We tend to associate bears with vast forests or frozen plains, but did you know there were bears in ancient Mesopotamia as well? A recent scholarly study has reconstructed the role of these animals in the civilizations of the Near East.
Bears were not native to the regions of the Tigris and Euphrates. They arrived from the mountains as tribute, gifts, or out of a wish to possess exotic animals. The records from the Third Dynasty of Ur, dating to roughly 4,000 years ago, contain hundreds of references to bears. We are told what they fed on, where they were relocated, and how they participated in performances.
Bears also appear in proverbs, in people’s names, and even depicted on a lyre from the royal cemetery at Ur. They could even end up in the sovereign’s menageries.
Therefore, although they were not endemic to Mesopotamian cities, bears formed part of their cultural landscape.
Sources
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Verderame, L. 2024. “The Bear in Ancient Mesopotamia”. Ash-Sharq, 8(2), 107-145: https://archaeopresspublishing.com/ojs/index.php/ash-sharq/article/view/2805
