| Many types of birds lived in Egypt. Falcons, kites, geese, cranes, herons, plovers, pigeons, ibises, vultures, and owls lived along the Nile and throughout Egypt. There were three types of ibises in Egypt: the sacred ibis, the hermit ibis, and the glossy ibis. The hermit ibis has been found to be depicted less often in Egypt than the sacred and glossy ibises. The hawk was sacred to Horus, and the ibis was sacred to Thoth. Ibises have been found buried in large numbers in catacombs throughout Egypt, and they are believed to have had strong religious meanings and purposes. Vultures were manifestations of Nekhbet and Mut. There were two types: the griffin vulture and the so-called "Egyptian vulture". The griffin vulture was usually related to goddesses and royalty. We don't know much about snakes in ancient Egypt, but were do know about the Ouroboros (or-o-bor-os). The Ouroboros has been depicted in ancient Greece, Egypt, and many other places. The Ouroboros is shown as a snake eating its own tail. Ouroboros means "devouring its tail." The Ouroboros eats its own tail to sustain its life, an eternal cycle of renewal. The Ouroboros represents creation out of destruction, life out of death, ext. The Ouroboros has been made into many objects, like rings. The picture on the cover shows an Ouroboros sculpture made out of bronze (9.5" x 8" x 4"). The snake Apep is the enemy of Ra. The cobra represents royalty, and it symbolizes Egypt itself. The cobra is actually a feminine symbol. Cobras and vipers were a continual nuisance and danger in Egypt, so cats were kept to lower their population. Animals have been used in every culture, but Egypt has used animals in almost every way imaginable. They were used in the household, in religion, they were even used as symbols in their writing. The Egyptians would never have been the same civilization they were, had they not kept all of their beliefs about animals. Egyptian Words for Animals Lions = maw Serpents = nefaw Greyhounds = tjesemew Long-tailed monkeys = gefew Baboons = keyew Cat = miu/mau/myw (all are pronounced like a cat�s mew/meow!) Bibliography Epstien, M. "The Role of Cats in Ancient Egypt" http://www.richeast.org/htwn/cats/Cats.html (7 Nov. 2001) "It's a Dog's Life" http://ralphv.www3.50megs.com/archives/oct2001 (8 Nov. 2001) Evans, Elaine A. "Cat Mummies" http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/research/renotes/rn-20txt.htm (7 Nov. 2001) Evans, Elaine A. "The Sacred Scarab" Ancient Egypt http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/permex/egypt/egs-text.htm (7 Nov. 2001) Seawrite, Caroline "The Animals of Ancient Egypt" http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/egypt_animals.html (9 Nov. 2001) McCoy, Chris "Ouroboros" http://www.dragon.org/chris/ouroboros.html (13 Nov. 2001) Power, Tamera The Shipwrecked Sailor NY: Aheneum Books for Young Readers, 2000 Honan, Linda Spend the Day in Ancient Egypt Canada: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1999 |