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"Aurora" "Ur" "Auroch"
"The aurochs is thought to be the original wild stock from which all European cattle breeds eventually descended... Hereford... Charlois... Angus... Holstein... you get the picture. (and speaking of pictures...)
The aurochs was the great, black bull that was painted on cave walls alongside bison and mammoths by tacky prehistoric minimalist artists who had no sense whatsoever of modeling or perspective.
In prehistoric times, the aurochs was endemic throughout temperate Europe and Asia. It is known to have been hunted by men from the earliest times with stone age weapons. It is not as well known what part "aurochs tipping" may have had in teenage Neanderthal recreation. Me thinks perhaps not much.
In early historical times, the aurochs played a significant role in the mythologies of many European civilizations.( When Zeus abducted Europa, it was in the guise of an aurochs. ) Julius Caesar wrote of the great black bulls in an account of the Black Forest..."They are but a little less than Elephants in size, and are of the species, color, and form of a bull. Their strength is very great, and also their speed. They spare neither man nor beast that they see. They cannot be brought to endure the sight of men, nor be tamed, even when taken young. The people who take them in pitfalls assiduously destroy them; and young men harden themselves in this labour, and exercise themselves in this kind of chase; and those who have killed a great number - the horns being publicly exhibited in evidence of the fact - obtain great honour. The horns, in amplitude, shape and species, differ much from the horns of our oxen. They are much sought after; and after having been edged with silver at their mouths they are used for drinking vessels at great feasts."Now, I'll try another website:
"The word urus (/ˈjʊərəs/) comes to English from Latin, but came to Latin from Germanic origins.It declines in English as urus (sg), uruses (pl). The Germanic aurochs itself is from the combination of the urus root with Ochs(e), "ox". Although the aur-/ur- syllable has often been interpreted as being cognate with Germanic ur- meaning "original/proto-", it may have come from another root referring to water.
The words aurochs, urus, and wisent have all been used synonymously in English. However, the extinct aurochs/urus is a completely separate species from the still-extant wisent (the European bison)."
" Aurochs are depicted in many Paleolithic European cave paintings such as those found at Lascaux and Livernon in France. Their life force may have been attributed with magical qualities, for early carvings of the aurochs have also been found. The impressive and dangerous aurochs survived into the Iron Age in Anatolia and the Near East, and was worshipped throughout that area as a sacred animal, the Lunar Bull, associated with the Great Goddess and later with Mithras.
Aurochs are depicted on the Ishtar Gate.
A 1999 archaeological dig in Peterborough, England, uncovered the skull of an aurochs. The front part of the skull had been removed but the horns remained attached. The supposition is that the killing of the aurochs in this instance was a sacrificial act.
The wild-ox called re'em (Strong's # 07214) in the Bible (Numbers 23:22 and 24:8, Deuteronomy 33:17, Job 39:9-10, Psalms 22:21, 29:6, 92:10 and Isaiah 34:7) is occasionally associated with the aurochs and has incorrectly been translated as 'unicorn' in the past (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Entry for 'Wild Ox', Copyright, 1939, by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
Julius Caesar wrote [more here] about them in Gallic War Chapter 6.28, "...those animals which are called uri. These are a little below the elephant in size, and of the appearance, color, and shape of a bull. Their strength and speed are extraordinary; they spare neither man nor wild beast which they have espied. These the Germans take with much pains in pits and kill them. The young men harden themselves with this exercise, and practice themselves in this sort of hunting, and those who have slain the greatest number of them, having produced the horns in public, to serve as evidence, receive great praise. But not even when taken very young can they be rendered familiar to men and tamed. The size, shape, and appearance of their horns differ much from the horns of our oxen. These they anxiously seek after, and bind at the tips with silver, and use as cups at their most sumptuous entertainments." 
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