Hunting, fishing and animals in ancient Egypt
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The ancient Egyptian culture is full of rich traditions and practices that up to the present day we continue to learn more about. Wildlife in ancient Egypt used to be very different compared to the wildlife currently present in Egypt for several factors and variables. Animals such as elephants, rhinoceros, and
hippopotami The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
used to live in different parts of Egypt, however these animals do not exist in Egypt today. Animals were very much appreciated and important in Egyptian history; even some deities were represented as animals; as Hathor the goddess of fertility, love and beauty was represented as a cow.


Animals and religion

In ancient Egypt, there existed a ceremony for slaughtering animals. However, there is no one common ritual, but several different ceremonies the most important ceremony is represented in the Ra temple, the dramatically texts of Ramesseum and in the Book of Opening The Mouth. The pictures often display the same scene, where a bull is lying on the ground, with its legs tethered together; on the other side of the bull, is a woman; with the butcher ready to cut off its forelegs, a ''sem'' priest standing behind the butcher and a
lector priest A lector priest was a priest in ancient Egypt who recited spells and hymns during temple rituals and official ceremonies. Such priests also sold their services to laymen, reciting texts during private apotropaic rituals or at funerals.Ritner, Robe ...
. The woman is identified as a goddess, Isis; the ''sem'' priest gives the signal for the butcher to slaughter the bull and the lector priest reciting the ritual.


Swamp hunting

Swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
hunting was a social event in which upper class hunting society families practiced. Swamp hunting included fowling with sticks and spear fishing. According to the narratives of the poorly preserved ''The Pleasures of Fishing and Fowling'' and ''The Sporting King'' which were edited by
Ricardo Caminos Ricardo Augusto Caminos (c. 1916 – May 28, 1992) was an Argentine Egyptologist focused on epigraphy and paleography. Caminos was born in Buenos Aires and had a brother Hugo and sister Helena. As a child he was fascinated by ancient history, and ...
. These narratives described how the upper class enjoyed hunting as recreational sport. ''The Pleasures of Fishing and Fowling'' narrates King
Amenemhat II Nubkaure Amenemhat II, also known as Amenemhet II, was the third pharaoh of the 12th Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Although he ruled for at least 35 years, his reign is rather obscure, as well as his family relationships. Family Archaeological fi ...
's swamp hunts, where the royal hunting party travels to a lake in Faiyum. The group included women of the harem and the king's children.


Fowling with sticks

Egypt's geographic location played a major role in the variety and population of birds in Egypt. Migrating Eurasian birds exhausted from their long journey come to rest in the wetlands of the Nile delta. Ancient Egyptians capitalized from the large flocks of birds and hunted them either for food, offerings to the dead and gods. Bird hunting through fowling with sticks was considered to be a sport practiced by royalty in ancient Egypt. Fowling with sticks was practiced by throwing a stick at flying birds. Initially, fowling with sticks was considered as a hobby practiced by the elite,Bailleul-LeSuer, Rozenn, and Anna R. Ressman. ''Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt''. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. fowling with sticks became a common practice to commoners and not specific to royalty after the
5th Dynasty The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty V) is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and VI under the group title the Old Kingdom. The Fifth Dynasty pharaohs reigned for approximately 150 years, from the early 25th century BC until ...
.


Clap net bird fowling

A more efficient and effective technique practiced by ancient Egyptians to fowl birds was clap net, however it required teamwork, skilled fowlers, someone to coordinate and oversee, a clap net and sometimes a decoy bird which was usually a grey heron to attract the prey.


Fishing

Fish were very abundant in Egypt, as Egypt is located on both the Mediterranean and Red Seas, along with the river Nile. Fishing was typically practiced on the river Nile, either by nets from a boat, using dragnets from shore or using bow nets in narrow banks of the river. On the other hand, fishing was also practiced as a sport for pleasure. Spearfishing and angling were two types of fishing as a sport that required a lot of patience and skill.A. D. Touny, and Steffen Wenig. ''Sport in Ancient Egypt''. Leipzig: Edition Leipzig, 1969. Print.


Spear fishing

A demanding and challenging method of fishing, spearfishing requires certain attributes in the hunter, as patience to decoy the fish and a certain amount of accuracy to end up with a well-aimed throw. Spearfishing in ancient Egypt had greater value as a sport than angling did. Originally, in
prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
and early times, spearfishing only served to provide food, and then it evolved into a recreation for the upper class.


Fishing spears and their construction

According to archeological evidence, spears used in sports could be divided into three types; spears with a single head, two headed spears and harpoons. It is not clear whether harpoons were used to fish for fish only or for crocodiles and hippopotami also; this is because of the relative small size of the harpoon to the size of the hippopotami and crocodiles.Brewer, Douglas J., and Renée F. Friedman. ''Fish and Fishing in Ancient Egypt''. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips, 1990. Print


Angling

Similar to modern fishing, angle fishing was a very common fishing technique, which requires a hook, however, no fishing rods were used at the time, instead, thick hand lines. Angling was mostly practiced among commoners and not upper-class Egyptians. Unlike spear fishing, angling was not practiced as a sport but it was an important means of obtaining food. The picture evidence available does not show upper-class people practicing angling. However, usually the pictures display commoners using angling to fish from a boat, with their masters watching. Evidence of the first fishing rod appears in the Middle Kingdom period, in the tomb of
Beni Hasan Beni Hasan (also written as Bani Hasan, or also Beni-Hassan) ( ar, بني حسن) is an ancient Egyptian cemetery. It is located approximately to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Mem ...
. Later on in tombs of
18th 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...
and
19th 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...
-dynasty officials, do we see evidence of upper-class Egyptians practicing fishing by angling with their wives, which indicates that by that time, fishing by angling had become an upper-class recreational sport.


Hunting

Hunting was practiced as a way to gather food and for self-defense against wild animals in ancient Egypt. Once people started domesticating animals and depending on the breeding of animals for food hunting lost its importance as a source of nutrition. As a result of this lesser dependency on hunting for food hunting became a recreational sport. Hunting was practiced by royalty to signify power and the ability to protect their people from danger.


Hippopotamus

The hippopotamus often signifies chaos and evil in ancient Egypt, as the hippopotamus was believed to be the incarnation of the god
Seth Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. A ...
: the opponent of the good gods Osiris and
Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...
. Horus then avenged his father Osiris by killing Seth, who is incarnated as a hippopotamus. The king then takes the role of Horus whenever he kills the hippopotamus. From the 1st Dynasty onward, some pictures have been found with scenes in which the king hunts alone, as the hippopotamus became the symbol of chaos and evil. Hunting the hippopotamus displayed the king's unmatched power, as depicted in King
Den Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita' ...
's cylindrical seal, where he wrestles and pins down the hippopotamus weaponless. Other pictures have been found of tomb owners in the
New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
killing the hippopotamus, these pictures are believed to have an exclusive religious significance. The hippopotamus was also a symbol of the protective goddess Taweret.


Wild bulls

Wild bulls were usually hunted by kings, this is evident in the story of king
Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...
; where a man informed the king that there were wild bulls in the desert in the area of Faiyum. The king then traveled north to Faiyum accompanied by his army and ordered the soldiers to observe the wild bulls and confine them with fences and ditches. King Amenhotep III spent four days in the hunt without resting his horses and had a tally of ninety-six wild bulls out of a total of one hundred and seventy bulls observed. , where he stabs the last breath out of an injured bull.Decker, Wolfgang. ''Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt''. New Haven: Yale UP, 1992. Print.


Lions

Lions are often identified as a symbol of power in the animal kingdom. The earliest pictures of lion hunting came from late prehistoric or early historic times and in the beginning it was not intended to be as a sport, but to rid the country of a plague, which was threatening people. Later, pictures emerged of the king taking hold of the lion to stab it to death as was displayed in Ramesses III's temple at Medinet Habu. Moreover, Thutmose III bragged about his ability to hunt lions, claiming that he killed seven lions in one second with his arrow shot. Amenhotep III, a fan of big game hunting, had a list of the animals he hunted, including one hundred and two wild lions in his first decade as ruler.


Elephants

In prehistoric times, elephants were despised and initially driven out by Egyptians because of their consumption of the crops and damaging the agriculture. It is not until the Egyptians push into Asia in the 18th Dynasty that the Egyptian came into contact with elephants. Hunting elephants was treasured by Egyptian kings because of their ivory which was valuable, moreover, hunting elephants showed the power of the king because of the elephants immense size. Thutmose III reported that he killed 120 elephants.


References

{{Reflist Ancient Egyptian culture History of hunting History of fishing