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Awassi​

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The Awassi is the most prevalent sheep breed in the Arab World. The Awassi sheep breed is common in most of the Middle East Countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Egypt. It is an extremely hardy breed, well adapted over centuries of use to nomadic and more sedentary rural management. The Awassi is the natural or basic breed of sheep for production in these areas and a logical choice as the native or basic breed for any genetic improvement because of its apparent adaptation.

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The unimproved Awassi is a medium-sized sheep of milk and the type of sheep, and the type designated for the dairy industry, is the improved and is larger and more refined than the normal Awassi, and the physical proportions are affected by the size and weight of the fatty tail, which gives the impression of an imbalance between the front and hind limbs, and in ewes This impression is enhanced by a large udder.
The height at the tails recorded in Awassi sheep, in Iraq, Palestine and the Syrian Arab Republic ranges from 68 to 80 cm in adult rams, and from 65 to 70 cm in ewes, and body length from 62 to 72 cm in rams, and from 58 to 67 cm in ewes.

The weight of unimproved adult Awassi rams throughout the breed range ranges between 60 and 90 kg, and the weight of ewes between 30 and 50 kg, and in several thousand Awassi ewes purchased for slaughter in Transjordan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Iraq during World War II, it was identified The average weight is 42 kg, and in the improved Awasi, the weight of dairy ewes ranges from 60 to 70 kg, while the weight of rams may exceed 100 kg.