Sheep are among the first animals to have been domesticated by humans. Their history goes back to between 11,000 and 9,000 BCE, when humans domesticated the wild mouflon in ancient Mesopotamia. The first sheep were primarily raised for meat, milk, and skins. Woolly sheep began to be developed around 6000 BCE.

As a key animal in the history of farming, sheep have a deeply entrenched place in human culture, and are represented in much modern language and symbolism. As livestock, sheep are most often associated with pastoral, Arcadian imagery.

It is believed that selective breeding for woolly sheep began around 6000 BCE, with efforts to obtain white-fleeced sheep beginning in Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. By the Bronze Age …

Apr 29, 2014 · Now, research at an 11,000-year-old settlement in Turkey shows that some early farmers kept wild sheep penned up in the middle of their village—thus setting the stage for the dramatic changes that led to today's domesticated animals.

Apr 19, 2021 · Sheep were domesticated 10,000 years ago in Central Asia, but it wasn't until 3,500 B.C. that people learned to spin wool. Sheep helped to make the spread of civilization possible. Sheep production was well-established during Biblical times. There are many references to sheep in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament.

Jan 31, 2025 · A new study published in Science 1 offers the most detailed genetic reconstruction yet of the domestication and dispersal of sheep, revealing how their history is intertwined with human migration, trade, and technological innovation.

Here, we present 24 new partial sheep paleogenomes, including a 13,000-year-old Epipaleolithic Central Anatolian wild sheep, as well as 14 domestic sheep from Neolithic Anatolia, two from Neolithic Iran, two from Neolithic Iberia, three from Neolithic France, and one each from Late Neolithic/Bronze Age Baltic and South Russia, in addition to fiv...

Feb 10, 2025 · Mentioned more than any other animal in the Bible, sheep were an ever-present reality in the ancient Levant. For nomads like Abraham and pastoralists like David, they were an invaluable resource, while recording sheep was even a key factor in the invention of writing.

Jan 31, 2025 · Our relationship with sheep stretches back over 11,000 years, making them one of humans’ oldest animal partners. Early communities relied on them for meat, protein-rich milk, and warm, water-resistant wool.

Jan 30, 2025 · To investigate the origins, dispersal, and development of sheep, we analyzed 118 newly sequenced ancient sheep genomes spanning 12,000 years with a mean coverage of 0.85× (~0.01× to 5.38×; figs. S2 and S3 and tables S1 to S5), supplemented with five published ancient genomes (15, 16).