SOME PECULIAR AFRICAN BREEDS 227 



"The fragments of skulls discovered at Toukh 

 correspond in general form with the skull of the 

 existing long-legged sheep ; the slight differences 

 between them not exceeding the limits of individual 

 and sexual variation. The Egyptian sheep belongs 

 to the species Ovis longipes, Fitzinger. We have 

 proposed to designate the sheep with horizontal 

 horns as O. longipes palaocBgyptms, with the follow- 

 ing racial characters : horns directed horizontally 



Ancient Egyptian Long-legged Sheep, from a Fresco on the Tomb at 

 El-Bersheh, Egypt. 



and transversely, with a slight spiral twist ; horns 

 present in both sexes ; the rams frequently with a 

 throat-fringe." 



The author then goes on to state that these 

 long-legged sheep were domesticated during the 

 Neolithic age, when the use of metal was unknown, 

 and that they survived till the commencement of 

 the Pharaonic epoch, after which date they were 

 replaced by the Egyptian fat-tailed breed. It is 

 added that these sheep were evidently of Asiatic 

 origin. 



