Swifter than the Arrow: The Golden Hunting Hounds of Ancient Egypt

247 Pages·2006·3.6 MB·English

by  Michael Rice

฀Swifter฀than฀the฀Arrow
Frontispiece฀ The฀Hemaka฀disc,฀First฀Dynasty,฀c.฀฀.
฀Swifter฀than฀the฀Arrow
The฀Golden฀Hunting฀Hounds฀of฀Ancient฀Egypt
฀
Published฀in฀฀by฀฀
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Copyright฀©฀Michael฀Rice฀
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฀฀ ฀฀฀฀(Hb)฀
฀฀ ฀฀฀฀฀(Hb)
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Contents
฀ ฀ List฀of฀Illustrations฀ vii
฀ ฀ Acknowledgements฀ ix
฀ ฀ Canines฀and฀Ancient฀Egypt฀ xiii
฀฀฀ Wolf฀to฀Dog฀to฀Hunting฀Hound฀ 
฀฀฀ The฀Beloved฀Companion฀ 
฀฀฀ The฀Hound฀in฀the฀Hunt฀ 
฀฀฀ Golden฀Jackals,฀Egyptian฀Hounds฀and฀the฀Hounds฀of฀the฀
Mediterranean฀Islands฀ 
฀฀฀ The฀Canine฀Gods฀of฀Ancient฀Egypt฀ 
Perceptions฀of฀the฀Divine฀ 
The฀Great฀God฀Anubis฀ 
Khentiamentiu฀ 
Wepwawet฀ 
Set,฀God฀of฀Confusion฀ 
The฀Survival฀of฀the฀Gods฀ 
vi ฀฀฀
฀฀฀ Tail-end฀ 
฀฀฀ Hieroglyphs฀Relating฀to฀Dogs฀and฀Hunting฀ 
฀฀฀ Dogs฀Named฀in฀the฀Text฀ 
฀ ฀ Glossary฀ 
฀ ฀ Notes฀ 
฀ ฀ Bibliography฀ 
฀ ฀ Picture฀Sources฀and฀Acknowledgements฀ 
฀ ฀ Index฀ 
List฀of฀Illustrations
Frontispiece฀ The฀Hemaka฀disc฀ ii
Map฀ Sites฀mentioned฀in฀the฀text฀ xii
Figure฀฀ Eastern฀Desert฀petroglyphs฀ 
Figure฀฀ Nubian฀petroglyphs฀ 
Figure฀฀ Eastern฀Desert฀petroglyphs฀ 
Figure฀฀ The฀Golenishchef฀dish฀ 
Figure฀฀ Predynastic฀ivory฀labels฀from฀Abydos฀฀ 
Figure฀฀ Siali฀sealing฀ 
Figure฀฀ Lord฀of฀the฀Two฀Lands฀ 
Figure฀฀ Queen฀Herneith’s฀hound฀ 
Figure฀฀ Hound฀burial฀at฀Al-Hajjar฀ 
Figure฀฀ First฀Dynasty฀mastabas฀at฀Saqqara฀ 
Figure฀฀ Graves฀of฀hounds฀at฀Abydos฀ 
Figure฀฀ Leashed฀hounds฀and฀monkey฀ 
Figure฀฀ From฀the฀tomb฀of฀Nefer฀ 
Figure฀฀ Sekhemka฀and฀Peshesh฀ 
Figure฀฀ Inyotef฀Wahankh฀II฀and฀his฀hounds฀ 
Figure฀฀ Senu฀the฀Nubian฀and฀his฀hounds฀ 
Figure฀฀ ‘Breath฀of฀life฀to฀Senbi’฀ 
Figure฀฀ Djehutyhetep฀and฀Ankhu฀ 
Figure฀฀ Khui฀and฀Iupu฀ 
viii ฀฀฀
Figure฀฀ Predynastic฀ivory฀gaming฀piece฀ 
Figure฀฀ Maiherperi’s฀hound’s฀collar฀ 
Figure฀฀ A฀mummified฀hound฀from฀the฀Valley฀of฀the฀Kings฀ 
Figure฀฀ Gardner฀Wilkinson’s฀drawings฀of฀various฀canines฀ 
Figure฀฀ The฀hound฀in฀the฀hunt฀ 
Figure฀฀ The฀‘Flute฀Player’฀ 
Figure฀฀ The฀Pharaoh฀Hound฀ 
Figure฀฀ Cirneco฀dell’Etna฀ 
Figure฀฀ Coin฀from฀Palermo฀ 
Figure฀฀ Coins฀from฀the฀Sicilian฀cities฀ 
Figure฀฀ The฀Ibizan฀Hound฀ 
Figure฀฀ Late฀Period฀head฀of฀a฀hound฀ 
Figure฀฀ The฀High฀Priest฀Khabausoker฀ 
Figure฀฀ Khentiamentiu฀and฀the฀kings฀of฀the฀First฀Dynasty฀ 
Figure฀฀ King฀Seti฀I฀and฀Wepwawet฀ 
Figure฀฀ King฀Scorpion฀and฀the฀canine฀standards฀ 
Figure฀฀ The฀animal฀of฀Set฀ 
Figure฀฀ King฀Peribsen฀as฀‘The฀Set’฀ 
Figure฀฀ King฀Khasekhemwy฀as฀‘The฀Horus฀and฀Set’฀ 
฀
Acknowledgements
T
he฀first฀acknowledgement฀that฀I฀wish฀to฀record฀here฀is฀to฀my฀friend฀
Arthur฀Meade,฀who฀was฀really฀responsible฀for฀this฀book฀being฀written.฀
In฀the฀late฀s฀I฀was฀recuperating฀from฀a฀coronary฀infarction฀that฀I฀expe-
rienced฀in฀Riyadh฀and฀a฀subsequent฀bypass฀operation฀in฀London.฀Arthur฀and฀
I฀were฀accustomed฀to฀walk฀in฀Hyde฀Park฀as฀part฀of฀my฀regime฀to฀return฀to฀
approximate฀normality฀and฀on฀one฀such฀walk฀he฀called฀my฀attention฀to฀a฀
very฀striking฀golden฀hound฀galloping฀across฀the฀Park,฀tail฀up฀and฀ears฀pricked.฀
This฀was฀my฀first฀meeting฀with฀a฀Pharaoh฀Hound฀and฀from฀that฀encounter฀
the฀interest฀that฀sparked฀this฀book฀evolved.฀Her฀cruel฀and฀melancholy฀fate฀
is฀recorded฀in฀the฀Preface.
My฀other฀debts฀are฀many.฀I฀am฀especially฀grateful฀to฀Dr฀Juliet฀Clutton-Brock,฀
the฀doyenne฀of฀archaeo-zoologists฀and฀an฀incomparable฀authority฀on฀the฀
origins฀and฀history฀of฀the฀domesticated฀dog.฀She฀kindly฀read฀an฀earlier฀draft฀and฀
gave฀me฀valuable฀advice,฀not฀only฀on฀the฀zoological฀and฀biological฀aspects฀of฀
the฀text฀but฀also฀on฀the฀presentation฀of฀what฀was฀inevitably฀an฀often฀complex฀
thesis,฀in฀the฀scientific฀aspects฀of฀which฀I฀was฀wholly฀a฀novice.฀If฀any฀errors฀
or฀incompetences฀remain฀they฀are฀entirely฀my฀own,฀unaided฀effort.
Andrew฀Wheatcroft,฀of฀the฀University฀of฀Stirling,฀a฀prince฀of฀editors,฀gave฀
me,฀as฀always,฀excellent฀editorial฀advice.฀Likewise฀Jonathan฀McDonnell฀of฀
I.B.฀Tauris,฀whose฀company฀has฀seen฀the฀book฀through฀to฀publication.฀
I฀am฀indebted฀to฀the฀following฀institutions฀and฀individuals฀for฀permission฀
to฀reproduce฀images฀of฀material฀in฀their฀collections฀or฀to฀quote฀passages฀from฀