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REVIEW BY SG
The Oxbow Classics in Egyptology series is steadily building into a large library of facsimile volumes covering a wide range of topics (including reissues of typological catalogues by W M Flinders Petrie, as reviewed in AE 139), making out- of-print and hard-to-find publications accessible to scholars and the wider public. Two of the latest titles are ideal for anyone with an interest in the flora and fauna of ancient Egypt, the first being the seminal The Mammals of Ancient Egypt, originally published in 1998 (Aris & Phillips).
Animals feature in abundance in ancient Egyptian art, but not in the form of generic bird or animal depictions. The artists recorded the actual animals they saw around them so accurately that we can determine which exact species were present from their work. However, early Egyptologists – many with little if any zoological training – were more vague when describing these images, giving various animals a less-specific label that was often at odds with what was actually depicted. The ancient Egyptian artists themselves also made mistakes, so the literature is awash with errors and discrepancies. So, in 1998, zoologist Dale Osborn and botanist Jana Osbornová set out to create a comprehensive catalogue of ancient Egyptian mammal species depicted in Egyptian art (ranging from rock art and Predynastic palettes to ceramics and tomb scenes), including insectivores (hedgehogs and shrews), bats, primates, rodents, carnivores (dogs, cats, and bears), ungulates and other types (elephant, hyrax, dolphin, hare, and so on). Each group entry provides the hieroglyphs for the animal and their translated meaning, and a description and short paragraph on behaviour and food, followed by more in-depth information on the individual species found in ancient Egypt, their description, habitat, and distribution, a list of their depictions in art, and a final paragraph on errors and discrepancies in previous literature.
There are hundreds of black- and-white illustrations, but, while the drawings are clear and helpful, the photographs have not reproduced well. Although this is a facsimile copy of the original work, the lack of colour plates feels like a missed opportunity. Strangely, the two prefaces to the 2024 edition mention the earlier reissues of Petrie’s work in the series, but not the present volume. However, overall this book is still essential reading for anyone interested in ancient Egyptian wildlife, and if you do not own a copy of the original publication, this large-format version should be on your bookshelf.
The Mammals of Ancient Egypt
Dale J Osborn with Jana Osbornová
OXBOW CLASSICS IN EGYPTOLOGY, 2024
ISBN 979-8-8885-7077-7
Paperback, £39.95
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