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A Little Bird Told Me ... Observations on the representation of birds during the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Period

par Vanhulle, Dorian ;Hendrickx, Stan
Référence Origins 7 Paris, 19th-23rd September 2022 The 7th International Conference on Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt
Publication Non publié, 2022-09-19

Communication à un colloque

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Résumé :

Birds are frequently represented in Egyptian iconography, specifically in the corpus of hieroglyphic signs and the artistic production of the dynastic period. This interest in ornithological depictions can also be observed in Predynastic times, as birds appear on the majority of 4th millennium object categories. From zoomorphic ceramics, to palettes and ivory combs, there is a higher representation of birds compared to depictions of, among others, ibexes or bulls. Yet, despite this, no extensive studies have been devoted to the interpretation of birds as an iconographic motif. If it is well-known that birds, likely to be ostriches, are ubiquitous on Decorated pottery (Naqada IIC-D), it is less acknowledged that various species of birds were still regularly depicted during late Predynastic and Early Dynastic times. This is illustrated by the occasional presence of birds on decorated ivory knife handles and other portable objects, on top of the prows of Naqada IIIA-B boats and in rock art. In addition to this, the choice of the falcon as the attribute of the god Horus, advocates the importance of birds within the symbolic and cognitive world of the Naqada period.This paper aims to study the evolution of bird representations in Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, their possible symbolic and ideological meanings and to provide an up-to-date catalogue of Naqada period productions related to birds.