| Syrian elephant Temporal range:Holocene | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skull from Gavur Lake Swamp, Turkey | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | Elephantidae |
| Genus: | Elephas |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | |
| Trinomial name | |
| †Elephas maximus asurus Deraniyagala, 1950[1] | |
TheSyrian orWestern Asiatic elephant (sometimes given the subspecies designationElephas maximus asurus) was the westernmost population of theAsian elephant (Elephas maximus), which wentextinct in ancient times, with early human civilizations in the area utilizing the animals for theirivory, and possibly forwarfare.[2] Skeletal remains ofE. m. asurus have been recorded in theMiddle East, notably fromIran,Iraq,Syria, andTurkey, from periods dating between at least 1800 BC and likely 700 BC.[3] Due to the lack of anyLate Pleistocene or early to mid-Holocene records for Asian elephants in the region, there are suggestions that the elephants wereanthropogenically introduced, or transported, there during theBronze Age,[3] though this is disputed.[4]
AncientSyrian andAssyrian craftsmen used thetusks ofE. m. asurus to makeivory carvings. Regionally, the production of ivory items was at its height during the first millennium, BC, when theArameans crafted splendid ivory inlays for elite furniture.
The subspeciesElephas maximus asurus was named by Sri Lankan paleontologistPaulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala in 1950. Later authors have questioned the subspecies designation, stating that Deraniyagala's description was based on "doubtful interpretation of Bronze Age illustrations". Deraniyagala argued that the subspecies was large in size in comparison to other Asian elephant populations, but this was made based on only a few bone measurements.[5]
A study ofmitochondrial DNA from 3500 year old remains from Gavur Lake Swamp southwest ofKahramanmaraş in Turkey, which represent an apparently wild-living population (that may or may not have ultimately originated from human-introduced elephants), found that they were within extant genetic variation and belonged to the β1 subclade of the major β clade of Asian elephants, β1 being the predominant clade among Indian elephants. These elephant were found to carry an extremely raremitochondrialhaplotype only previously found in a single modern elephant in Thailand. The origin of the haplotype has been placed between 3,700 and 58,700 years ago, with a mean estimate of 23,500 years ago, suggesting that the population did not descend fromMiddle PleistoceneElephas fossils known from the region. If the population was not introduced by humans, it must have arrived in the region as an expansion from the core range of the Asian elephant during the Late Pleistocene or Holocene. The data are inconclusive as to whether the population has an anthropogenic origin.[5]
Remains of Asian elephants in Bronze age and Early Iron Age Middle East are known spanning acrossMesopotamia, southeast Turkey and the northernLevant, spanning fromHaft Tepe inKhuzestan, southwest Iran, across Iraq, and northern Syria eastwards toUgarit, northwards toArslantepe and eastwards toSirkeli in southeast Turkey, and south-westwards toKamid el-Loz in southern Lebanon. Most of these finds are in an archaeological context, and only two sites show apparent wild-living elephants, Gavur Lake Swamp in southwest Turkey andLake Habbaniyah in central Iraq.[3]
No remains of theElephas genus are known from the Middle East after 200,000 years ago until 3,500 years ago.[6] This long hiatus makes some scholars suspect that the Asian elephants were artificial introductions to the Middle East, possibly from India, though this is difficult to prove. The extinction date is suggested to be around 700 BC, based on osteoarchaeological and historical evidence. This was possibly due to climactic shifts and changing land use during the earlyIron Age.[3]
Elephants are frequently mentioned inHellenistic history; theSeleucid kings, who maintained numerouswar elephants, reigned in Syria during that period. These elephants are believed to beIndian elephants (E. m. indicus), which had been acquired by the Seleucid kings during their eastern expansions; or they are believed to be a population ofIndian elephants in the Middle East. It is attested by ancient sources such asStrabo[7] andPolybius[8] that Seleucid kingsSeleucus I Nicator andAntiochus III the Great had large numbers of imported Indian elephants.
Hannibal had awar elephant known as "Surus", which may have meant "the Syrian". It was said byCato to have been his best and largest elephant,[9] which may have been an Asian elephant. Carthaginian may have used Asian elephants of Indian origin for part of their army.[10]
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