That is the question posed by ancient sculptures unearthed from the Saudi desert and which have the potential to overturn the theory that horses were first domesticated in Central Asia.
If not for the prescience of a sharp-eyed Saudi camel owner, the scientific world might never have had reason to reassess the established wisdom that horses were domesticated by the tribes of the Eurasian steppe.
Mutlaq ibn Gublan had arranged for a contractor with a digger to excavate a pond for his camels, but moments before the digging was about to start, he noticed an object that was clearly both man-made and ancient.
And important. Just how important might never have been known if not for his decision to pay the contractor and send him away without any excavation having taken place. Realising the value of what might be in the ground, he instructed the contractor to follow the same tracks out to the road.
The site proved to be a treasure trove of about 300 objects but it was that very first piece that Gublan saw that has excited the scientific community because the 135-kilogram fragment of a much larger sculpture seems to depict a horse with a primitive bridle.
That excitement was increased when the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) did carbon-dating tests on organic material found alongside it and provisionally dated the horse-like fragment to between 6590 and 7250BC.
That put it about 2,000 years earlier than the first proven example of horse domestication, which was in what is now Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh evidence is definitive, with an American researcher, Sandra Olson, finding horse-milk metabolites in shards of clay pots. The impossibility of milking a wild mare shows they must have been domesticated and the organic nature of the material allows for accurate dating.
Olson's finding is bolstered by other evidence, such as the dramatic increase in village sizes at about the same time and changes in the genetic variety of horse bloodlines dating from the same era, 5,500 years ago.
But those who favour the theory that horses were domesticated independently and earlier in what were then the lush and fertile valleys of south-west Saudi Arabia can also point to corroboration.
Arabia was also one of the earliest civilisations to domesticate the dog and one of the 300 artefacts found in Al Magar civilisation, as Gublan's find has been titled, was a sculpture of a Saluki.
It was amid a menagerie of animal artefacts at the site: ostriches, sheep, goats, fish, a cow-like creature and, of course, the horse. Or at least a horse-like creature that researchers identified as an equid from the overall genus covering horses, asses, zebras or some hybrid of them.
Other finds showed a complex civilisation had existed at Al Magar, which translates as "gathering place" or "headquarters".
Also interred at the site were mortars and pestles, grain grinders, weights used for weaving, stone tools suitable for leather processing, arrowheads, stone blades, a soapstone pot ornamented with decorative motifs and an elaborately detailed stone knife in the shape of the traditional Arabian khanjar.
Ali Al Ghabban, the head of antiquities at SCTA, says the collection has already prompted a reassessment of development in Arabia during the neolithic, or new stone age, era.
He says the 300 artefacts demonstrate "a sophisticated society possessing a high level of art and craftsmanship that we have not previously seen".
For the finder, Gublan, he was quoted as saying it reinforces both his decision to stop the excavation and his pride in Saudi culture.
"I am happy that in the footsteps of my grandfather and his long line of ancestors I have found something from the heart of Arabia that goes deep into our history and helps connect us with the past," he says.
That sentiment was reflected in wider Saudi society, which was taking pride in its archaeological heritage and particularly in the suggestion that the region's eponymous breed of horse was also domesticated millennia before anywhere else.
The evidence from the 86-centimetre-long fragment spotted by Gublan is tantalisingly inconclusive.
The carving features a rounded head, arched neck, muzzle, nostrils, shoulder, withers and overall proportions that are clearly horse-like. The contention about domestication comes from two distinctive features, one of which suggests some kind of strap going from the shoulder to the forefoot and the other involving delicate incising around the muzzle.
The proof from the find goes no higher than that, being just carvings indicative of a kind of primitive bridle.
One expert on the subject of horse domestication, David Anthony, says he will go no further than suggesting that the sculpture at Al Magar "might be" from the horse genus.
Advances in genetic testing have allowed researchers to date the transition when early humans went from hunting wild horses for food to ensnaring and taming them.
It coincided with the rise of Equus ferus caballus, the domesticated subspecies of the wild Equus ferus, and it revolutionised the ability of people to connect over long distances and improved their ability to carry loads or wage war.
Anthony said although southern Mesopotamia featured the ass and the onager as the equid species, the earliest known Equus ferus caballus in Arabia is about 1800BC.
To prove the synopsis of domestication would require Equus ferus caballus bones to be found in effectively undisturbed geological strata that can be accurately carbon dated.
The SCTA sought the kind of definitive proof that would prove their case, inviting archeologists to Al Magar, where more artefacts - including another stone, horse-like sculpture - were unearthed.
The era 9,000 years ago is about the time when that part of Arabia was going through the start of a 5,000-year epoch of reliable rainfall which allowed a lush vegetation unimaginable today.
It was also the time that people in the region went from being hunter-gatherers to farmers, including the domestication of animals.
The commission took Olson, the discoverer of the Kazakh horse-milk remnants, to Saudi Arabia to assess rock art throughout the Kingdom to see if she could verify neolithic horse domestication.
More than 1,000 rock carvings have been found that depict equids being hunted, ridden or as draft animals.
While there are theories that some depictions of equine domestication date back to the neolithic era, the difficulty of accurately dating petroglyphs prevents a definitive answer.
Another diagnostic tool has been the burgeoning discipline of mitochondrial DNA analysis, where the relatively high diversity of maternal blood lines suggests that the domestication of horses occurred separately and independently up to 10,000 years ago and in several locations - but in Eurasia and possibly western Europe rather than in Arabia.
The hunt for the definitive proof of Arabian horse domestication goes on but most of the indicators - the relatively lush climate, the transition to agrarian life and the domestication of species such as dogs - are all consistent with it occurring.
jhenzell@thenational.ae
Company%20Profile
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The Bio
Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
The Lowdown
Kesari
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Anubhav Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Grubtech
Founders: Mohamed Al Fayed and Mohammed Hammedi
Launched: October 2019
Employees: 50
Financing stage: Seed round (raised $2 million)
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
Sukuk explained
Sukuk are Sharia-compliant financial certificates issued by governments, corporates and other entities. While as an asset class they resemble conventional bonds, there are some significant differences. As interest is prohibited under Sharia, sukuk must contain an underlying transaction, for example a leaseback agreement, and the income that is paid to investors is generated by the underlying asset. Investors must also be prepared to share in both the profits and losses of an enterprise. Nevertheless, sukuk are similar to conventional bonds in that they provide regular payments, and are considered less risky than equities. Most investors would not buy sukuk directly due to high minimum subscriptions, but invest via funds.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Trolls World Tour
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake
Rating: 4 stars
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Looming%20global%20slowdown%20and%20recession%20in%20key%20economies%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Russia-Ukraine%20war%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Interest%20rate%20hikes%20and%20the%20rising%20cost%20of%20debt%20servicing%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Oil%20price%20volatility%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Persisting%20inflationary%20pressures%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Exchange%20rate%20fluctuations%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shortage%20of%20labour%2Fskills%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20A%20resurgence%20of%20Covid%3F%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Turning%20waste%20into%20fuel
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Mountain%20Boy
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UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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