Many different types of animals lived in Mesopotamia. By at least 7000 B.C. sheep, goat and pig had been domesticated. Sheep were very important and provided wool, meat, dairy products and fertilizer - and were valuable as sacrifices in religious ceremonies.

From around 6000 B.C. cattle were domesticated and were used for food and sacrifices. The use of milk products didn't take place until after 4000 B.C. Oxen were used to pull ploughs, wagons and haul boats against the current of rivers. Their hides were also useful.

From around 4000 B.C. donkeys were used to carry heavy loads - on their backs or pulling carts - and for riding; horses were used from the third millennium as pack animals and in the second millennium to pull chariots.

Some animals had religious significance, or were associated with kingship. Thus, when animals appear on Mesopotamian monuments, they are often symbolic.

Wild animals roamed the jungles of vegetation along the riverbanks or lived in the deserts to the west. They included lions, leopards, wild cattle, boar, deer, gazelle, ostrich, vultures and eagles. It was the duty of the king to protect his people from them and the lion hunt became the royal sport.