The Mule and the Donkey

 

An Egyptian and his donkey.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey, and is known for its strength, endurance, and ability to handle steep terrain. It is likely that Ruth and Naomi traveled from Moab to Bethlehem either on mules or donkeys. From Moab to Bethlehem was a journey of 7-10 days on foot though the distance is only about 50 miles as the crow flies. However, the terrain is rugged and mountainous. Traveling by donkey or mule would have made the journey easier and shorter.

Female horses (mares) and jack asses were paired by the Horite Hebrew to produce mules. Genesis 36:24 speaks of Anah, the grandson of Seir the Horite, who fed the donkeys and mules who came to a spring in the wilderness. Because mules typically are sterile, there were fewer mules than horses and donkeys, and that increased their value.

Wild donkeys were domesticated by the Kushites between 6500 and 4000 BC. The wild donkey was native to the Red Sea Hills and the arid Ethiopian highlands. Kushites used donkeys as beasts of burden. These hearty creatures enabled the transport of cargo across the Arabian Peninsula, through Canaan and Mesopotamia, traveling as far as China. Roger Blench has noted, "The spread of the donkey across Africa was linked with the proliferation of long distance caravans."

Donkeys pulled carts, mill stones, and olive presses. They were used to plow the fields. The earliest known representation of donkeys is on an Egyptian palette dated c. 3100 BC. Donkeys were buried in elite cemeteries in ancient Egypt and the Ancient Near East. In a royal funerary complex at Abydos, donkey skeletons were found in mudbrick graves. The bones of domesticated donkeys are known from 4500 BC. Donkeys and mules were a symbol of royal or noble status.

Mules were ridden by rulers, chiefs, and ruler-priests (2 Sam. 13:29; 18:9; 1 Kings 1:33,38,44). Mules were among the yearly tribute brought to King Solomon (1Kings 10:25).  

Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilling Zechariah 9:9, which states that the coming king will be "humble, and mounted on a donkey." The donkey was a colt, meaning it was a male. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey conveyed humility and meekness. He did not enter as a king, though the crowd hailed him as such by waving palm branches according to an ancient custom.

Contrary to a common misconception, Mary and Joseph were people of substance and high status. The marriage between Joseph of Nazareth and Mary of Bethlehem was not unusual. Both towns were Hebrew priest settlements. Bethlehem was the home of the Division of Abijah, and according to 1 Chronicles 24:15, Nazareth was the home of the eighteenth priestly division, hapiTSETS (Happizzez). Such marriages were common because the Hebrew married only within their ruler-priest caste (endogamy). For the census needed to count the Jews of Judea, Joseph had to take Mary to Bethlehem. (Jewish ethnicity is traced through the mother.) They probably travelled on mules or donkeys. The entry into David's royal Bethlehem where Jesus was soon to be born, and Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey represent bookends of Jesus’ life. No wonder the lowly donkey has a place in Nativity scenes!

Related reading: Why Palms on Palm Sunday?; Archaeology Now - The Donkey; The Virgin Mary's Ancestry; The Hebrew were a Caste; The Priestly Divisions