Animals for the gods - Page 2

The city of the hawk... and other animals

In 2001, Wim and Veerle started taking part in excavations in Egypt, which is well known for its archaeological finds. Much of their work here is on predynastic civilisations: human settlements in Egypt predating the ‘great Pharaohs’, about 4000 to 3000 years before Christ.

"One of the most remarkable finds we made here was in Hierakonpolis, south of Luxor", says Wim. Hierakonpolis (‘City of the Hawk’) was a large urban centre in upper Egypt that consists of several settlement sites, burial sites and ritual buildings, such as the oldest known temple in Egypt. Excavations are currently carried out by Renée Friedman of the British Museum.

Wim added: “At one of the burial sites in Hierakonpolis, known as the Elite Cemetery, we found more than 70 animals, some of which were buried with humans. This is obviously a special ritual context”.

“Our hypothesis was reinforced by the proportion of wild animals we found”, Veerle adds. “Animals are regularly found associated with human graves, but they tend to be domesticated animals such as goats, dogs, cattle, etc. At Hierakonplolis we have found wild animals, such as hippopotamuses, baboons, and even elephants, and some of these animals were even buried in their own individual graves.”

“The aim of these animal offerings may not have been to demonstrate wealth in the afterlife”, continues Wim. “Carrying out the ritual itself may have been the major aim: by capturing and taming wild animals the inhabitants of Hierakonpolis could demonstrate their bravery and ability to control the ‘chaos of nature’. They went far beyond Egypt in search of animals such as elephants and baboons”.

Associated to the ‘real’ animal offerings were often animal figurines made of flint or stone