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    The Birds of Ancient Egypt
    The Birds of Ancient Egypt
    The Birds of Ancient Egypt
    Ebook624 pages6 hours

    The Birds of Ancient Egypt

    By Patrick F. Houlihan and Steven M. Goodman

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    Hailed as a sumptuously produced and finely illustrated outstanding contribution to ancient Egyptian studies, this facsimile reprint of Patrick Houlihan’s 1986 comprehensive study makes a welcome return in the Oxbow Classics in Egyptology series.

    Animals of all kinds are amply illustrated in Egyptian art, none more so than birds, in both secular and religious contexts and in hieroglyphic scripts. A great variety of bird species has for millennia made twice yearly migrations passing over Egypt, which is also an important overwintering area for many. These migrant birds, together with indigenous species were an abundant and easily exploited source of food for ancient Egyptians, for domestication and status display. Tomb scenes displaying birds provided as food for the deceased are abundant, as are procession scenes of offering with bearers bringing gifts of fowl. Many birds also had religious associations. Houlihan provides a systematic and unparalleled survey of all the bird life depicted by the ancient Egyptians in art and hieroglyphic writing, some 72 species (plus bats), with a list of known mummified species, and discussions on their religious and secular associations and many illustrations. Their present-day distributions are compared with that known from the time of the Pharoahs. A checklist of the birds of modern Egypt is provided by Steven Goodman.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOxbow Books
    Release dateSep 30, 2023
    ISBN9798888570296
    The Birds of Ancient Egypt
    Author

    Patrick F. Houlihan

    At the time of orginal publication Patrick F. Houlihan was based at the University of Michigan where he specialised in the fauna of ancient Egypt.

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      Book preview

      The Birds of Ancient Egypt - Patrick F. Houlihan

      THE BIRDS OF ANCIENT EGYPT

      The BIRDS of ANCIENT EGYPT

      Patrick F. Houlihan

      With the Collaboration and a Preliminary Checklist to the Birds of Egypt by

      STEVEN M. GOODMAN

      This edition published in the United Kingdom in 2023 by

      OXBOW BOOKS

      The Old Music Hall, 106–108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JE

      and in the United States by

      OXBOW BOOKS

      1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083

      © Oxbow Books, Patrick F. Houlihan & Steven M. Goodman 2023

      Paperback Edition: ISBN 979-8-88857-028-9

      Digital Edition: ISBN 979-8-88857-029-6 (epub)

      First published in 1986 by Aris & Phillips Ltd

      Oxbow Books is grateful to the Petrie Museum for their collaboration in bringing out these new editions

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing.

      For a complete list of Oxbow titles, please contact:

      UNITED KINGDOM

      Oxbow Books

      Telephone (0)1226 734350

      Email: [email protected]

      www.oxbowbooks.com

      UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

      Oxbow Books

      Telephone (610) 853-9131, Fax (610) 853-9146

      Email: [email protected]

      www.casemateacademic.com/oxbow

      Oxbow Books is part of the Casemate Group

      Front cover: Bronze statuette of the god Horus as a falcon. From Saqqara, Egypt, Dynasty 30–Ptolemaic Period (c. 380–30 BC).

      Petrie Museum UC30495. Image courtesy of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology, UCL.

      CONTENTS

      Sources of the figures

      Map of Ancient Egypt

      Preface

      Acknowledgements

      Abbreviations and References cited

      THE CATALOGUE

      1. Ostrich

      2. Diver

      3. Cormorant

      4. Darter

      5. White or Pink-backed Pelican

      6. Dalmatian Pelican

      7. Heron

      8. Egret

      9. Night Heron

      10. Little Bittern/Bittern

      11. Black Stork

      12 Saddlebill Stork

      13. Whale-headed Stork (?)

      14. Glossy Ibis

      15. Sacred Ibis

      16. Hermit Ibis

      17. European Spoonbill

      18. Greater Flamingo

      19. Black Kite

      20. Egyptian Vulture

      21. Griffon Vulture

      22. Lappet-faced Vulture

      23. Long-legged Buzzard

      24. Lesser Kestrel/Kestrel

      25. Horus Falcon

      26. Mute Swan

      27. Whooper or Bewick’s Swan

      28. Greylag Goose

      29. White-fronted Goose

      30. Bean Goose

      31. Red-breasted Goose

      32. Egyptian Goose

      33. Ruddy Shelduck

      34. Common Shelduck

      35. Green-winged Teal

      36. European Wigeon

      37. Pintail

      38. Tufted Duck

      39. Common Quail

      40. Red Junglefowl

      41. Helmeted Guineafowl

      42. Common Crane

      43. Demoiselle Crane

      44. Purple Gallinule

      45. European Coot

      46. Painted Snipe

      47. Ringed Plover or Little Ringed Plover

      48. Lapwing

      49. Spur-winged Plover

      50. Sandpiper

      51. Avocet

      52. Pin-tailed Sandgrouse

      53. Rock Pigeon

      54. Turtle Dove

      55. Great Spotted Cuckoo

      56. Barn Owl

      57. Eared Owl

      58. Roller

      59. Kingfisher

      60. Pied Kingfisher

      61. Bee-eater

      62. Hoopoe

      63. Crag Martin or Pale Crag Martin

      64. Swallow

      65. House Martin

      66. White/Pied Wagtail

      67. Red-backed Shrike

      68. Masked Shrike

      69. Golden Oriole

      70. Crow

      71. Redstart

      72. House Sparrow

      73. Bat

      APPENDIX I - The Mummified Birds

      APPENDIX II - A Preliminary Checklist to the Birds of Egypt by STEVEN M. GOODMAN

      NOTES to the Catalogue to the Checklist

      Chronological Table

      SOURCES OF THE FIGURES

      All of the photographs were provided by the institutions who own the objects illustrated, except where indicated otherwise. The authors and publishers wish to thank the copyright holders for their kind permission to reproduce the material.

      p. xxx. Reproduced from Steindorff 1913, pl. 113.

      1. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by the Egyptian Expedition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York .

      2. Reproduced from Winkler 1938, pl. XX; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      3. Photograph by the Egyptian Expedition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 28 .

      4. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1913, pl. XXIII; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      5. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. XXXVIII; by courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago .

      6. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      7. Photograph by S. M. Goodman. 31 .

      8. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      9. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Newberry 1900, pl. XI; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London. 34 .

      10. Photograph by P. F. Houlihan .

      11. Ägyptisches Museum, East Berlin. Reproduced from Wreszinski 1936, pl. 84. 35 .

      12. Reproduced from Bissing 1956, pl. XVII(a). 36 .

      13. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      14. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. XLI; by courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago. 38 .

      15. Photograph courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 39 .

      16. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      17. Photograph courtesy of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden .

      18. Photograph by S. M. Goodman. 41 .

      19. Photograph courtesy of the Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels .

      20. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. XIX; by courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago .

      21. Photograph courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston .

      22. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. LIV; by courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago. 45 .

      23. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      24. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      25. Reproduced from Wild 1953, pl. CXXII; by courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      26. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      27. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      28. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926 .

      29. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915 .

      30. Photograph courtesy of the Lowie Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley .

      31. Photograph courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      32. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      33. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      34. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Newberry 1900, pl. IX; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      35. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      36. The Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund .

      37. Photograph courtesy of the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore .

      38. Courtesy of the Visitors of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford .

      39. Photograph courtesy of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden .

      40. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Reproduced from Hassan 1936, pl. LI .

      41. Reproduced from Dunham 1946, p. 24 fig. 1; by courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston .

      42. Photograph courtesy of the Ägyptisches Museum der Karl-Marx-Universität, Leipzig .

      43. Tempera facsimile eproduced from Newberry 1900, pl. X; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      44. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      45. Photograph courtesy of the Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels .

      46. The Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Lawrence Coolidge and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss .

      47. Àgyptisches Museum, East Berlin. Photograph courtesy of the Fondation égyptologique Reine Élisabeth, Brussels .

      48. Photograph courtesy of the Lowie Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley .

      49. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      50. Photograph by P. F. Houlihan .

      51. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum, London .

      52. British Museum, London. Photograph by P. F. Houlihan .

      53. Tempera facsimile courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1930 .

      54. Reproduced from Singer et al . 1954, p. 264, fig. 164. Drawing by N. M. Davies from J. G. Wilkinson MSS .

      55. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by P. F. Houlihan .

      56. Photograph by P. F. Houlihan .

      57. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph courtesy of the Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford .

      58. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Reproduced from Quibell 1908, pl. V .

      59. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Griffith 1898, pl. I, fig. 1; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      60. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      61. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Loret 1903, pl. I; by courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      62. Photograph courtesy of the Staatliche Sammlung Àgyptischer Kunst, Munich .

      63. Photograph courtesy of the Musée du Louvre, Paris .

      64. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Naville 1897, pl. XXXIX; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      65. Photograph courtesy of the Detroit Institute of Arts .

      66a. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      66b. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      67. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      68. Petrie Museum, University College, London. Reproduced from Quibell 1900, pl. XVI fig. 4; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      69. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Reproduced from Daressy 1902, pl. LV .

      70. Reproduced from Davis 1912, pl. LXXXVII .

      71. Reproduced from Abitz 1979, p. 16 fig. 3(a) .

      72. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Frankfort 1929, pl. XI; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      73. Reproduced from Éperon et al . 1939, pl. XXVIII; by courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      74. Reproduced from Éperon et al . 1939, pl. XXV; by courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      75. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum, London .

      76. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S.M. Goodman .

      77. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1946, frontispiece; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      78. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      79. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      80. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Rosellini 1834, pl. XIII fig. 9 .

      81. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Reproduced from Gaillard and Daressy 1905, pl. XLVII .

      82. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum, London .

      83. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      84. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      85. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum, London .

      86. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      87. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      88. British Museum, London. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      89. Photograph courtesy of the Roemer-Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim .

      90. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      91. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      92. Reproduced from Newberry 1895, pl. XXI; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      93. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1930a, pl. XXXI; by courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York .

      94. Tempera facsimile courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund. 1933 .

      95. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Rosellini 1834, pl. VII .

      96. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      97. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      98. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum, London .

      99. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Lent by Norbert Schimmel .

      100. The Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund .

      101. Photograph courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      102. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Rogers Fund, 1915 .

      103. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Phillips 1948, fig. 25; by courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York .

      104. Reproduced from Wild 1953, pl. CXX; by courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      105. Reproduced from Wreszinski 1936, pl. 47 .

      106a. Photograph courtesy of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin/Hauptstadt der DDR .

      106b. Reproduced from Northampton et.al . 1908, p. 5 fig. 2 .

      107. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by P. F. Houlihan .

      108. Reproduced from Wreszinski 1923, pl. 191 .

      109. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      110. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      111. British Museum, London. Photograph by P. F. Houlihan .

      112. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1907 .

      113. Photograph courtesy of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin/Hauptstadt der DDR .

      114. Reproduced from Lefebvre 1924, pl. XLVII; by courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      115. Photograph courtesy of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin/Hauptstadt der DDR .

      116. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      117. Courtesy of the Visitors of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford .

      118. Ägyptisches Museum, East Berlin. Reproduced from Wreszinski 1936, pl. 83(c) .

      119. Photograph courtesy of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek, Copenhagen .

      120. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      121. Photograph by S. M. Goodman

      122. Photograph of a cast courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada .

      123. Photograph courtesy of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden .

      124. Photograph courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      125. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      126. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      127. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Rosellini 1834, pl. IX fig. 8 .

      128. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      129. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      130. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      131. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      132. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      133. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Reproduced from Gardiner 1961, p. 403 .

      134. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      135. Photograph courtesy of the Ägyptisches Museum Berlin SMPK .

      136. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Hanna Fund .

      137. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. XIX; by courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago .

      138. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      139. Photograph courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      140. Photograph courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      141. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      142. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      143. Photograph courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      144. Reproduced from Newberry 1895, pl. XXIII; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      145. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      146. British Museum, London. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Frankfort 1929, pl. V; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      147. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. XLIX; by courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago .

      148. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum, London .

      149. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. CI; by courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago .

      150. Photograph courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston .

      151. Reproduced from Éperon et al . 1939, pl. XXV; by courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      152. Reproduced from Wild 1953, pl. CIX; by courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      153. Photograph courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston .

      154. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Newberry 1900, frontispiece; by courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society, London .

      155. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      156. Photograph by P. F. Houlihan .

      157. Photograph courtesy of the Musée du Louvre, Paris .

      158. Courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago .

      159. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      160. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      161. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Rosellini 1834, pl. X fig. 9 .

      162. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      163. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. LXXVI; by courtesey of the Oriental Institute, the University of Chicago .

      164. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      165. Photograph courtesy of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden .

      166. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      167. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. IX; by courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago .

      168. Photograph courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston .

      169 Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      170. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      171. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      172. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      173. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      174. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Reproduced from Piankoff 1957, pl.2 .

      175. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum, London .

      176. Museo Egizio, Turin. Reproduced from Maspero 1897, p. 536 .

      177. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      178. British Museum, London. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      179. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. IX; by courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago .

      180. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. IX; by courtesy of the Oriental 196. Institute, University of Chicago .

      181. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      182. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      183. Photograph courtesy of the Musée du Louvre, Paris .

      184. Egyptian Museum, Cairo .

      185. Reproduced from Wreszinski 1936, pl. 105(b) .

      186. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      187. Courtesy of the Visitors of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford .

      188. Reproduced from Vandier d’Abbadie 1936b, pl. II; by courtesy of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire .

      189. Photograph courtesy of the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm .

      190. Museo Egizio, Turin. Reproduced from Brunner-Traut 1955, pl. III .

      191. British Museum, London. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      192. Photograph courtesy of the Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Donald N. Wilber. Drawing by John Huffstot. The Manchester Museum, England .

      193. Tempera facsimile reproduced from Davies 1936, pl. IX; by courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago .

      194. Reproduced from Mekhitarian 1954, p. 137; by courtesy of Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., New York .

      195. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      196. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      197. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      198. Photograph by S. M. Goodman .

      199. Reproduced from Price 1893, p. 344 .

      Ancient Eopt and the principal sites mentioned in the text

      PREFACE

      It has aptly been observed that nowhere in the world have animals been drawn, painted or otherwise represented so frequently and in such variety as in Egyptian art.¹ This is particularly true for birds. In both secular and religious contexts, from predynastic times through the Ptolemaic Period, depictions of birds abound in all mediums. They are also very commonly figured in the hieroglyphic script. In Sir Alan Gardiner’s Sign List, sixty-three standard hieroglyphs are listed which deal with birds and parts of birds.² Birds played more than just a minor role in the culture of ancient Egypt.

      Egypt lies on a major migratory route for birds of the Palearctic region. Twice each year, during the spring and fall, great numbers of birds pass through the country while on their journey between Europe and central and southern Africa. Egypt also serves as an important wintering area for migratory birds from nearly the entire Palearctic region. After their long flights of passage across the Mediterranean Sea or sands of the Sahara, the birds arrive in Egypt in a much exhausted state and can be trapped with relative ease. These migrant birds, together with the resident species, were an abundant and easily exploited source of food for the ancient Egyptians. We can be reasonably confident that throughout the long course of Egyptian history birds were always readily consumed, and probably by all strata of society. There is some evidence to show that birds were sold very cheaply in ancient Egypt.³ However, the specially raised and force-fed table birds we view in tomb scenes were more than likely reserved for those who could afford them. Even when certain species of fowl were domestically bred in captivity, birds were doubtless still taken from the wild to meet the high demand for them.

      The Egyptians visualized the next world as a mirror image of the life they knew here. When they carved or painted scenes of everyday life on the walls of their tombs it was a way of magically ensuring that this life was to continue in the beyond. Much space was devoted to scenes in tombs which were designed to ensure the deceased with an endless supply of victuals throughout eternity. Among some of the most popular themes are those of poultry yards, aviaries, bird hunting and trapping, and almost always, great processions of offering bearers bringing gifts of fowl. It is the birds which appear in these scenes, those regarded as a potential article of food, which are most often represented in art and from which we learn the most about the birds of ancient Egypt. Numerous birds also had religious associations and appear in countless scenes which reflect their various roles.

      The aim of this study is easy to define: to provide a systematic survey of all the bird life depicted by the ancient Egyptians in art and hieroglyphic writing, to sketch the birds’ role in secular and religious spheres, and to attempt to compare their present-day distribution range with that in the time of the Pharaohs, based on the most current Egyptological and ornithological knowledge. It is also hoped that the Checklist (Appendix II) to the birds of modern Egypt will fill a long need to give bird enthusiasts an accurate and concise list. It must be noted that the present study does not cover the ancient Egyptian names for the respective species of birds. A new work by Dimitri Meeks investigates the birds identified in this book from a lexicographical point of view.⁴

      Patrick F. Houlihan

      Ann Arbor, 1985

      1. te Velde 1980, p. 76.

      2. Gardiner 1957, pp. 467-74

      3. Janssen 1975, p. 178.

      4. Meeks (forthcoming).

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      I wish to express my heartiest thanks to Mr. William H. Peck for his encouragement and assistance over the years that this book has been in preparation, and for reading the manuscript in draft and making many useful observations and suggestions. For the prompt supply of photographs and kind permission to use them in this book, I am most grateful to Dr. J. C. Biers of the Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia; Dr. E. Blumenthal of the Ägyptisches Museum der Karl-Marx-Universitat, Leipzig; Dr. J.-L. de Cenival of the Musée du Louvre, Paris; Dr. A. David of the Manchester Museum; Dr. A. Eggebrecht of the Roemer-Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim; Mr. R. A. Fazzini of the Brooklyn Museum; Mr. M. Jørgensen of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek, Copenhagen; Dr. J. S. Karig of the Ägyptisches Museum, West Berlin; Dr. A. P. Kozloff of the Cleveland Museum of Art; Mr. J. A. Larson of the Oriental Institute, the University of Chicago; Dr. C. Lilyquist of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Mr. L. Limme of the Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels; Mr. A. Mekhitarian of the Fondation Égyptologique Reine Élisabeth, Brussels; Dr. N. B. Millet of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; Dr. F. A. Norick of the Lowie Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley; Mr. W. H. Peck of the Detroit Institute of Arts; Dr. B. E. J. Peterson of the Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm; Prof. P. Posener-Kriéger of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire; Dr. K.-H. Priese of the Ägyptisches Museum, East Berlin; Dr. H. D. Schneider of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden; Dr. S. Schoske of the Staatliche Sammlung Âgyptischer Kunst, Munich; Prof. W. K. Simpson of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Dr. A. J. Spencer of the British Museum, London; Miss F. Strachan of the Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Dr. H. Whitehouse of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Dr. E. R. Williams of the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. I also wish to thank Dr. J. Lipińska for allowing me to photograph and publish material from the temple of Tuthmosis III at Deir el-Bahari excavated by the Polish Centre of Archaeology. My thanks are also due to Dr. R. A. Caminos and Dr. H. te Velde for kindly granting me permission to quote directly passages from their respective works in this book.

      This book is a work of collaboration. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Mr. Steven M. Goodman who from drawing on his extensive knowledge of the Egyptian avifauna has been of immense assistance in this study. He is also responsible for many of the photographs which appear and has contributed the Checklist to the birds of modern Egypt (Appendix II). Jointly we wish to express our warm thanks to Dr. Robert W. Storer for all of his help. We also wish to thank the officials of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, and the Egyptian Antiquities Organization for their friendly co-operation. For the preparation of many of the illustrations for this book, our thanks go to Bill and Pat Pelletier of Photo Services, Ann Arbor. We must also record the assistance and cooperation we have received over the years from the staff of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

      I would also like to thank Mr. Adrian Phillips of Aris & Phillips Ltd for including this study in their Modern Egyptology series. Last, but by no means least of all, my very special thanks go to Laurie J. Stedman who typed the final manuscript and has given me much assistance during the period of its preparation.

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