Description
Book SynopsisIssued in conjunction with an exhibit at the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago, this is the first comprehensive study of birds in ancient Egyptian society, economy, art, and religion. Essays address the role of birds in the religious landscape, their use in hieroglyphic and Coptic scripts, birds as protective symbols, as decorative motifs, and as food. A group of essays on "Egyptian Birds and Modern Science" presents the newest forensic research on bird mummies. Other articles address bird behavior as shown in Egyptian art and the present state of avifauna in the Nile Valley. The catalog describes forty artifacts, many of which are previously unpublished. An index of bird species makes this volume useful for naturalists as well as for Egyptologists and art historians.
Table of ContentsForeword. Gil J. Stein Preface. Jack Green List of Contributors Introduction. Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer Time Line of Egyptian History Map of Principal Areas and Sites Part I. The Revered and the Hunted: The role of Birds in Ancient Egyptian Society 1. From Kitchen to Temple: The Practical Role of Birds. Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer 2. The Role of Birds within the Religious Landscape of Ancient Egypt. Foy Scalf 3. An Eternal Aviary: Bird Mummies from Ancient Egypt. Salima Ikram 4. Sheltering Wings: Birds as Symbols of Protection in Ancient Egypt. Randy Shonkwiler 5. Pharaoh Was a Good Egg, but Whose Egg Was He? Arielle Kozloff 6. Birds in the Ancient Egyptian and Coptic Alphabets. Francois Gaudard 7. Birds and Bird Imagery in the Book of Thoth. Richard Jasnow 8. Birds in Late Antique Egypt. Susan H. Auth Part II. Ancient Egyptian Birds and Modern Science 9. Bird Identification from Art, Artifacts, and Hieroglyphs: An Ornithologist's Viewpoint. John Wyatt 10. Bird Behavior in Ancient Egyptian Art. Linda Evans 11. Studying Avian Mummies at the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, University of Manchester: Past, Present, and Future Work. Lidija M. McKnight 12. Medical CT Scanning of Ancient Bird Mummies. Bin Jiang, MD, and Michael Vannier, MD 13. Challenges in CT Scanning of Avian Mummies. Charles A. Pelizzari, Chad R. Haney, Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer, J. P. Brown, and Christian Wietholt 14. Terahertz Pulse Imaging of an Egyptian Bird Mummy. J. Bianca Jackson, Gerard Mourou, Julien Labaune, and Michel Menu Part III. Epilogue 15. The Avifauna of the Egyptian Nile Valley: Changing Times. Sherif Baha el Din Part IV. Catalog Birds in Creation Myths Pharaoh the Living Horus and His Avian Subjects Birds as Protection in Life Fowling in the Marshes and Aviculture Nina Davies's Facsimiles from the Painted Tomb-Chapel of Nebamun Bird Motifs in Ancient Egyptian Arts and Crafts Birds in the Writing System Birds in the Religious Life of Ancient Egyptians Birds in Death and the Afterlife Appendix: Bird Anatomy Concordance of Museum Registration Numbers Checklist of the Exhibit List of Birds Bibliography
