Allison notes the frequent ancient association of Moses with asses. According to Diodorus Siculus, “When Antiochus . . . made war against the Jews he entered the sacred shrine of the god, where only the priest is allowed to go. In it he found a stone image of a thick bearded man seated on an ass and holding a book in his hand. He assumed it was a statue of Moses who founded Jerusalem.” And Tacitus claims that Moses discovered water by following “a herd of wild asses.”
Two thoughts: First, is it thinkable that the MHP would contain a statue of a man? Second, the Tacitus comment suggests some sort of connection with Saul, who comes to a well in the process of searching out his father’s donkeys.
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