Animals in Ancient Warfare in the Eastern Mediterranean

War is a particularly human activity. Yet we have dragged many nonhuman animal species into our conflicts. Horses, donkeys, camels, elephants and dogs are some of the animals that have fought and died alongside humans, while donkeys, mules and cattle carried provisions, and other animals were eaten or sacrificed (e.g. for divination) during military campaigns. In the aftermath of battle, vultures and other animals pecked at the fallen on the battlefield. Even further behind the scenes, animal bodies were exploited in the production of, for example, elements of armour, weapons and chariots, and the hunting and killing of animals may have functioned as a kind of practice for war. This year’s Advent Conference will explore this theme from the third to the first millennium BCE in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East.