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[German version] As repeatedly mentioned in royal epithets and authentications of power, it was one of the paramount tasks of Assyrian kings to secure fertility and prosperity in the country. The palace gardens of Assyrian residences, in which from the 11th century BC onward foreign types of trees and shrubs were cultivated and animals of conquered regions were kept, and which certainly owed their origin to an interest in horticulture and exotica, can also be understood - in addition to their func…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Archaeological finds attest to battues with traps in the Middle East from the 7th millennium BC onwards. On the other hand, there is only a little cuneiform evidence of the occupation of the hunter, e.g. in the  Gilgamesh Epic (TUAT 3. 676, I iii 9ff.). Wild cattle, wild goats, wild donkeys, gazelles, lions,  elephants and many other animals were hunted. As hunting weapons, people used traps, nets and snares as well as bows and arrows, throwing-sticks, lances, sword…