Bird preening during the old kingdom

Abstract EN

Animals played a very important role in Ancient Egyptian life, religion, culture and language.1 There was a very strong bond between them and the Ancient Egyptians starting from the beginning of the history of mankind.2 The Ancient Egyptians depended on them during their lifetime for producing food.3 They were also used as a way of transportation from one place to another.

On the other hand, animal representations helped the Ancient Egyptians to form their writing4, their sacred beliefs and to choose their symbols.5 Because of the importance of animals and birds for the Ancient Egyptians during their daily life, they depicted them in different attitudes and manners on the walls of the tombs.

They showed the birds in aggressive, group, sexual, and relief attitudes.

Relief attitude of birds is considered one of the most attractive attitudes that were represented in the Ancient Egyptian art, especially on the walls of the tombs.

This study aimed to spotlight on the attitudes of birds during the Old Kingdom; to shed light on all types of birds’ relief attitudes during the Old Kingdom; to focus on bird preening movements as represented on the walls of the individual tombs at Saqqara during the Old Kingdom; to express the observation of Saqqara artists concerning birds' relief attitudes during the Old Kingdom; to focus on the types of scenes that included preening movements; and to explain their location in the tomb.

The introductory results revealed that animals were represented in most types of the scenes, reflecting the practical (daily life) role of birds in ancient Egyptian society.

The representation of birds in different attitudes and poses revealed the cleverness of the artists who dealt with animal and bird scenes more than those who dealt with human forms because the quick movements of the birds need accurate and close observation of the artists.

Bird relief attitude was depicted inside a small number of tombs at Saqqara dating back to the Old Kingdom.

Preening movement and wing flapping are two types of preening birds.