, scientists will need to link the images to a well-dated archaeological site—a challenge, she says, because “the archaeological record in this region is really spotty.”

Paul Tacon, an archaeologist at Griffith University in Gold Coast, Australia, agrees that “dating rock art is often a guestimate.” But based on his nearly 4 decades of studying such images around the world, he says, “Their chronology is sound.”

Even if the art is younger than Guagnin and her colleagues think, the leashes are by far the oldest on record. Until now, the earliest evidence for such restraints came from a wall painting in Egypt dated to about 5500 years ago, Perri says. The Arabian hunters may have used the leashes to keep valuable scent dogs close and protected, she says, or to train new dogs. Leashing dogs to the hunter’s waist may have freed his hands for bow and arrow.

But Tacon cautions that the lines in the engravings could be symbolic. “It could just be a depiction of a bond.” Either way, he says, that bond was clearly strong, as the artists appear to have depicted dogs they actually knew, with particular coat patterns, stances, and genders. “These creatures were very important, beloved companions.”

Such a relationship would have been critical to helping people survive a harsh environment. Dogs could take down gazelles and ibexes too fast for humans, Perri says. Details of the images also suggest that the ancient hunters tailored their strategies to the landscape, Zeder says. At Shuwaymis, where the dogs may have been used to drive prey into the corners of uneven terrain, the art depicts large packs. At Jubbah, the images show smaller groups of dogs that may have ambushed prey at watering holes. “People were able to venture into these inhospitable areas by strategically marshalling dogs to survive,” Zeder says. “And now we’re seeing a real picture of how it happened.”

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/201...first-images-dogs-and-they-re-wearing-leashes

Also those are without a doubt the oldest depictions of dogs alongside humans and them wearing leashes in the world.

 

[Hack-Hook]

Science Magazine begs to differ.

These may be the world’s first images of dogs—and they’re wearing leashes

By David GrimmNov. 16, 2017 , 8:00 AM

Carved into a sandstone cliff on the edge of a bygone river in the Arabian Desert, a hunter draws his bow for the kill. He is accompanied by 13 dogs, each with its own coat markings; two animals have lines running from their necks to the man’s waist.

The engravings likely date back more than 8000 years, making them the earliest depictions of dogs, a new study reveals. And those lines are probably leashes, suggesting that humans mastered the art of training and controlling dogs thousands of years earlier than previously thought.

“It’s truly astounding stuff,” says Melinda Zeder, an archaeozoologist at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. “It’s the only real demonstration we have of humans using early dogs to hunt.” But she cautions that more work will be needed to confirm both the age and meaning of the depictions.

The hunting scene comes from Shuwaymis, a hilly region of northwestern Saudi Arabia where seasonal rains once formed rivers and supported pockets of dense vegetation. For the past 3 years, Maria Guagnin, an archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany—in partnership with the Saudi Commission for Tourism & National Heritage—has helped catalog more than 1400 rock art panels containing nearly 7000 animals and humans at Shuwaymis and Jubbah, a more open vista about 200 kilometers north that was once dotted with lakes.

Starting about 10,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers entered—or perhaps returned to—the region. What appear to be the oldest images are thought to date to this time and depict curvy women. Then about 7000 to 8000 years ago, people here became herders, based on livestock bones found at Jubbah; that’s likely when pictures of cattle, sheep, and goats began to dominate the images. In between—carved on top of the women and under the livestock—are the early hunting dogs: 156 at Shuwaymis and 193 at Jubbah. All are medium-sized, with pricked up ears, short snouts, and curled tails—hallmarks of domestic canines. In some scenes, the dogs face off against wild donkeys. In others, they bite the necks and bellies of ibexes and gazelles. And in many, they are tethered to a human armed with a bow and arrow.

The researchers couldn’t directly date the images, but based on the sequence of carving, the weathering of the rock, and the timing of the switch to pastoralism, “The dog art is at least 8000 to 9000 years old,” Guagnin says. That may edge out depictions of dogs previously labeled the oldest, paintings on Iranian pottery dated to at most 8000 years ago.

“When Maria came to me with the rock art photos and asked me if they meant anything, I about lost my mind,” says co-author Angela Perri, a zooarchaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Perri has studied the bones of ancient dogs around the world, and has argued that early dogs were critical in human hunting. “A million bones won’t tell me what these images are telling me,” she says. “It’s the closest thing you’re going to get to a YouTube video.”

The ancient hunting dogs of Saudi Arabia (bottom) may have resembled the Canaan breed of dog (top).

(TOP TO BOTTOM): ALEXANDRA BARANOVA/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; M.GUAGNIN ET AL., JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 2017
The dogs look a lot like today’s Canaan dog, says Perri, a largely feral breed that roams the deserts of the Middle East. That could indicate that these ancient people bred dogs that had already adapted to hunting in the desert, the team reports this week in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Or people may even have independently domesticated these dogs from the Arabian wolf long after dogs were domesticated elsewhere, which likely happened sometime between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago.

But Zeder notes that the engravings may not be as old as they seem. To confirm the chronology, scientists will need to link the images to a well-dated archaeological site—a challenge, she says, because “the archaeological record in this region is really spotty.”

Paul Tacon, an archaeologist at Griffith University in Gold Coast, Australia, agrees that “dating rock art is often a guestimate.” But based on his nearly 4 decades of studying such images around the world, he says, “Their chronology is sound.”

Even if the art is younger than Guagnin and her colleagues think, the leashes are by far the oldest on record. Until now, the earliest evidence for such restraints came from a wall painting in Egypt dated to about 5500 years ago, Perri says. The Arabian hunters may have used the leashes to keep valuable scent dogs close and protected, she says, or to train new dogs. Leashing dogs to the hunter’s waist may have freed his hands for bow and arrow.

But Tacon cautions that the lines in the engravings could be symbolic. “It could just be a depiction of a bond.” Either way, he says, that bond was clearly strong, as the artists appear to have depicted dogs they actually knew, with particular coat patterns, stances, and genders. “These creatures were very important, beloved companions.”

Such a relationship would have been critical to helping people survive a harsh environment. Dogs could take down gazelles and ibexes too fast for humans, Perri says. Details of the images also suggest that the ancient hunters tailored their strategies to the landscape, Zeder says. At Shuwaymis, where the dogs may have been used to drive prey into the corners of uneven terrain, the art depicts large packs. At Jubbah, the images show smaller groups of dogs that may have ambushed prey at watering holes. “People were able to venture into these inhospitable areas by strategically marshalling dogs to survive,” Zeder says. “And now we’re seeing a real picture of how it happened.”

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/201...first-images-dogs-and-they-re-wearing-leashes

Also those are without a doubt the oldest depictions of dogs alongside humans and them wearing leashes in the world.

As I said they may be oldest depicting dog exploited by humans . but for example there are 17000 year old picture of a dog in font-de-gaum cave

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

As I said they may be oldest depicting dog exploited by humans . but for example there are 17000 year old picture of a dog in font-de-gaum cave

You did not read the article from Science Magazine that I posted, it seems. In any case that looks like a wolf (ancestor of dogs).

Find me an older evidence of dogs depicted alongside humans wearing leashes.

“It’s truly astounding stuff,” says Melinda Zeder, an archaeozoologist at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. “It’s the only real demonstration we have of humans using early dogs to hunt.”​