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Poultry in ancient Egypt

Taking full advantage of the abundance of avian life  in their country, the ancient Egyptians' diet was enriched by birds,  especially delicious and highly nutritious migratory waterfowl. Just  how plentiful and comparatively easy water birds are to obtain in  Egypt  can  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  from  1979  to  1986,  by  a  conservative estimate, between 260,000 and 374,000 of them were  taken  annually  without firearms in the Nile Delta alone,  using  essentially ancient technology. Moreover, there is sound ecological  and other evidence indicating that four or five thousand years ago,  the available wildlife was far richer.

A mixed flock ofwaterbirds being trapped with clap-nets, including some pintails and European teal. A wall painting in the tomb of the twelfth dynasty nomarch Khnumhotep III at Beni Hasan.
A mixed flock ofwaterbirds being
trapped with clap-nets, including
some pintails and European teal.
A wall painting in the tomb of
the twelfth dynasty nomarch
Khnumhotep III at Beni Hasan.
By the middle of the first dynasty, as shown by a representation  on  a  gaming  disc  found  in  the  tomb  (no.  3035)  of  the  chancellor  Hemaka at  Saqqara,  and  now  in  the  Egyptian Museum,  Cairo,  fowlers had perfected the technique of employing large, rectangular  clapnets  to  capture  huge  numbers  of  these  migrants.  Most  of  this  hunting presumably took place in the then-extensive swamplands of  the  Delta,  but  probably  also  in  the  Faiyum (El-Faiyum).  Those  birds  not  immediately killed when caught were fattened, even force-fed, and  kept in a semidomesticated state until needed for food or sacrifice.Members of the aristocracy maintained, as did individual temples,  substantial  stocks  of  poultry  on  their  domains.  These  birds  had  considerable  economic  importance.  The  vast  repertoire  of  scenes  from daily life decorating the walls of tomb-chapels belonging to  the  elite  from the Old Kingdom onward  routinely  include  the  activities  of  busy  poultry  yards  and  aviaries.  These  places  are  shown  teeming  with  various  kinds  of  ducks,  geese,  cranes,  and  doves,  and  frequently  have  captions  giving  the  birds'  names  and  numbers. The famous fifth dynasty mastaba (tomb 60) of the high- ranking court official Tiy at Saqqara, for example, is noteworthy for  its wide assortment of vibrant aviculture and fowling compositions.  Such  birds  must  have  been  so  esteemed  as  table  fare,  that  tomb  owners evidently wished to eat them throughout eternity. Generous  numbers of waterfowl are carried as offerings by bearers featured in  tomb-chapels and temples spanning all eras, they appear among the  piles  of  victuals  heaped  before  the  deceased,  are  put  on  funerary  tables, are named in their extensive menus for the beyond, and are  mentioned in temple offering lists. There is some textual evidence  from the New Kingdom that birds were affordably priced in ancient  Egypt. However, the specially raised and force-fed poultry on view  in  tomb  scenes  were  undoubtedly  reserved  for  the  wealthy.  Curiously, the eggs seem to be absent as food in funerary contexts,  probably owing to a taboo.

When images are carefully executed and paint is still extant, it is  sometimes possible to recognize the precise species  depicted.  Some  of  these  fowl  also  appear  as  standard  hieroglyphs.  Frequently  identified  table  birds  are  bean  goose  (Anser fabalis) or graylag goose (Anser anser), r-? and sr; white- fronted  goose  (Anser  albifrons  and  Anser  erythropus),  jrp;  Egyptian  goose  (Alopochen  ae.gyptia.cus),  smn;  ruddy  shelduck  (Tadoma ferruginea), bsbs?; pintail (Anas acuta), zt and hp; turtle  dove  (Streptopelia  turtur)  and  palm  dove  (Streptopelia  senegalensis), mnwt and 'by, common crane (Grus grus), i^yt, 'jw,  and  g^,  and  demoiselle  crane  (Anfhropoides  virgo),  wd\  Other  valuable birds sometimes kept for food include swan (Cygnus sp.),  di-idn?;  wigeon  (Anas  penelope),  wsyt;  European  teal  (Anas  crecca), probably sr and s; quail (Cotumix cotumix), p'rt;

coot  (Fulica  atra),  wh't;  and  possibly  pigeons  (Columba  sp.).  Pigeon cotes, a customary feature of the Upper Egyptian landscape  well  into  the  present  century,  probably  did  not  exist  during  dynastic times, and are first attested in the archaeological record  during the Greco-Roman period.

The impression one derives from pictorial and written sources  of which kinds of poultry were viewed as desirable for dining is  confirmed  through  zooarchaeological  studies  on  bones  from  cemeteries and settlement sites. Burials of well-to-do people often  had  mummified  victuals.  A  sumptuous  funerary  repast  prepared  for Tutankhamun during  the  eighteenth dynasty,  found  near  his  tomb (no. 62) in the Valley of the Kings, consisted of one brant  goose (Branta bemicia), one white-fronted goose, two bean geese,  four  teals,  two  shovelers  (Anas  clypeata),  one  gadwall  (Anas  strepera),  and  two  ducks  that  were  not  identified.  In  the  intact  eighteenth dynasty tomb of the architect Kha at Thebes (tomb 8),  the  deceased  was  interred  with  a  large  amphora  filled  with  eviscerated  poultry,  reportedly  preserved  with  salt.  Theban  tomb  paintings show birds being processed in this manner and stored in  similar tall jars.

Although Egyptian avicultuialists doubtless experienced some  success breeding these birds, owing to the sheer  abundance  of  waterfowl  in  the  wild  and  ease  of  obtaining  them,  there  was  not  a  strong  incentive  for  captive  propagation.  Nevertheless, the growing demand for table geese eventually led to  the complete domestication of a goose, probably the graylag, by the  time  of  the  New Kingdom.  The  Egyptian  goose  occasionally  appears in avi-cultural scenes, but only during the Old and Middle  Kingdoms.  By  the  early  eighteenth  dynasty, this  large  indigenous  duck  had  risen  in  distinction,  becoming  sacrosanct  to  Amun,  the  powerful god of the city of Thebes. It was surely for this reason that  this  species  was  kept  as  a  pet  by  some  Theban  notables,  and  is  displayed quietly sitting near them in their decorated tomb-chapels,  even accompanying them on fowling expeditions, despite the bird's  infamously  aggressive  behavior.  Otherwise,  domestic  poultry  evidently played a small role in Egyptian religious belief.



Today's  most  characteristic  farmyard  bird,  the  chicken  (or  red  jungle fowl. Callus gallus), was unknown to the ancient Egyptians  until  the  nineteenth  dynasty,  and  then  only  as  a  marvel  imported  from Southeast Asia by way of the Near East. The chicken did not  become commonplace along the banks of the Nile until at least the  Ptolemaic  period.  Classical  writers,  such  as  Diodorus  Siculus  (I,  74), in the middle of the first century BCE, mention the large-scale  artificial  incubation  of  poultry  eggs  by  Egyptian  avi-culturalists.  Presumably, the practice of constructing hatcheries first developed  during  the  Late  period.  It  is  also  possible  that  the  eggs  of  other  species,  such  as  the  sacred  ibis  (Tlireskiomis  aethiopicus),  were  incubated  to  supply  the  popular  and  burgeoning  animal-cult  industry  with  birds  used  as  votive  offerings.  The  earliest  archaeological evidence for these installations comes from the sixth  century CE. Hatcheries like this were still being used in some small  villages of Upper Egypt as recently as the late 1950s.

Recent Pages:


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·        Second Intermediate Period
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