Cows are the most interesting herbivore ever to roam this earth , I’ve always seen cows in fields and wondered where did they ever come from and how did they get here . Cows keep this earth moving believe it or not , people use different parts of cows , it isn’t just meat either .
The Beginning !
For thousands of years cattle has helped humankind with providing food and such more important products for us humans and even animal’s . We’ve found more interesting things for cattle than any other domesticated animal . Examples of different uses being ” manure ” being used for fertilizer and for ” fuel ” . Cows strong enough to pull plows and carts and they produce what we use for coffee , cereal and much more formally known as ” Milk ” . Cows are such large animals when one is killed you can use just about every single part of it . There is two basic types of domesticated cattle , ” Bos Taurus ” is the most familiar to us . The cattle we mostly see all have their ears standing upright , on the other hand the Zebu is given a different name by scientists ” Bos indicus ” These cattle have drooping ears , a hump on their shoulders and have a dewlap under their chin and neck . Cows belong to a large scientific family called the Bovidae . Members of that family include bison , water buffalo , goats , sheep , and many type of antelope . There are 128 different species of bovids living in Africa , Europe , Asia and North America . All these animals share a digestive system that allows them to feed rapidly , filling their stomachs with barely chewed food . Later they chew their food more thoroughly while they are resting , Bovids are Ruminants , a term derived from the word rumen , the name for the first chamber of their four chambered stomachs .
What’s the connection ?
Just like mithan today , cattle was mostly seen as ritual animals during the earliest days of their domestication , for thousands of years ago religious sects that focused on cattle existed throughout the Mediterranean area , cattle horns at a prehistoric settlement in what is now Turkey were found with fertility symbols and with small human figurines . The ancient Egyptians loved a special type of black cattle with white markings called Apis cattle . An Apis cow had a pale saddle marking on it’s back . a white diamond on his forehead , and a spot on his tongue , with a proper marking they were considered sacred . The Apis sect lasted for about a thousand years . Whenever one of the special bulls died , the cow was mummified and ceremonially buried in a underground rock tomb . During the Minoan times ( about 2000 – 1600 b.c ) on the Mediterranean island of Crete , cattle were also considered sacred . The religious buildings were adomed with symbolic horns , and athletic young men played a life and death game vaulting from the backs of bulls , even the women participated . As in today cattle are sacred animals in the Hindu religion and receive special treatment in Hindu countries , in India they’re allowed to roam freely . At some point in time during the early association of cattle with humans , people began to use these animals for more than ritual purposes . The drawings on the tombs indicate that by about 5,000 years ago , cattle in Egypt were used for .