Birds in Ancient Egyptedited by

Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuerwith new photography by

Anna r. Ress man

A pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) among the papyrus marshes.

Wall painting from the northern palace of Akhenaten, Amarna

(Davies 1936, vol. 2, pl. 76)

Flock of common teal (Anas crecca) at Lake Dahshur, against the backdrop of the Red Pyramid of Snefru (photo

by Sherif Baha el Din)

“Egypt is a land of water-birds. In the migration season, the lagoonsof the Delta, the reed-banks of the Fayum, the canals, ponds andflooded fields are crowded with thousands of water-birds, ibises,

pelicans, cranes, cormorants, herons of all kinds, flamingoes, ducks and geese.”

— Hermann Kees,Ancient Egypt: A Cultural Topography, p. 93

Section of “Geese of Meidum,” a fragmentary wall painting from the mastaba of Nefermaat and Itet, now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo,JE 34571/CG 1742. On the left, a bean goose (Anser fabalis) followed

by two white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) (photo by George B. Johnson)

Ceiling decoration in the temple of Medinet Habu. Large

vultures deploy their wings over the passers by (photo by Rozenn

Bailleul-LeSuer)

View of the Giza pyramids during the inundation. Photographed by the Zangaki Brothers,

1870s–1890s (P. 9254)

THE REVERED AND THE HUNTEDThe Role of Birds

in Ancient Egyptian Society

Clap-netting scene from the tomb of Nakht (TT 52; ca. 1400–1390 bc). A team of four fowlers are shown having caught in their net a wide

variety of colorful waterfowl, for the most part ducks and a coot (Fulica atra), with black plumage and red eyes (from Nina Davies 1936,

vol. 1, pl. 48)

Grey heron (Ardeacinerea),

Aswan (photo by Jonathan Rossouw)

Eurasian hoopoe (Upupaepops), Luxor (photo by

Jonathan Rossouw)

In the mastaba tomb of his father, the courtier Mereruka

(ca. 2305 bc), Mery-Teti is watching the seining of fish, holding his pet hoopoe by its

wings (from Sakkara Expedition 1938, part I, pl. 48C)

The Hoopoes are often represented being held by children and it has been suggested that they served

as pets.

Quail netting during the harvest, as depicted in the mastabatomb of Mereruka (ca. 2305 bc) (from Sakkara Expedition

1938, part II, pl. 168)

Petroglyph in the WadiBarramiya depicting a

flock of ostriches(courtesy of Douglas

Brewer)

Scene of poultry processing from the tomb of Nakht (TT 52; ca.

1400–1390 bc). A man is shown plucking the feathers of a duck, while another is cutting a bird open on a sloping board. Five

birds have already been processed and have been hung to dry. The

large jars in the upper right corner most likely contain the fat in

which the birds would be preserved (from Davies 1936, vol.

1, pl. 48)

Force-feeding of a variety of birds: songbirds, perhaps doves and pigeons, in the top left corner; ducks and geese in the central register; cranes, both demoiselle (Anthropoides virgo) and common (Grus grus), in the bottom right corner. Another flock of cranes is shown feeding on grain poured by an attendant. A herdsman, standing in the bottom left

corner, is keeping watch over them (from Sakkara Expedition 1938, part I, pl. 52)

Small gaggle of goslings following their parents (D.

17884; photo by Anna Ressman. For full scene, see

Catalog No. 14)

n the mastaba tomb of his brother Mereruka, Ihi is shown enjoying

some fowl and wine during a boating party in the marshes

(from Sakkara Expedition 1938, part I, pl. 44)

Baskets of eggs beside a small f lock of captured Dalmatian pelicans (Pelecanus crispus). Tomb of Horemheb (TT 78). Thebes, Eighteenth Dynasty (Davies 1936, vol. 1, pl. 41)

In the tomb of Horemheb, ostrich eggs and feathers figure among tributes from the desert (from

Davies 1936, vol. 1,pl. 38)

“Alethe, Attendant of the Sacred Ibis” (1888). Oil on canvas (106 x 65 cm), by

Edwin Longsden Long (1829–1891). BORGM 01350 (photograph

reproduced with the kind permission o f the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth, England)

2 - the role of bird s within the religious landscape of ancient Egypt

Bimorphic depiction of Thoth, with the head of an ibis, and Horus, with

the head of a falcon, shown anointing the pharaoh Ptolemy VIIIEuergetes II (170–163 bc). From the temple of Kom Ombo (photo by Foy

Scalf)

Avian Elements Among

the“transformatio

n” spells of

Egyptian funerary

texts

Spells 77–86 from Papyrus Milbank (OIM E10486), a Ptolemaic Book of

the Dead papyrus belonging to Irtyuru. The vignettes show the

various forms in which the deceased wished to transform

himself by means of the accompanying spells (D. 17930;

photo by Anna Ressman)

Inherkhau shown standing before the phoenix in his tomb (TT 359). The

image is a supersized version of the vignette from Book of the Dead spell

83, whose introductory passage is above Inherkhau’s head: “Spell for

becoming the phoenix, entering and going forth by Osiris, overseer of the crew in the place of truth, Inherkhau,

justified” (photo by Charles Nims)

“one bird, one

pot”: the

sacred animalcults

of ancient Egypt

The subterranean animal necropolis at Tuna el-Gebel. Pre-Ptolemaic parts of the galleries shown in green (courtesy of

Dieter Kessler)

vulture lays before the innumerable ceramic

vessels containing bird bundles stacked at the

entrance to Gallery 6/5 in the Falcon Catacomb excavated at Saqqara

(Davies and Smith 2005, pl. 23d)

Base of the magical healing statue of Djedhor from

Athribis, in which he references his job caring for

the “living falcons who are in this land ” (column 5 from

the left). OIM E10589 (photo by Jean Grant)