The Mammals of Ancient Egypt

Book excerpt: Every visitor to Egypt is captivated by the paintings and reliefs of the flora and fauna of Ancient Egypt. Animals seem to penetrate every aspect of their lives, both wild animals for hunting and domestic animals for food and companionship, and also into their religious lives. The basic purpose of this book is to familiarize the readers with the mammals that were depicted by the Egyptians and the roles of these animals in their lives. Other aspects of the text are the errors and discrepancies in depicting and naming animals by ancient artists, as well as by modern analysts. Summaries are given on present and past distribution of each species and notes on natural history. One chapter is devoted to the gods Anubis, Seth and other fabulous animals.