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An equid figurine
A single terracotta figurine was found in K1:
K1.12
The very small figurine consists of the head and neck of an equid. Equid and other animal figurines are commonly found, and there are many other examples from both Tell Mozan and other sites in Syro-Mesopotamia (for equid figurines, see Recht 2022, especially Appendix G; for animal figurines at Tell Mozan, see Hauser 2007, and Bianchi and Wissing 2009).
Mane and parts of the ears are broken, so it is not possible to identify the species of equid more precisely, but given the ED III date of the context, it is unlikely to be a horse. It may be a donkey, a hemione or a hybrid of the two; the quite delicate features are most characteristic of the hemione.
The slight tilt of the head gives the equid a natural and lifelike quality: it may reflect observation of equid gestures, but is also a gesture seen in teams of equids in front of a wheeled vehicle (see e.g. a bronze model from Tell Asmar, with a team of four equids, all turning and tilting their heads as a response to the bridle (Recht 2022, p. 76, fig. 5.3)).
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