The Awassi Sheep STRANGE BREED
The Awassi is the most numerous and widespread breed of sheep in south-west Asia.
It is the dominant type in Iraq, the most important sheep in the Syrian Arab Republic and the only indigenous breed of sheep in Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. In the north of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is bred under desert conditions. In Turkey, the Awassi makes up 1% of the ovine population; its breeding area is situated in southern Anatolia in a border strip along with the main range habitat of the breed in the Syrian Arab Republic.
The name of the Awassi is attributed to the El Awas tribe between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In literary Arabic, as is the term for the red-and-white camel garb or a white sheep (Hirsch, 1933). The name of the breed is also sometimes spelt Awasi, Aouasse, El Awas, Oussi, Ussy or Iwessi; in Turkey, it is called Ivesi or Arab and in some parts of the Syrian Arab Republic, Nu’amieh or Shami, the latter being the Arabic name for Damascus.
Fat-tailed sheep have been bred in the breeding area of the Awassi for at least 5 000 years. In physical and functional properties, the Awassi seems to be very close to the prototype from which the fattailed sheep of Asia, Africa and Europe are derived. Many of these still show a close likeness to the
Awassi. This holds true – not only of the sheep of Cyprus and North Africa and several Turkish and Iranian breeds but animals similar to the Awassi are also encountered among the Ronderib Afrikander sheep of South Africa and the Mongolian sheep of eastern Asia.
Fat-tailed breeds deviating from the Awassi in some physical or functional properties may owe their characteristics either to evolution in a different environment, specialized breeding aims or to cross-breeding.
The unimproved Awassi is a robust and vigorous, mediumsized sheep of milk and mutton type. The improved dairy type is larger and more refined than the ordinary Awassi. The bodily proportions are affected by the size and weight of the fat tail, which produces the impression of a lack of balance between foreand hindquarters. In ewes, this impression is enhanced by the large udder.