ENTER A PRODUCT: Submission #46

General Info
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Product name: Awassi sheep
Category:
Category: Razze animali e allevamento

Geographic area:
Geographic area: Giordania
Latitude: 30.585164
Longitude: 36.238414
Location: 30.585164,36.238414
Formatted Address: Giordania
Country: Giordania
Country Code: JO


Product description
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Product description:
Sheep breeding is considered one of the ancient practices in the fertile crescent region and has been practiced for a thousand of years. The Awassi is the only indigenous breed of sheep in Jordan. It is also the main breed in Iraq and Syria. The only breed in Lebanon and Palestine. It is also found in the desert of Saudi Arabia and makes about 1% of sheep breeds in Turkey.
Awassi means sheep in Arabic. It is believed that it was called Awassi after Al-Aws tribe, which lived between the Tigris and the Euphrates. In the Arabian Gulf, on the other hand, it was called al-Nuaimi, like the Nuaimi tribe in Saudi Arabia, as it is believed that the first person to bring this breed from the Levant was from this tribe.
Awassi sheep is a fat tail medium size sheep. It is white with brown or black head and legs. Its head is long and slender with a cambered forehead. Ewes are polled with fine necks, but rams have horns that are twisted to the back and go downwards with the tips pointing to the outside and with strong long necks.
Their ears are medium in size and are often hanging. Their body is long; legs are of medium length and far apart. Their tail is distinctively fat, wide, and medium, it starts from the rump in one stem and hangs down into two parts (lobes) that becomes larger outwards to the end of short thick appendix and divided by deep rift, udder and teats varies among different populations of Awassi.
They have a long coarse creamy white wool. It is used for making carpets and blankets, Awassi fleece found it to have long fibbers and a high percentage of modulated fibber.
One of the most favourable characteristics of Awassi sheep is its ability to adapt to harsh conditions, due to its unique psychological characteristics; to resist many diseases, tolerating extreme temperatures and fluctuating feeding conditions; to store energy in the fat tail and compensate for the lack of feed during dry times. Despite the harsh environment, Awassi sheep have a high growth and high milk producing abilities.

Gastronomic use:
Awassi sheep were not commonly used for their meat, as in a society that lives in scarcity meat was not considered part of the daily meals. Instead, people preserved the milk and its proteins by processing it to different dairy products. Nevertheless, sheep slaughter was associated with certain social and religious occasions. The act of sacrificing sheep was linked to a mythological dimension, and it remained related to customs of faith in later centuries. Some of these customs are very rooted in the traditions and beliefs of the society that are still practiced to this day. For example, slaughtering a sheep on guests’ honour was and still considered as an act of hospitality. A sacrifice should take place in major religious holidays. When a child is born and when death occurs it is also accustomed that sheep would be slaughtered for the occasion.
Family-owned headers and farmers either sell to butchers and consumer directly or through a middleman called “Al Jallab”. There are several livestock markets in Al-Balqa’ region, that opens early in the morning where farmers and buyers (Butchers, Al-Jallab and consumer) do transactions.
Even if, traditionally, Awassi breed was raised mainly for its milk, Awassi meat is very popular in Jordan, thanks to the strong distinctive flavour (probably due to the fat composition in the tail), usually consumed cooked. It is also eaten raw as Kibbeh (raw minced lamb meat) or Habra (raw small cuts of lamb meat). The rest of the parts of the sheep, like the head, intestine, legs, stomach, tongue, liver, kidneys, testicles, spleen, are also eaten as part of the traditional cuisine.
Milk from Awassi is processed into different types of yogurt, butter, ghee and cheese. Its wool is also used in making carpets and blankets.

Relationship with the local ecosystem and processing:
Throughout history the Awassi sheep was of great importance for the economy of people living in the area. Jordanians established their own social system to manage these economic affairs. They set the rules, tasks, laws and customs that govern how they handled their sheep. The process of raising and caring for the livestock was in the form of herds and consisted of an average of one hundred heads for the herd. The shepherd was entrusted with the task of protecting them and walking them to the fertile pastures on a journey that goes on for weeks. The sheep were kept in low and warm areas during winter and autumn and took shelter from the cold in caves. In spring and summer, the sheep are taken to higher grounds. This system in raising and rearing sheep is still practiced in Jordan till today.
The Awassi sheep breeding in Jordan is extensive, both transhumance and nomadic production systems are practiced. The transhumant system involves a seasonal movement, going back to a permanent base during one part of the year. Shepherds keep their flocks in low and warm areas during winter and autumn, while in spring and summer they move with their sheep to the higher lands.
Normally the flock’s owners are the ones that herd their sheep if the herd is small. If the number increases (often more than 150), shepherds are employed to graze the sheep, or the people of the village can share one shepherd for all their livestock if their flocks are small. In the season, the shepherd returns with the sheep to the house of their owner to be milked, but if the season ends, the shepherd stays with the sheep in the cultivation areas and is provided with food and supplies by the owner of the sheep.
Normally sheep farmers are the ones that perform the breeding to improve the productivity of their Awassi sheep based on their subjective selection criteria such as mating the superior males and females in their flocks, reducing infertility to decrease lamb loss and diseases.

Culture and history:
Evidence from Mediterranean archaeozoological sites indicates that domestication of sheep could date back to 11,000 years ago near the Arabian Peninsula.
A Research on Agriculture in Jordan and Palestine between 1864-1918 report that sheep were raised in the area by both farming and Bedouin communities, to make all sorts of dairy products and sell in the main city markets. The research indicates that Al-Balqa region used to export dairy products as well as sheep and goats to Jerusalem.

IS IT PRODUCED BY AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLE / COMMUNITY?: NO

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