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In a new study in L'Antropologie, Dr. Shirin Torkamandi and his colleagues, Dr. Marcel Otte and Dr. Abbas Motarjem have analyzed the symbolic meaning of bovidea, particularly the ibex, in the ancient Near East.

The ibex is one of many wild goat species belonging to the genus Capra, typically found in the mountainous regions of Europe, Asia, and northeastern Africa.

Through mitochondrial DNA studies, it is known that the ibex was domesticated about 10,000 years ago, which eventually led to the domestic goat, somewhere in the Iranian Zargos Mountains and Eastern Anatolia.

Images of the ibex have been a prolific feature of much prehistoric and historical art, having featured in rock art, pottery, metal imagery, and even tattoos from as early as the Neolithic into the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Some early depictions of the ibex in Europe feature the animal alongside women, geometric marks, and possible notches indicating days or lunar phases.

In a rock art painting called Mother Ranaldi, for example, a series of goats/ibexes or deer are depicted surrounding what has been interpreted as a woman giving birth. Similarly, a carved image from Laussel rock shelter in Dordogne, France, depicts a Venus-figured woman holding a horn, presumably of an ibex.

Venus figures are typically depicted as women with exaggerated hips, breasts, and abdomens, typically associated with fertility. The recurrent ibex imagery alongside these feminine and fertility symbols may indicate an associated symbolic meaning.

While analyzing the Near Eastern depictions of ibex, a similar theme of fertility linked with the ibex was found. The fresh-water god Enki, who is also associated with the life-giving Tigris and Euphrates rivers, is often depicted together with goats or ibex figures.

It is possible this association with the life-giving, land-fertilizing rain, and thus the rain god Enki, and the ibex arose as the mating season of the ibex coincides with the rain season in Mesopotamia (October/November). Thus, the ibex's natural behaviors served not just as an inspiration for these myths and associations but also as a form of timekeeping or calendar.

Similarly, the idea of the ibex as a fertility and feminine symbol is further supported by other evidence, such as images of goats and deer on female mummies during the Achaemenid-Scythian period (5th–4th centuries BC), or the explicit reference by the goddess Inanna in Babylonian literature to her vulva as a "horn."

Strikingly, a bronze plaque dated to between 1500 and 700 BC in eastern Iran provides strong evidence for the ibex as a fertility symbol. According to the study, two ibexes are seen surrounding a woman giving birth, an image very reminiscent of the Mother Ranaldi rock art painted millennia before.

Ibexes, however, were also strongly associated with the moon and other celestial bodies. This is most evident in the constellation of the Capricorn, a goat-fish creature associated with both the stars and the rain.

Similarly, in Sumerian literature, the ibex is called si-mul, meaning "star-horned" or "bright-horned." While in Iranian pottery from sites such as Tall-i-Bakun, Tape Hissar, and Susa, the ibex is sometimes depicted together with a sun, stars, crosses, and a circular point.

In the study, this association is explained by the fact that "[as] the ibex lives in the mountains naturally, ancient societies believed that this animal is closely related to the sky and stars."

The ox and goats likely persisted as a constant and recurring motif in Near Eastern cultures, not only for their economic value, providing wool, milk, and meat. But also due to their symbolic associations, including fertility in the winter season (October/November), femininity, and the celestial.

"From a spiritual aspect, this animal is deeply rooted in the human collective unconscious mind from the Paleolithic period to the present. Its importance varies across different cultural groups and periods, offering a rich capacity for interpretation. The continuity of ibex symbolism is remarkable, and it is backed by strong archaeological elements, such as Paleolithic cave paintings, Neolithic features, and Bronze Age artifacts," the authors explain.

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