Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt

by Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer (Editor)

Overview

Issued 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 The catalog describes forty artifacts, many of which are previously unpublished.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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781885923929
Publisher:	Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures
Publication date:	10/31/2012
Series:	Oriental Institute Museum Publications , #35
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.50(h) x 0.50(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword. 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, Gérard 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