Mule

The mule (Hebrew pered), the sterile offspring of a horse and a donkey, was a prized beast of burden and riding animal in ancient Israel. Though the Mosaic law forbade the breeding of mules by prohibiting the mating of different species (Lev. 19:19), the use of mules was not prohibited, and they were imported from abroad. Mules were the riding animals of kings and nobles: David's sons rode mules (2 Sam. 13:29), and Absalom was riding his mule when his hair caught in the terebinth tree where Joab killed him (2 Sam. 18:9). Solomon rode David's mule to his anointing at Gihon (1 Kings 1:33–44), a deliberate act of royal succession. Mules carried heavy loads (2 Kings 5:17; 1 Chr. 12:40) and were used in trade (1 Kings 10:25; Ezra 2:66). By the time of the exile they were common enough to feature in lists of returned property and eschatological imagery (Zech. 14:15).