Harry Potter and the History of Domesticated Goats

Bezoar Goats
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Goats are one of the oldest domesticated animals in the world. Their abundance of uses, size, and durability make them the ideal livestock to own. It’s unknown when the first goats were domesticated, though it seems clear that the ancient people of the Zagros Mountains in Western Iran were domesticating them as early as 8000 BC. Even earlier than the ancient tribes of the Zagros Mountains, dating all the way back to the Neanderthals, humans hunted wild goats. Sue Weaver wrote in The Backyard Goat; “for ancient races, goats were life-sustaining.” (pg. 3)  Weaver wrote this because for ancient people, goats could provide much and more for a family.

            As I read through Weaver’s history of goats, one thing in particular jumped out at me.  The first species of goats to be domesticated by man were the Bezoar goats. Bezoar goats are slender brown mountain goats that now face the perils of being endangered, but were once a prominent part of ancient life.Weaver said that the bezoar was not only the name of the first domesticated goats; it is also the name of an intestinal dysfunction those goats are prone to. This bezoar stone is the cementation of fibers and other foreign materials ingested that can’t be passed through the goat’s system. The stone ends up in the stomach of the goat.

Bezoar in and out of the stomach
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            The reason this rang a rather strong bell for me was because, since the age of ten, I’ve been falling asleep to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. While this may seem like an odd habit for a twenty-year-old, let me explain my actions. I can fall asleep without listening to the books on tape, and more often than not I do. However, in my turbulent middle school years, listening to Harry Potter was a way to forget about the stresses of my day. Instead of falling asleep with my head teaming with worries, insecurities, and general teen angst, I’d drift off dreaming of dragons, Quidditch, and life at Hogwarts. For years I just thought I enjoyed the stories, but once I turned seventeen and still found myself listening to them I realized there might be something more to it. I was drawn to my iPod when I felt an especially large amount of stress, when I had a fight with a friend, or when I just couldn’t sleep. For me the rhythmic voice of the narrator had become like a beating meditation drum. The minute I pressed play my mind felt clearer, the knots in my shoulders started to release, and my breathing steadied. So as a twenty-year-old almost-woman, I still listen.

Bezoar Goat
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            So what does this have to do with goats? Well, those who have read Harry Potter might have picked it up from the word Bezoar, but for those who haven’t, or those who haven’t in a while, the Bezoar stone is mentioned in three of the Harry Potter books. In the first and fourth books, a Bezoar was mentioned only once in passing. However, in the sixth book it played a bigger role. In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Harry got a potions book that w

as scribbled on; the writings were alternative instructions for the potion recipes. On the page of his book that introduced poison antidotes, it said, “Just shove a bezoar down their throats” (Rowling, pg. 377).

Then, later in the sixth Harry Potter book, (those who haven’t read it yet, spoiler alert!!) Ron was poisoned in the potions master’s office by a bottle of mead intended for someone a different victim. Harry saved his friends life by shoving the little bezoar stone into his mouth. As I listened to that book over and over for the last ten years I had always taken the bezoar as yet another clever invention of Rowling’s, but my readings about the history of goat domestication enlightened me to the truth.

Harry Potter Comic
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Not only does the stone from Harry Potter actually exist, but there is also a myth that goes along with this stone dating back to the first domestication of goats. The ancient people of the Middle East believed that the stone formed only in the stomachs of goats bitten by a poisonous snake, and that the stone was a universal antidote to poison. Rowling’s books are full of sneaky historical details such as this, and they never cease to amaze me. My new life goal is to someday listen to the bezoar tale as I sit in a field watching my goats, or perhaps I’ll have to get a speaker system for my goat barn so that I can always have Harry Potter playing as I do my chores.

Works Cited:

Rowling, J K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2005. Print.

Weaver, Sue. The Backyard Goat: An Introductory Guide to Keeping Productive Pet Goats. North Adams, MA: Storey Pub, 2011. Print.

Fg. 1: http://www.armenianow.com/news/10522/eco_alarm_armenian_endangered_wild

Fg. 2: http://www.zoochat.com/1237/mashhad-zoo-bezoar-goat-294873/

Fg. 3: http://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/stomachbezoar.html

Fg. 4: http://www.alec-longstreth.com/blog/419/