The Ibex and the Moon: How a Mountain Goat Shaped Fertility Myths in the Ancient Near East

The ibex—a wild goat clinging to sheer cliffs across the mountains of Eurasia—was more than just an animal to ancient peoples. In the highlands of the Zagros and beyond, it became a symbol of survival, fertility, and the heavens themselves. A recent study published in L’Anthropologie¹ explores the enduring role of ibex imagery in prehistoric and early historic art and what it reveals about the symbolic worlds of ancient societies.

A bronze plaque from 1500–700 BC, found in Lorestan, located in western Iran (at the Louvre museum). Credit: Torkamandi et al. 2025