Durham E-Theses Predynastic Egyptian representations of animals: The journey from nature to art and beyond Wing, George How to cite: Wing, George (2015) Predynastic Egyptian representations of animals: The journey from nature to art and beyond, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11335/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Predynastic Egyptian representations of animals: The journey from nature to art and beyond George Anthony Wing Abstract This paper will argue that human-animal relationships in the Predynastic period of Egypt might be understood through the analysis of zoomorphic artefacts. Supplied with this paper is a database containing 617 three-dimensional zoomorphic objects excavated from Predynastic Egyptian sites. The analysis of the database, as well as critical discussions of forms leads to several conclusions. This paper details how artefacts may have related to the nature of cosmology and how animal-spirits represented aspects of place, identity and ancestors. Certain animals are appropriate for specific artefact types, such as fish being the most common animal depicted on palettes. The use of anthropological thought and ethnographic studies also aid in the interpretation of certain practices and beliefs related to animals and humans. The rise of elite powers seems to have affected how animals were used in artwork and iconography. Forms such as the ‘bull’s head’ amulet appear more frequently towards the Early Dynastic period, but also the nature of late Predynastic ceremonial artefacts seems to have altered how humans related with animals in artwork. This paper shows how the elite appropriation of forms affected animal images in relation to official writing, but also how some aspects of hieroglyphic writing may have been anticipated on zoomorphic artefacts in the Predynastic period. Predynastic Egyptian representations of animals: The journey from nature to art and beyond By George Anthony Wing Submitted to Durham University for the qualification of Masters by research in the department of Archaeology in 2015. Table of Contents Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... iv How to use the supplied database ............................................................................................ v 0.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 0.1.1 The theory and aims of the database ........................................................................... 2 0.2 Past research ........................................................................................................................ 4 0.2.1 Publications on Predynastic zoomorphic artwork ........................................................ 4 0.2.2 Excavation of materials ................................................................................................. 6 Section 1: The journey from nature to art ............................................................................... 10 1.1 Chronological outline ......................................................................................................... 10 1.1.1 Cultural characteristics of the chronological phases .................................................. 11 1.2 Themes from animal-human interactions ......................................................................... 14 1.2.1 Variety of artefact types.............................................................................................. 14 1.2.2 Audience and displaying ............................................................................................. 16 1.2.3 Recording, objectification and association ................................................................. 18 1.2.4 The cosmology of duality and multiplicity .................................................................. 19 1.2.5 Cosmological placing in life and death ........................................................................ 20 1.2.6 The mortuary realm: Burying animals and humans .................................................... 21 1.3 Function, materiality and memory: The use of zoomorphic palettes in life and death .... 28 1.3.1 Function of palettes .................................................................................................... 28 1.3.2 Materiality: Palettes and their cultural and stylistic relation to place ....................... 31 1.3.3 Memory and artefact biographies .............................................................................. 34 1.3.4 Form and dimensions .................................................................................................. 35 1.3.5 Zoomorphism and the cosmos: The River Nile, the sky-river ..................................... 39 1.3.6 Conclusions.................................................................................................................. 45 1.4 The importance of cattle and figurines ............................................................................. 46 1.4.1 Cattle cultures ............................................................................................................. 46 1.4.2 The Nuer people of Sudan........................................................................................... 47 1.4.3 Cattle figurines ............................................................................................................ 48 i 1.5 The ambiguous ‘double-bird motif’ ................................................................................... 56 1.5.1 From single to double ................................................................................................. 56 1.5.2 Perspectives and variations......................................................................................... 63 1.5.3 Interpretations of the double-bird form ..................................................................... 64 1.5.4 The cosmology of human and animal twins ............................................................... 75 1.6 Other duplications and hybridisation ................................................................................ 80 1.6.1 A hybrid interpretation of the double-bird form ........................................................ 83 1.7 Hybridisation and the nature of the cosmos ..................................................................... 86 1.7.1 A palette from Naqada Grave 271: A case-study ........................................................ 87 1.7.2 Objects as hybrids: A bead from Mostagedda Grave 1208 ........................................ 93 1.7.3 Discussion .................................................................................................................... 95 1.8 Multiplicity through assemblage ....................................................................................... 97 1.8.1 The human body as a vessel of cosmology ............................................................... 100 Section 2: The journey beyond art......................................................................................... 104 2.1 The further aggregation of animal forms ........................................................................ 104 2.2 The archaeology of animal and human taboo ................................................................. 108 2.2.1 Taboo and the relationships between human and animal ....................................... 108 2.3 The potential for totemic beliefs in the Predynastic period ............................................ 117 2.3.1 Totemism as related to identity, society and political organisation ......................... 120 2.3.2 Totem-animals in life and death ............................................................................... 125 2.4 The transformation of animals into symbols ................................................................... 129 2.5 The politicisation of hybrid and animal forms ................................................................. 144 2.6 Human-animal transformations ...................................................................................... 148 2.6.1 Identification of the ‘Bat’ head motif........................................................................ 148 2.6.2 Schematisation of the ‘Bat’ head: The blending of different forms ......................... 153 2.6.3 Human-Cattle transformation: A potentially therianthropic example from Naqada ...........................................................................................................................................