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It is the Nile’s top predator fish and the largest… a veritable king of fish.
Early Egyptologists had little interest in the collection, recording or identification of faunal remains, and the place of fish within ancient Egyptian society has been consistently underestimated. Modern studies of zooarchaeological evidence have now confirmed the importance of fish as a major food source from Palaeolithic times, and analyses of the types of fish represented in the faunal record have revealed a definite hierarchy of fish consumption. The shallow-dwelling species like catfish and tilapia, which could be caught in nets and traps, provided a bulk food-source for most of the population. The larger, meatier fish caught in the main river channel were preferred by upper-class diners and for celebratory feasts, and the most prestigious of these deep-water species was the Nile perch, Lates niloticus.
The Nile perch
Like most freshwater fish species, the shape of Lates niloticus lends itself to the ancient Egyptian artistic convention of representation in profile. In tomb images of fishing, a Lates is often one of the three fish hieroglyphs used as the plural determinative for ‘fish’ or ‘catch’. It is easily distinguished from other fish by its large mouth, heavy jaw, and somewhat protruding eyes. The rounded caudal fin differentiates it from the fan-shaped tail of the tilapia or the forked tails of other species, and the prominent rounded posterior dorsal fin can give the fish a hump-backed appearance.
Spines on the dorsal and anal fins, and on the operculum – the bony flap protecting the gills – mean that Lates requires careful handling. The size and ferocity of this fish, with its sharp teeth and spines, made it a formidable foe. It is the Nile’s top predator fish and the largest, achieving up to 2 metres in length and well over 100 kilogrammes in weight: a veritable king of fish. The Nile perch is now considered an invasive species in countries like Uganda, where it was introduced in the 1950s to boost commercial fishing, especially in Lake Victoria, and it has become highly prized by modern sport anglers.
The fish goddess
The Nile perch is among the few fish species for which we have the ancient Egyptian name. In the Fourth Dynasty Tomb of Rahotep at Meidum, a huge Lates is shown suspended from a boat’s oar carried on the shoulders of two fishermen. The shield-and-weapon hieroglyph labels the species as aHA, ‘the fighter’. This was the name given by Narmer, traditionally the first king of the unified Egypt, to his son and successor Aha. Many royal women of this early period, notably Narmer’s consort Neithhotep, were named for the war-like goddess Neith, whose name was written with another shield-and-weapon hieroglyph.
Neith is among the earliest attested of Egyptian goddesses: her totem of a shield bearing crossed arrows appears on Predynastic painted pottery and seal impressions, and on the simple tomb stela of Meryt-Neith, the mother of Den, fifth king of the First Dynasty, who may have been the first woman to be recognised as ruler of Egypt. As a creator deity, Neith was said to have emerged in the primordial waters, taking the form of a Nile perch to swim northwards to found her principal cult centre at Sais in the Delta. Aha’s provision of a magnificent mastaba at Abydos for his mother Neithhotep, whose family is thought by some to have originated in Sais, and his foundation of a shrine to Neith at the new capital of Memphis, suggest a family adherence to the goddess, which might explain why his name was chosen to echo that of Neith’s sacred animal. By the Graeco-Roman Period, the city of Esna was known as Latopolis, ‘City of the Lates-fish’, and Neith’s cult was celebrated there by the burial of hundreds of mummified fish.
Catching and cooking
The remains of substantial fish midden deposits at Sais dating from the Predynastic era onwards identify the city as a major centre for the marketing and distribution of fish. Catching Nile perch of the size preferred for celebratory meals required specialist fishermen with sturdy boats capable of navigating the Nile’s more-dangerous open waters. The model sporting boat in Meketra’s collection includes a huge Nile perch landed by harpoon.
Tomb scenes show the distribution of large fish to the tomb-owner’s family and retainers as marks of favour, rewards for loyal service, or as contributions to the funeral or mortuary feasts they would celebrate on his behalf. In general, such fish were considered luxuries, marks of status or rank. In the Giza Pyramid workers’ town of Heit el-Ghurab, Nile perch were among the quality meats provided for senior officials, while the ordinary work gangs and support staff survived on the less nutritious catfish and tilapia. But in more southerly regions the flow of the Nile, the depth of the main channel, and the environmental conditions along its banks better suited the larger fish species. The stoneworkers’ community of el-Sheikh Said, serving the Fourth Dynasty limestone and calcite quarries near Mallawi, had easier access to deeper waters and consequently the quarrymen enjoyed a highly calorific diet including Lates of substantial size.
Remains of Lates niloticus predominate in food preparation debris from Predynastic Hierakonpolis, with most examples being more than 1 metre in length. Some fish could have been cooked whole in an oven, but the fuel required made baked fish an indulgence of the wealthy. Larger Lates would have been cut into steaks and fillets to be grilled, fried or barbecued, or for stewing, which was the most economical bulk cooking method.
While the butchery of large fish is not explicitly shown in tomb scenes, what looks like a fish-spine among other meat offerings could be a frame, the skeleton of the fish from which the best meat has been removed. Fish frames, with or without heads and tails, provided a means of adding flavour and goodness to a stew or broth. Evidence from Levantine sites, like Tell Tweini (ancient Gibala) in Syria, indicates a thriving trade in Nilotic fish, especially Lates, imported in the form of preserved frames. Wenamun’s cargo manifest included sacks of dried fish but, due to the thickness and oiliness of its flesh, whole Nile perch cannot be sun-dried. However, frames preserved by salting or smoking would have added a taste of foreign luxury to the local diet and given Egyptian expats a reminder of home.
Further reading: You can read more about fish and fishing in ancient Egypt in Hilary’s article in AE 134 and in an article by Joseph Thimes in AE 121.
