La conception des animaux domestiques et des animaux de compagnie dans la Mésopotamie d’époque historique

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In the ancient Near East the animals are very often represented in art and are present mostly in temples but also in houses and in palaces. Wild animals are more frequently reproduced than domesticated. The most represented domesticated animals are those ones mentioned in the texts : first cattle and then goat, sheep, donkey/horse, dog. It’s difficult to establish which kind of animals Mesopotamians considered as domesticated : only those which had an usefulness for milk and meat, for transport, for war and hunting, for ploughing or also those which aroused friendly feelings ? Was there a feeling for animals like that we have today for pets ? In iconography, but chiefly in texts and in archaeozoologic data there are some elements which suggested that there was a feeling for at least some animals, mainly monkey, cattle, dog and horse.

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