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The fat-tailed sheep is a general type of domestic sheep known for their distinctive large tails and hindquarters. Fat-tailed sheep breeds comprise approximately 25% of the world's sheep population, and are commonly found in North Africa, the Middle East, and across Central Asia to China. The tail fat from those sheep is an important ingredient in many regional cuisines.
Fat-tailed sheep likely moved into Africa through the Horn of Africa, then into Egypt and North Africa, at least by 2000 BC, when they are depicted in Egyptian art. They were the third type of sheep to be brought into Africa.
The majority of fat-tailed sheep breeds have broad fat-tails, where the fat is accumulated in baggy deposits in the hind parts of a sheep on both sides of its tail and on the first 3–5 vertebrae of the tail. Earlier historians including Herodotus report that their tails sometimes were so long that shepherds built miniature carts for them, and that tails sometimes grew so large that it dragged on the ground and hindered copulation.
The earliest record of fat-tailed sheep is found in ancient Uruk (3000 BC)
Mesopotamian records provide a wealth of information about fat-tailed sheep ( udu gukkal or udu-gug-gal
It is called لية ( leeyeh, leyyah, or layeh) in Arabic, zaaka in Algeria, kuyruk yağı in Turkish, and دنبه ( donbe or dombe or dumba) in Iran and Pakistan. It emits a strong smell when cooked, though the flavor is described as rich and full.
Jill Tilsley-Benham (1987). 090732536X, Prospect. 090732536X Fat-tailed sheep are well adapted to life in arid landscapes, the fat providing a food reserve for "combatting harsh desert conditions".
(2025). 9781782976318, Oxbow. ISBN 9781782976318 and Ur (2400 BC) on stone vessels and . (2025). 9781782976318, Oxbow. ISBN 9781782976318 In Sumer, fat-tailed sheep were kept in temples, for wool. Another early reference is found in the Bible (Exodus 29:22 and Leviticus 3:9), where a sacrificial offering is described which includes the tail fat (called Alyá, Hebrew: ) of sheep.
(2025). 9781782976318, Oxbow. ISBN 9781782976318); they produced the highest-quality wool and were kept in large numbers. The city state of Lagash, around 2000 BCE, had over 66,000 such sheep.
Afghanistan
A report published in 1915 by Henry D. Baker, American consul in Bombay, indicates how important the fat-tailed sheep was for Afghanistan. The animal's wool, he says, was one of the country's most important export products; in 1912–1913 the country exported (through Balochistan) over $1.5 million in wool. Frequently fat-tailed sheep were interbred with Indian sheep to produce high-quality wool. In addition, because the fat was used in the way of butter or ghee, Afghans were able to produce a surplus of ghee for export to India. The animal's meat was the Afghan population's main meat source, according to Baker.
Uzbekistan
Uzbek cuisine is high in fat, and tail fat, called qurdiuq or dumba (often from the Karakul sheep), is an important supplier of that fat, which is "revered as a semi-sacred object of gastronomical desire", and used in a variety of national dishes, such as laghman and palov. Food scholar Russell Zanca notes that dumba has become scarce in the post-Soviet era. Under Soviet rule Uzbekistan became a huge grower of cotton, and consequently cottonseed oil took over as the major fat used in cooking; still, dumba continues to play an important role in the Uzbek imagination and folklore.
Tail fat
The tail fat is an essential part of many cuisines.
Breeds
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