Domesticated Animals of the Exodus

The Hebrews of the Exodus would have had cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, dogs, and birds of various kinds. And they would have both enriched and constrained their lives. Whether they get fed or graze on grass, shrub, or manna, the animals do need to eat daily. And drink water. This means the travelers can only move 15-20 miles a day, depending on the grazing and other factors. (Not counting divine intervention, of course.)

The animals vastly increase the footprint of the group, as well as the water and food pressures. They don’t require huge numbers of people to tend to them when they are encamped in a valley or other natural site that that is semi-enclosed, with water and grazing nearby. But they do require a fair number of people while on the move. Probably 100-300 people completely dedicated to shepherding/wrangling.

Sheep

If there were about 1000 male lambs under the age of one year (the minimum needed to feed 50,000 people for Passover) then the total sheep flock must have at least 1000 female lambs under the age of one year and at least 1000 ewes. There will also be older lambs, imperfect lambs (or others not chosen for Passover, plus their female counterparts), ewes who aren’t raising lambs at the moment, and a few rams.

Let’s say that, after Passover, the flock has at least 5000 sheep, with 10,000 or more being more likely.

The periodical journeys taken by these sheep in Spain can be traced back to the middle of the 14th century…It established a right to graze on all the open and common land that lay in the way; it claimed also a path, 90 yards wide, through all the enclosed and cultivated country…The flocks are divided into detachments of 10,000 each, under the care of a mayoral or chief shepherd, who has under him 50 shepherds and as many huge dogs. The mayoral precedes the flock, and directs the length and speed of the journey; the others, with the dogs, follow and flank the cavalcade, collect the stragglers, and keep off the wolves…The flocks travel through the cultivated country at the rate of 18 or 20 miles a-day; but in open country, with good pasture, more leisurely. Much damage is done to the country over which these immense flocks are passing.

Cyclopædia of Useful Arts, Mechanical and Chemical, Manufactures, Mining, and Engineering, Volume 2. 1854. Edited by Charles Tomlinson.  G. Virtue & Company.  Page 1030 (in the Wool chapter) describes sheep migration in Spain.

Cattle

Cattle drives in the Renaissance through the modern era would be in the range of 1000-3000 cows and take a good dozen or more crew on horseback to manage. We don’t know how many cattle accompanied the Exodus travelers, but it was at least in the thousands, starting with the 4000 oxen that pulled 2000 wagons in use. (These numbers are completely utterly speculative of course, but they should be in the right order of magnitude.)

Horses and Donkeys

Without horses or dogs, dealing with large animals would be a challenge. Even smaller animals like sheep or goats would be difficult. Horses were domesticated by New Kingdom Egypt, but the Hebrews would not have them (at most, they might have a token horse or two as part of their parting treasure).

In the New Kingdom horses were animals of the military elite and the ruling class. In general Egyptians did not ride on horses but used them for chariots. Two horses are the rule. Horseshoes were not used. Egyptian horses, which were probably almost identical to those in the Near East, are rather small by comparison with modern horses, and attested in different colours (brown, reddish etc.).

Horses in Ancient Egypt. 2003. University College London.

There were instances of horseback riding, though it does not appear to be very common or used for long distances. The horses depicted for riding or pulling chariots were smaller and sturdier than modern domesticated horses. The Boat Children takes place in 1313 BCE (early second millennium BCE), during the New Kingdom, two to three hundred years after the introduction to horses and the advent of the horse-drawn chariot. I’m going to assume my characters did not have access to horses at all, let alone for riding or pulling heavy wagons.

The first introduction of the domestic horse to Ancient Egypt- and thereby to Africa- is usually cited at around 1600 BC, linked with the arrival in Egypt of the Hyksos, a group from the Levant who ruled much of Northern Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. By this point, horses had probably only been domesticated for about 2,000 years, but with the advent of the chariot after the 3rd millennium BC in Mesopotamia, the horse proved to be a valuable martial asset in the ancient world. One of the first clear records of the use of horses and chariots in battle in Africa is found in depictions from the mortuary complex of the Pharaoh Ahmose at Abydos from around 1525 BC, showing their use by Egyptians in defeating the Hyksos, and horses feature prominently in later Egyptian art.

As well as the unique iconography of rock art chariot depictions, there are also numerous paintings and engravings across northern Africa of people riding horses. Riding may have been practiced since the earliest times of horse domestication, though the earliest definitive depictions of horses being ridden come from the Middle East in the late 3rd and early 2nd millennia BC. Images of horses and riders in rock art occur in various areas of Morocco, Egypt and Sudan and are particularly notable in the Ennedi region of Chad and the Adrar and Tagant plateaus in Mauritania (interestingly, however, no definite images of horses are known in the Gilf Kebir/Jebel Uweinat area at the border of Egypt, Sudan and Libya).

The domesticated horse in northern African rock art.  The British Museum.

Okay, well, what about camels? It appears unlikely. While there was some domestication before or by the New Kingdom, it wasn’t really happening in Egypt during that time period.

The proposed time of camel domestication is before 2000 B.C…Taking into consideration the earliest Egyptian and Mesopotamian archaeological evidence, [another researcher dates] domestication as early as 4000 B.C. However, it [sic] believes that camels were domesticated perhaps during the 13-12 century B.C. but not before 2000 B.C….Domesticated camels probably entered Egypt during the early increased trade, but the first historical references to camels in Egypt is in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C. in connection with the Assyrian and Persian invasions of Egypt. [Another researcher] mentioned that camels appeared in the delta about 700 B.C. with Palestinians, and about 670 B.C. camels are said to have come into Egypt under Asarhaddan.

The Camel in Ancient Egypt.  1998.  Proceedings of the Third Annual Meeting for Animal Production Under Arid Conditions, Vol. 1: 208-215. United Arab Emirates University.   A. S. Saber Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,  Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.

The Hebrews would have had donkeys though.

In the Middle Empire, 12th Dynasty (around 1990 BCE), painted illustrations in the tomb of the Governor Khnoumhotep show a rare example of people from Asia led by their chief, Ibcha, taken captive and brought into the valley by a royal administrator. The cortege includes a total (according to the associated inscription) of 38 people who accompanied the tribute required by the Pharoah, followed by women and children, some of whom are riding on a donkey, with a second donkey carrying arms. Use as pack animals is not yet clearly defined and a sort of blanket is folded over the animal’s back.

By the New Empire (1580-1085 BCE), documents from the village of Deir-el-Medineh, where craftsmen were working on temples and necropolises in Thebes refer to donkeys used in everyday transportation (for water, food rations, tools).

Donkeys, The Helpmeet Of Humankind In Pharaonic Egypt. August 11, 2023. Catherine Chadefaud, Agrée d’histoire, Egyptologist. International Association of Agricultural Museums.

DOGS

Domesticated dogs existed in large numbers in the New Kingdom.

Egyptologist Margaret Bunson notes that dogs “were probably domesticated in Egypt in the Pre-Dynastic eras” and they “served as hunters and as companions for the Egyptians and some mentioned their hounds in their mortuary texts”. An early tomb painting dated to c. 3500 BCE shows a man walking his dog on a leash in a scene recognizable to anyone in the modern day.

Dogs in Ancient Egypt.  March 13, 2017.  Joshua J. Mark.  World History Encyclopedia.

There were a variety of breeds, many of which existed in New Kingdom Egypt. They were used for hunting, companions, pets, guarding, and as police dogs.

The Basenji…was used in hunting small game and as a companion, family pet, and guard dog….The Greyhound…was used in open-area hunts for large game but was also kept as a pet and a guard dog….The Ibizan: Probably the dog most often represented in Egyptian art…and [is] the ‘typical’ Egyptian dog.

The Pharaoh: This breed is routinely claimed to have originated much later, in the 17th century CE on Malta, but its ancestors are thought to have been kept by the ancient Egyptians….The Saluki…was definitely present in Egypt…just not as early as in Mesopotamia. Salukis are clearly represented in tomb paintings and stelae as hunting dogs and companions.

The Whippet…were popular for hunting in open terrain…Although they are sometimes cited as a late breed in Egypt they seem to be the dogs represented in art from the Old Kingdom onwards. The Molossian…were well-known hunters and guard dogs in Mesopotamia and were used by the Egyptians for the same purpose but also as police dogs. They…were most likely introduced by the Hyksos in the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1782-c.1570 BCE).

Dogs are represented in Egyptian art work from the Pre-Dynastic Period forwards either as companions, at the hunt, or in afterlife vignettes.  December 16, 2024.  Muhammad Asghar.  Archaeology & Civilizations Facebook page.

POULTRY

I envision domesticated birds on the Exodus being in cages on the carts, but they’d still need to be let out to graze after the first day or two. Once the Hebrews settled in Mt. Sinai, the birds could be safely pastured during the day.

My story predates the Egyptian use of domesticated chickens by about several hundred years. But there were many foul used for meat and eggs in the New Kingdom.

The Nile was home to many varieties of fish that the Egyptians could eat, and the surrounding marshlands were home to many fowl, such as partridges, quails, pigeons, ducks, geese, doves, herons, and storks, all of which were used as food. Eggs as well were used. Chickens were not known in the earliest times, but were introduced to Egypt probably in the 4th century, B.C.E.

What Foods Did The Ancient Egyptians Eat? November 21, 2015. Eric Troy. CulinaryLore.

The Smithsonian claims that chickens showed up in Egypt around 1750 BCE “as fighting birds and additions to exotic menageries.” They go on to say: “it would be another 1,000 years before the bird became a popular commodity among ordinary Egyptians.”

References

• Project: ILC (International Land Coalition) Rangelands Initiative: Making rangelands secure. International Livestock Research Institute. Collections of photos from around the world.
• Cyclopædia of Useful Arts, Mechanical and Chemical, Manufactures, Mining, and Engineering, Volume 2. 1854. Edited by Charles Tomlinson.  G. Virtue & Company.  Page 1030 (in the Wool chapter) describes sheep migration in Spain.
• Horses in Ancient Egypt. 2003. University College London.
• Horses in Ancient Egypt.  April 13, 2018.  Garstang Museum of Archaeology, University of Liverpool.
• The domesticated horse in northern African rock art.  The British Museum.
• Dromedary. Wikipedia.
• The Camel in Ancient Egypt.  1998.  Proceedings of the Third Annual Meeting for Animal Production Under Arid Conditions, Vol. 1: 208-215. United Arab Emirates University.   A. S. Saber Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,  Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
• Sailors on sandy seas: camels in Saharan rock art. The British Museum.
• Donkeys, The Helpmeet Of Humankind In Pharaonic Egypt.  August 11, 2023. Catherine Chadefaud, Agrée d’histoire, Egyptologist.  International Association of Agricultural Museums.
• Donkey.  Dr. Carolyn Willekes.  Archaeology Now, Houston, Texas.  
• Dogs in Ancient Egypt.  March 13, 2017.  Joshua J. Mark.  World History Encyclopedia.
• Dogs are represented in Egyptian art work from the Pre-Dynastic Period forwards either as companions, at the hunt, or in afterlife vignettes.  December 16, 2024.  Muhammad Asghar.  Archaeology & Civilizations Facebook page.
• What Foods Did The Ancient Egyptians Eat? November 21, 2015. Eric Troy. CulinaryLore.
• How the Chicken Conquered the World: The epic begins 10,000 years ago in an Asian jungle and ends today in kitchens all over the world.  June 2012.  Jerry Adler and Andrew Lawler.  Smithsonian Magazine.