17

Abstract

The paper concentrates on ancient Egyptian attestations of the presence of the northern bald ibis in Egypt, evidence for observations of the bird’s behaviour and biotope, and especially on its religious significance as witnessed in the concept of akh (the spirit or blessed dead). It could also be viewed as a case-study that shows how both the accuracy and insufficiency of ancient (textual and pictorial) at-testations could present us with criteria for recognizing the presence and disappearance of an animal species in a distant historical period.

Most articles dealing with ibises in ancient Egypt concentrate on the sacred ibis, Threskiornis aethiopi-cus (Latham, 1790). 1 This is hardly surprising, if we consider the frequency and diversity of its Egyptian representations within textual, pictorial and artifactual contexts. In ancient Egypt, the sacred ibis was connected with the moon and the moon-god Thoth whose sacred animal it represented. It is also well known that the glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus (Linnaeus, 1766), and the northern bald ibis, Geronticus eremita (Linnaeus, 1758) were present in Egypt in ancient times too. A depiction of the former with its head lowered to the ground was used as the bilateral sign gem, e.g., in writings of the verb ‘to seek’, and a representation of the northern bald ibis in writings of the noun akh and related words (fig. 1). The representation of this bird is usually easily recognized by the shape its body, shorter legs, long curved beak and the typical crest covering the back of the head (fig. 2).

The Representation and the Significance of the Akh

The notion of the akh has often been translated as ‘spirit’ or ‘blessed dead’, though the range of its aspects and powers covered also the meanings of ‘super-human power’ or ‘sacred mediator’. 2 It was involved in a range of concepts at the core of ancient Egyptian religion. The Egyptians considered their blessed (efficient and influential) dead, the akhu as ‘living’, i.e., ‘the resurrected’. However, the posthumous status of the akh was not reached automatically. Human beings had to be admitted and transfigured into this state. The dead became blessed or effective akhu only after mummification and

1 This paper represents an outcome of a research project of the Czech Ministry of Education (MSM 0021620826) and of a grant project of the Czech Academy of Sciences (KJB 901010905). I would also like to thank to all my colleagues who helped me with their comments, suggestions, or corrections. In this respect, I am mainly indebted to Ch. Bowden, R. Speciale, V. G. Callender, F. Coppens, E. Frood, and M. Smith for their kind help.

2 F. Friedman, On the Meaning of Akh, (Ꜣḫ) in Egyptian Mortuary Texts. Doctoral dissertation; Brandeis University, Department of Classical and Oriental Studies, 1981, passim.

Spotting the Akh. The Presence of the Northern Bald Ibis in Ancient Egypt and Its Early Decline

Jíří Janák

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proper burial rites were performed and also after they had passed through obstacles of death and trials of the underworld. 3 Finally, the akh represented a mighty and mysterious entity that was part of the divine world and yet still had some influence upon the world of the living. 4 The akhu could visit the living or interact with them by means of superhuman powers and abilities. 5 They guarded their tombs, punished intruders or wrongdoers, helped in cases when human abilities were insufficient, and acted as mediators between gods and men. 6 The positive status of the mighty and transfigured akhu (‘the resurrected’) was mirrored by a negative notion of the mutu who represented ‘the dead’, i.e., the damned. In a parallel with the gods and people, a certain hierarchy existed even within the society of spirits. According to Pyramid Texts §215, §2103, the deceased king represented ‘the head of the akhu’.

The significance of the akh (and of the northern bald ibis) within ancient Egyptian culture has to be examined in connection to Egyptian cosmology. In their view of the created cosmos, the Egyptians distinguished three levels, regions or realms (the earth, the sky and the underworld, or ta, pet, and duat in Egyptian) that converged at the horizon (akhet). Not only did the akhet represent the junction of cos-mic realms, it also encompassed ideas about the horizon as a place of sunrise, hence the place of birth, renewal and resurrection. 7 Moreover, it was considered a place where divine beings (both gods and the blessed dead) dwelt and from whence they could venture forth. 8 On the earthly plane, the temple or a part of it could symbolize the horizon with respect to its cosmological functions. 9 Thus, the term akhet

3 J. Assman, Tod und Jenseits im alten Ägypten (Munich, 2001); M. Smith, “Osiris and the Deceased, ” in J. Dieleman and W. Wen-drich, eds., UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology (Los Angeles, 2008), http://repositories.cdlib.org/nelc/uee/1136.

4 Friedman, On the Meaning of Akh, passim.5 Ch. Adams, “Shades of Meaning: The Significance of Manifestations of the Dead as Evidenced in Texts from the Old King-

dom to the Coptic Period,” in M. Cannata, ed., Current Research in Egyptology 2006 (Oxford, 2007), 1–20.6 M. O’Donoghue, “The ‘Letters to the Dead’ and Ancient Egyptian Religion,” BACE 10 (1999), 99–101; J. Baines, “Society,

morality, and religious practice,” in B. E. Shafer, ed., Religion in Ancient Egypt (Ithaca, 1991), 152–61.7 Friedman, On the Meaning of Akh; J. P. Allen, “Reading a Pyramid,” in C. Berger et al., eds., Homages à Jean Leclant. Volume

1: Études pharaoniques (Cairo, 1994), 5–28.8 Friedman, On the Meaning of Akh, 68–69; J. P. Allen, “The Cosmology of the Pyramid Texts,” in W. K. Simpson, ed., Religion

and Philosophy in Ancient Egypt (New Haven, 1989), 1–28; J. Assmann, “Horizont,” LdÄ I, 3–7.9 J. Baines, “Temples as symbols, guarantors, and participants in Egyptian civilization,” in S. Quirke, ed., The temple in ancient Egypt:

new discoveries and recent research (London, 1997), 216–41; J. Assman, Ägypten. Theologie und Frömmigkeit einer frühen Hochkultur (Stuttgart-Berlin-Cologne-Mainz, 1984), 45–47.

Fig. 1. The akh-sign from the 5th Dyn. tomb of Hetep-herakhty (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden).

Fig. 2. The northern bald ibis. Photographed by the author in WWF Oasis at Laguna di Orbetello, Italy.

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occurs as a designation of the whole temple or one of its cultic areas. 10 Even the pylons that flanked the temple entrance were seen as symbolic parts of the cosmos: they might represent the horizon as the gate of the duat, the realm out of which both the gods and the dead rose. 11 Moreover, a tomb or the royal palace (or any interface between the sacred or divine and the profane or human) could have been considered the akhet as well.

Thus, according to Egyptian cosmology and mortuary texts, the akhu were ‘born’ or ‘created’ at the horizon, where they also dwelled and where they came from. 12 When a person died, its immaterial part descended into the Underworld. His or hers return journey followed the path of the sun and led out of the duat to the horizon, where the person was ‘resurrected’ and then to the realm of the blessed dead. 13 Thus, some sources, for instance the so-called Book of the Dead, use an expression imyu akhet (‘those who dwell in the horizon’) to denote or describe the akhu. In spite of their divine power, the akhu were dependent on ritual actions performed by the living, especially on the (food) offerings. Mutual relation-ships and cooperation between men and akhu formed one of the pillars of ancient Egyptian religion. 14 The Egyptian concept of akh written with the sign of the northern bald ibis encompassed similar ideas and images that have been much later ascribed to the blessed dead, saints and angels in Christianity.

The Nature of the Northern Bald Ibis

Although the notion of akh is generally recognized as crucial among Egyptologists, few scholars have tried to examine connections between the concept and its hieroglyphic representation. Some reached the conclusion that the akh-concept had probably no intrinsic relation to the bird, to which it might only have been related phonetically. 15 Others who connected the root word akh with the term iakhu (light, radiance or glow) suggested that the ‘glowing’ (purple, green and copper) feathers on the wings of the northern bald ibis represented its link to the ideas of light, splendor and brilliance. 16 There are, however, scholars that have challenged the theory that the word akh was primarily connected with light and glare 17 and suggested that the original meaning of notions akh and akhu might have been linked, for example, to the idea of a mysterious, invisible force and to the efficacy of the sun at the horizon. 18

The northern bald ibis inhabits an arid or semi-arid environment, with cliffs for breeding and nest-ing. These birds feed during the day in adjacent dry fields and along rivers or streams by pecking on the ground. Thus they prefer areas with low level vegetation (arid, but preferably cultivated, places), where they can find worms, insects, lizards and other small animals on which they feed. When the birds wake up, or when they come together at sunset, this is always marked by high activity, especially in the morning. 19 The ibises have a spectacular greeting display. It is a sequence of moves that starts with rais-ing the head and bill up, and is finished by a deep lowering of the head. The crest is erect during this

10 F. Coppens, The Wabet. Tradition and Innovation in temples of the Ptolemaic and Roman Period (Prague, 2008), 68–70.11 J. Assmann, Altägyptische Totenliturgien 1. Totenliturgien in den Sargtexten des Mittleren Reiches (Heidelberg, 2002), 21–22;

E. Graefe, Der Sonnenaufgang zwischen der Pylontürmen, OLA 14 (Leuven, 1983), 55–79.12 Friedman, On the Meaning of Akh, 68–69; Allen, “The Cosmology of the Pyramid Texts,” 17–21.13 J. Janák, “Journey to the Resurrection. Chapter 105 of the Book of the Dead in the New Kingdom,” SAK 31(2003), 193–210.14 Assmann, Tod und Jenseits im alten Ägypten, 54–58; Baines, “Society, morality, and religious practice,” 152–61.15 Friedman, On the Meaning of Akh, 27; idem, “Akhs,” in D. B. Redford, ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Oxford,

2001), 47–48.16 Friedman, On the Meaning of Akh, 26–27; H. Kumerloeve, “Zur Kenntnis altägyptischer Ibis-Darstellungen unter besonderer

Berücksichtigung des Waldrapps, Geronticus eremita (Linnaeus, 1758),” Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 34 (1983), 213.17 Allen, “The Cosmology of the Pyramid Texts,” passim; K. Jansen-Winkeln, “Horizont’ und ‘Verklärheit’: Zur bedeutung der

Wurzel Ꜣḫ,” SAK 23 (1996), 201–15.18 Jansen-Winkeln, “Horizont und Verklärheit.”19 K. Pegoraro, Der Waldrapp. Vom Ibis, den man für einen Raben hielt (Wiesbaden, 1996), 39.

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performance, and the greeting display is accompanied by a call. Studies on Egyptian textual descriptions related to the sacred ibis show that the Egyptians were aware of similar bird-dances. 20

The northern bald ibis has been found in North Africa and Ethiopia, the Middle-East, and throughout Central Europe. 21 However, only a few colonies survive in the world today, totaling in all not more than about 400 individuals. Some of them live in the Souss Massa Park in Morocco, 22 a few breed in Central Syria, 23 and many northern bald ibises are kept in zoos or raised in special projects. Causes of the de-cline are thought to be pesticides, human persecution, habitat loss and global fluctuation in rainfall, 24 and the northern bald ibis still counts among the most critically endangered species and is on the Red List. These migratory birds spend about 4 months in a breeding area and their wintering period lasts between 5 and 6 months. The Syrian colony was observed to migrate through Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen to the central highland of Ethiopia. On their return journey, they followed the western shore of the Red Sea through Eritrea to Sudan before crossing the Red Sea. 25

A colony of semi-wild northern bald ibises (locally known as kelaynak) is located in a small Turkish town called Bireçik (ancient Birtha, on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates). This only ceased to be a fully wild population in 1989. The nearby landscape shows a great similarity to Egyptian localities with limestone cliffs, a big river and fields. The ibis colony used to breed mainly on the eastern bank, near to the town, from February/March to July and their arrival was celebrated by the local inhabitants as a sign of the coming of spring. Some observers even state that the bird was considered semi-sacred in Bireçik, as a symbol of spring and life, transmigrating souls, the end of the Biblical flood and the pilgrimage to Mecca. 26

In ancient Egypt, the northern bald ibis most probably nested on rocks and cliffs to the east of the Nile, as suggested both by Egyptian religious texts that connect the akhu with the eastern horizon (akhet) and modern observations made in Bireçik and Morocco. 27 It may, thus, be conjectured that every morn-ing, part of the colony flew to the Nile in search for food, descending on fields, settlements, or even cemeteries. In the evening, the birds probably would have flocked together and returned to the horizon. There are further (probably secondary) aspects of the northern bald ibis that could have been important for the Egyptians such as, for example, the above-mentioned glittering colors on its wings and greeting dance. However, it is obvious that the main factor in holding the northern bald ibis in particular esteem and connecting it with the deceased and the idea of resurrection was its habitat. This member of the ibis species used to dwell at the very place designated as the ideal rebirth and resurrection region (the eastern horizon as the akhet); moreover, its flocks might have very well represented the society of the ‘returning’ dead. The ancient Egyptians saw migratory birds as the souls or spirits of the dead 28 and, thus, the fact that the northern bald ibis counts among the migratory birds might also be very important.

20 L. Dautheville, “Danse d‘autruche en l‘honneur du Pharaon,” BIFAO 20 (1922), 225–29.21 Pegoraro, Der Waldrapp; U. Hirsch, “Studies of west Palearctic birds. Northern Bald Ibis,” British Birds 72 (1979), 313–25.22 Ch. Bowden, “Last chance for the Northern Bald Ibis,” in World Birdwatch 20 (1998), 12–16; Ch. Bowden et al., “The status

and recent breeding performance of the critically endangered Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita population on the Atlantic coast of Morocco,” Ibis 145 ( July 2003), 419–31.

23 G. Serra et al., “Discovery of a relict breeding colony of Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita in Syria,” Oryx 38/01 (2003), 106–8.

24 Serra et al., “Discovery of a relict breeding colony.”25 J. Lindsell, “Satellite tracking reveals the migration route and wintering area of the Middle Eastern population of Northern

Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita,” Oryx 43/03 (2009), 329–35.26 H. Kumerloeve, “Zur Geschichte der Waldrapp-Kolonie in Birecik am oberen Euphrat,” Journal für Ornithologie 103 (1962),

389–98; Serra et al., “Discovery of a relict breeding colony”; J. Lawton, “Last of the Mohicans,” Saudi Aramco World 40, no. 6 (1989), 2–5.

27 Pegoraro, Der Waldrapp, 39.28 E. Hornung, Ägyptische Unterweltsbücher (Zürich-Munich, 1984), 485–86; H. O. Lange and O. Neugebauer, Papyrus Carlsberg

No. 1. Ein hieratisch-demotischer kosmologischer Text (Copenhagen, 1940), 39–41.

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There is no exact (textual) evidence that records Egyptian obser-vations of the northern bald ibis migration; however, using data gained by interpretation of religious ideas, textual and pictorial evidence together with close interdisciplinary cooperation we can partially reconstruct the image.

In ancient times, Egypt was probably a breeding area for these ibises that migrated there once a year, possibly at the same time as in Syria. Northern bald ibises, thus, would have arrived in Egypt in March together with the rising temperatures, and stayed there until July before migrating southwards, along the Nile, towards Ethio-pia. This hypothesis is based both on modern comparisons and on the fact that the weather of the Egyptian spring (the shemu season) corresponding to the low level of the Nile and the time of harvest would best suit to the needs of the bird. If this were indeed the case, then the northern bald ibis would have left just before the Nile inundation arrived and the beginning of a new year. The arrival of these birds could have been as a sign of the coming ‘spring’ or the harvest season, as was the case at Bireçik. Thus, we find circumstan-tial evidence which seems to support the theory that in the case of ancient Egypt, northern bald ibises were viewed as visitors and messengers from the other world, and were earthly manifestations of the blessed dead (the akhu). As for the northern bald ibis and its presence in modern Egypt, this bird was an accidental migrant and its last recorded spotting in Giza is dated to 1921. 29

Material Evidence

The only material evidence for the presence of the northern bald ibis in Egypt in the form of skeletal remains comes from Maadi where the so-called Maadi-culture (ca. 4000–3200 bc) had its settlements. 30 This unique find represents both the earliest evidence for this bird in Egypt and its only confirmed preserved bodily remains. The northern bald ibis was not hunted or sacrificed in Egypt; nor was it kept in temples and mummified at death. 31 On the contrary, both the sacred ibis and the glossy ibis are known to have been kept and mummified; 32 for the sacred ibis the mummified examples reach many thousands. 33 Thus, to date, only pictorial representations of the northern bald ibis are recorded from later periods of Egyptian history.

The earliest Egyptian example of the bird’s depiction is probably attested on the so-called Ibis slate palette (Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Historie, Bruxelles, Nr. E6186; fig. 3) dated to the Naqqada IIIa–b period. Two birds represented at the top of this palette were identified as northern bald ibises, though due to partial damage of the image this interpretation is not certain. 34

29 P. F. Houlihan, The Birds of Ancient Egypt (Cairo, 1988), 31.30 J. Boessneck, Die Tierwelt des Alten Ägypten (Munich, 1988), 23–24.31 Boessneck, Die Tierwelt des Alten Ägypten; S. Ikram, Divine Creatures. Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt (Cairo, 2005).32 Boessneck, Die Tierwelt des Alten Ägypten, 140; Houlihan, The Birds of Ancient Egypt, 26–30.33 Ikram, Divine Creatures.34 S. Hendrickx, Prehistorische en vroegdynastische oudheden uit Egypte - Antiquités préhistoriques et protodynastiques d‘Égypte (Brus-

sels, 1994), 46–47; W. Petrie, Ceremonial Slate Palettes (London, 1953), B6–7.

Fig. 3. A depiction of a bird on the so-called Ibis slate palette.

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Other examples of its early representations come from the Late Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods. Depictions of the northern bald ibis are preserved on two ivory objects from Hierakonpolis (a carved ivory plaquette and a carved ivory rod; Petrie Museum, University College, London) and on small bone labels from the tomb U-j at Abydos. The former show this bird among other birds and animals (figs. 4, 5). 35 The latter evidence is, however, rather dubious. These are six of the famous U-j tomb ivory labels (Nrs. 130–135; fig. 6) that have been considered to depict northern bald ibises either by itself or together with an image of (desert) mountains. 36 This identification is however very questionable, since the depicted birds show many features (especially its shorter beak, longer legs and the different shape of the crest; fig. 7) that seem more likely to correspond to the secretary bird, Sagittarius serpentarius, (Miller, 1779) rather than to the northern bald ibis. Images of the secretary bird were considered by some scholars to be present on Egyptian Predynastic objects. 37 A depiction of the secretary bird that could be misinterpreted for the northern bald ibis most probably occurs also on one of the Hierakon-polis ivory objects (figs. 8 and 9). 38

Schematic representations of northern bald ibises occur on small cylinder seals and other objects dated to the Early Dynastic Period. 39 Among them, a fine image of this bird (accompanied with horned vipers, oryxes and a lion) can be encountered on a wooden seal from the tomb 511 at Abydos (Ash-molean Museum, Oxford; fig. 10). There are, however, more attestations on the akh sign from Early Dynastic Period in different styles and accuracy. 40

From the Old Kingdom onwards, this bird was constantly used as a hieroglyphic sign for the word root akh; thus, it is often to be found in texts, especially in those that deal with the

35 J. E. Quibell, Hierakonpolis I. Plates of discoveries in 1898 (London, 1900), pl. 16, figs. 1–2, 4.36 G. Dreyer, Umm el-Qaab. I. Das prädynastische Königsgrab U-j und seine frühen Schriftzeugnisse (Mainz, 1998), 134, 139, 142,

pls. 131–36.37 Boessneck, Die Tierwelt des Alten Ägypten, 30.38 Quibell, Hierakonpolis I, pl. 12, fig. 1 and pl. 16, fig. 1.39 P. Kaplony, Die Inschriften der ägyptischen Frühzeit, III. ÄgAb 8 (Wiesbaden, 1963), figs. 101, 102, 113, 116, 119, 130, 194,

296, 435.40 J. Kahl, Das System der ägyptischen Hieroglyphenschrift in der 0.-3. Dynastie. GO 29 (Wiesbaden, 1994), 523–24; J. Kahl, Früh-

ägyptisches Wörterbuch I (Wiesbaden, 2002), 3–4.

Fig. 4. A northern bald ibis on a carved ivory plaquette from Hierakonpolis.

Fig. 5. A northern bald ibis on a carved ivory rod from Hierakonpolis.

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blessed dead (akhu). Large-scale and detailed hieroglyphs of Old Kingdom tombs reveal how precise were the observations that the Egyptians made about this bird. In the 5th Dynasty mastaba of Hetepherakhty from Saqqara (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden), 41 depictions of the northern bald ibis are shown in several styles and even with the remains of polychrome showing the dark blue and red colors which

41 H. T. Mohr, The mastaba of Hetep-her-akhti: study on an Egyptian tomb chapel in the museum of antiquities Leiden (Leiden, 1943).

Fig. 6. A bird on an ivory label Nr. 134 from the U-j Tomb in Abydos.

Fig. 8. A depiction of the secretary bird on a part of a ivory rod from Hierakonpolis.

Fig. 7. A bird on an ivory label Nr. 130 from the U-j Tomb in Abydos.

Fig. 9. A secretary bird on a carved ivory plaquette from Hierakonpolis.

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match with the living species (figs. 11, 12, 13). It is obvious that the persons who decorated the mastaba in question must have known the bird well.

Similar artistic accuracy of the akh sign was reached in the case of 5th Dynasty mastabas of Akhe t-hetep 42 (fig. 14), Ptahhotep II 43 (fig. 15), Ankhmahor at Saqqara 44 (fig. 16), and Seshathetep at Giza 45 (fig. 17). On the other hand, depictions of this ibis attested in later tombs, as for example the 12th

42 Ch. Ziegler, Le mastaba d’Akhethetep. Fouilles du Louvre à Saqqara (Leuven-Paris, 2007), 127.43 M. A. Murray, Saqqara Mastabas I (Leiden, 1905), pl. 9, 12, 13.44 N. Kanawati and A. Hassan, The Teti Cemetery at Saqqara, II. The Tomb of Ankhmahor. ACE reports 9 (Warminster, 1997),

pl. 34–35.45 N. Kanawati, The Tombs at Giza, II. Seshathetep/Heti (G5150), Nesutnefer (G4970) and Seschemnefer II (G5080). ACE reports 18

(Warminster, 2002), pl. 46.

Fig. 12. The akh-sign from the 5th Dyn. mastaba of Hetep-herakhty from Saqqara.

Fig. 13. The akh-sign from the 5th Dyn. mastaba of Hetep-herakhty from Saqqara.

Fig. 10. A depiction of the northern bald ibis on a wooden seal from the tomb 511 at Abydos.

Fig. 11. The akh-sign from the 5th Dyn. mastaba of Hetep-herakhty from Saqqara.

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Dynasty tomb of Hesu-wer 46 (fig. 18) are not as detailed as earlier examples. Even in the famous Beni Hassan tomb of Khnumhotep II 47 (12th Dynasty; fig. 19), the northern bald ibis is represented in a sur-prisingly incorrect manner: neither the shape nor the colors (yellow-white body and red wings) match with those of the living bird. This is remarkable since other birds and animals in the tomb in question are represented with such detail that the tomb is usually viewed as an ‘Egyptian atlas of birds’. From the Middle Kingdom onwards, the depictions of the northern bald ibis (as the akh-hieroglyph) tend to be schematized and do not show the above-mentioned Old kingdom accuracies (for a 19th Dynasty example see fig. 20). Even the coloring of the sign does not match with reality in many cases, as for

46 D. P. Silverman, The Tomb Chamber of Hsw the Elder I: Illustrations (Winona Lake, 1988), pl. 31, 34.47 Griffith, Beni Hasan III, pl. 2.

Fig. 16. The akh-hieroglyph from the 5th Dyn. mastaba of Ankhmahor at Saqqara.

Fig. 17. The akh-hieroglyph from the 5th Dyn. mastaba of Seshathetep at Giza.

Fig. 15.  The akh-hieroglyph from the 5th Dyn. mastaba of Ptahhotep at Saqqara.

Fig. 14. The akh-hieroglyph from the 5th Dyn. mastaba of Akhethetep at Saqqara.

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instance in the case of the 26th Dynasty coffin of Peftjauneith (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden; fig. 21).

Aside from the akh depictions used as hieroglyphs, the northern bald ibis also appears on several (probably funerary) Old Kingdom diadems (Giza, 4th and 5th Dynasties). These were decorated by discs composed of two opposed papyrus umbels with a northern bald ibis on each of the blossoms (fig. 22). In some cases, an ankh sign appears in between the birds. 48

48 D. Dunham, “An Egyptian Diadem of the Old Kingdom,” BMFA 44 (Feb. 1946), 23–29; E. Staehelin, Tracht.

Fig. 18. A representation of the northern bald ibis from the 12th Dyn. tomb of Hesu-wer.

Fig. 20.  The akh-sign on a pillar from the tomb of Ptahmes in Saqqara. Dated to the reign of Ramesses II.

Fig. 21. The akh-sign on the 26th Dyn. coffin of Peftjauneith.

Fig. 19.  The akh-hieroglyph from the 12th Dyn. tomb of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan.

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As was evident from the above-mentioned attesta-tions, the vast majority of Egyptian images uses the bird only as a pictorial (hieroglyphic) sign and do not depict it in its natural setting. The 12th Dynasty mastaba Hesu-wer at Kom el-Hisn represents the ex-ception. The northern bald ibis (among many other birds) is represented there in a roosting position on top of a papyrus umbel. However, from many similar scenes in other tombs this bird is missing. This fact could hardly be surprising, since the bird cannot be considered a waterbird. Thus, the northern bald ibis might have been added to such a scene to complete the image of all birds, or there might have been a special significance of the ibis-on-papyrus icon, as was the case with the Old Kingdom diadems that were probably meant to ensure proper transfigura-tion of the deceased. 49

Rituals Involving the Northern Bald Ibis

From the time of the New Kingdom onwards, a still mysterious ritual (nowadays, called Vogellauf) is attested among cultic scenes depicted on temple walls. Seventeen representations of the ritual are preserved from temples, three from private coffins. 50 The oldest evidence for this ritual activity dates back to the time of Hatshepsut; the latest is attested in the Temple of Dendera and comes from the 1st century bc. The Vogellauf ritual was probably associated with two other ritual ‘runs’, known as the Ruderlauf and the Vasenlauf. 51 The representations of the ritual show the king running towards a deity with a northern bald ibis in his left hand and three rods or sceptres of life, stability and power in the right one (fig. 23). In some cases, depictions of three birds (the sacred ibis, the owl, and the vulture) are present on the top of these sceptres. Among the recipients we find mainly female deities (Hathor, Bastet, Satet, Isis, or Weret-hekau) or the creator god (Amun or Re-Harakhty). Unfortunately, the accompanying text does not specify the cultic activity that is being performed by the king. The brief text merely states: “running (or hurrying) to deity X so that he (the king) might perform the life-giving (ceremony?) forever.” The deity is also greeting the king (his/her son) in return and guaranteeing him his/her joy and favor.

In the Ruderlauf, the king runs towards a deity with an enigmatic hepet sign (a navigation tool?) in one hand and an oar in the other. In the Vasenlauf, the king holds a vessel or jar (heset) in each hand. According to some scholars, the true meaning of these rituals had already been lost by the New King-dom. This opinion was based on the evidence of alterations of the texts and representations. 52 Although the depictions of the three ‘ritual runs’ show most probably important phases of a cultic event (not only its preparatory phases), no offering is shown there (even the vessel or jars have lids). We may thus

49 Dunham, “An Egyptian Diadem of the Old Kingdom”; Staehelin, Tracht.50 H. Kees, Opfertanz, 4–21; W. Decker and W. Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Ägypten: corpus der bildlichen Quellen zu

Leibesübungen, Spiel, Jagd, Tanz und verwandten Themen (Leiden-New York-Cologne, 1994), 42–123.51 Kees, Opfertanz, 22–102; Decker and Herb, Bildatlas zum Sport im alten Ägypten, 42–123.52 Kees, Opfertanz, 17–19.

Fig. 22. A depiction of the northern bald ibis on an Old Kingdom funerary diadem from Giza.

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assume these rituals did not embrace any sacrifice of the bird or libation of water brought in two jars or any offering of the oar. 53

53 The topic was dealt with in J. Janák, “Natural world Reflected in Sacred Space. Ritual in Focus: Vogellauf,” a conference paper presented at Redefining the Sacred: Religious Identity, Ritual Practice, and Sacred Architecture in the Near East and Egypt, 1000 bc–ad 300 (Oxford, 2009).

Fig. 23. A representation of the king (Thutmosis III) with a northern bald ibis (depiction) in his hand.

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If we compare the representations of the king with a northern bald ibis in his hand to other images of people carrying or catching live birds (with upspread wings, as if fluttering) or dead birds as offerings (with limp wings, downward inclined neck and blank eyes), it is evident that there is neither a living nor a dead bird in the hand of the king. We can also speculate that this is not even a statuette of the bird, since such a figure probably would have been depicted differently, perhaps on a stand or on a plinth.

It is thus more likely that the northern bald ibis in the king’s hand is to be read symbolically. It either stood for the hieroglyph akh and referred to concepts and notions linked to this word, or represented a bird that was not present at the ritual (as a reminder or a representative). The latter meaning could be illustrated as a parable of “hasting to the god with the first swallow.” Although the king is depicted hold-ing something that might have an equivalent in reality (a jar, a bird, and navigation equipment?), in this case the three objects may only represent hieroglyphic signs and have lexical and symbolic meanings. Thus, the representations of ibises within scenes of the Vogellauf must not be taken as an evidence for the presence of these birds in Egypt in the relevant periods of Egyptian history. Moreover, the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom representations of the three ‘ritual runs’ may themselves represent cop-ies of earlier reliefs, 54 since the presence of the northern bald ibis in Egypt is dubious from the First Intermediate Period onwards (see below).

The Presence of the Northern Bald Ibis in Egypt and the Reason for Its Decline

We may summarize and conclude that the material and pictorial evidence dealing with the northern bald ibis is much more accurate, precise, and elaborate in the early periods of Egyptian history (until the final phases of the 3rd millennium bc). In later times, on the other hand, the representations of this bird become more and more schematized, do not correspond with nature and, thus, they do not present us with any direct and convincing evidence for the presence of the northern bald ibis in Egypt. On the contrary, Egyptian scribes or ‘artists’ who would have known the bird well would not deliber-ately alter its main features and coloring. Other animal and avian species keep their main features and characteristics in representations from all periods of Egyptian history, as is the case of the sacred ibis, the peregrine falcon, the hobby, the Egyptian vulture, and many others. 55

There is no material, pictorial, or textual evidence for keeping, breeding, hunting, killing, mummify-ing, or sacrificing the northern bald ibis in ancient Egypt from any period of its history. This contrasts with Europe in the 16th century where these birds were killed, eaten, and needed to be protected by special decrees. 56 Moreover, among thousands of mummies of sacred birds of dozens of species, there has been no northern bald ibis identified so far in the material record of this ancient culture. 57

Although the presence of the northern bald ibis is attested by its bodily remains only once, from the 4th millennium bc, we have to view both the textual and pictorial materials from the early periods until the final phase of the Old Kingdom as convincing evidence for the presence of the bird in Egypt. Both the religious ideas connected with this bird and its iconographical representations in script and art witness that the Egyptians were well aware of the shape, coloring, habitat, and behavior of the northern bald ibis during the historical period in question. On the other hand, we are lacking similar accuracy in material and iconographical evidence for the later periods (from the final phase of the 3rd millennium onwards). We can, thus, suppose that the northern bald ibis disappeared from Egypt at around this time or before, and we have to look for the reason for the bird’s decline and ultimate disappearance.

54 For the topic of copying Old Kingdom reliefs, see N. Kanawati, “Gridlines and the copying of Old Kingdom scenes in later periods,” in M. Bárta and F. Coppens, eds., Abusir and Saqqara in 2010 (Prague, 2011), in print.

55 Houlihan, The Birds of Ancient Egypt, passim.56 Pegoraro, Der Waldrapp, 26–29.57 Boessneck, Die Tierwelt des Alten Ägypten.

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During the 3rd millennium, Egypt was undergoing extreme desiccation with minimization of rainfall and lowering of the Nile volume. 58 This process of desiccation had serious repercussions on the form of the Egyptian landscape, especially on the borders of the Nile Valley and valley-margins. 59 In the case of Egypt, the bordering region (with limestone cliffs and adjacent low-vegetation areas and fields) was the very place where the northern bald ibises probably nested and searched for food. Thus, the change of Egyptian climate and landscape to a hyper-arid land as we know it today must have had some (probably very negative) influence upon the birds in question. In addition to the change in the basic climate, we must consider also other disturbances. These might have stemmed from the activity of the human popu-lation in Egypt in the second half of the 3rd millennium bc. In addition to new and larger settlements, and the development of agriculture and crafts, this historical period is well known for its monumental architectural achievements as for example, in structures such as the pyramid complexes. These colossal stone monuments were supplied from limestone quarries located in the very areas where the northern bald ibises probably nested or, at least in their vicinity. Thus, due to the climate change and increased human activity within their habitats, the possibilities for the northern bald ibis to breed and feed in Egypt in the latter phase of the 3rd millennium bc became limited. This coincidence of unfavorable conditions must have forced the species out of its nests (endangered and disturbed by quarrying) and narrowed its feeding grounds (overtaken by human agriculture or settlements).

Moreover, this is not a solitary case, for the gradual disappearance of several mammalian, avian, and floral species from Egypt during the 3rd millennium and especially at the end of this period is attested as well. 60 The Egyptian view of the bird from the Middle Kingdom onward shows significant errors and deviations from the natural model and we must, thus, anticipate that the presence of the northern bald ibis in Egypt is very doubtful for the 2nd and 1st millennia bc. Similar iconographic 61 and theological 62 changes in the notion and hieroglyphic sign of the ba, written with a picture of the saddle-billed stork Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis (Shaw, 1800), followed the disappearance of this bird from Egypt probably in the early phase of the 3rd millennium bc. 63

Conclusions

The ancient Egyptians used the hieroglyphic sign of the northern bald ibis to write the term akh. In our understanding of the appropriate notion of akh and related religious ideas (akh, akhu, akhet) we must consider the connection between the notion and the image, between the religious concept and the earthly model. Thus, information gathered by ornithologists and zoologists about the habitat, behav-iour and migration of the northern bald ibis and other species represent a significant help for altering our view of Egyptian religious and mortuary beliefs. On the other hand, historical developments and changes within the religious concept of akh and in its iconographical form that have been examined and interpreted by Egyptologists shed some light on the presence of the northern bald ibis in the Egyptian

58 H. N. Dalfes, G. Kukla, and H. Weiss, eds., Third millennium bc climate change and old world collapse (Berlin-New York, 1997); A. S. Issar and M. Zohar, Climate change: environment and civilization in the Middle East (Berlin, 2004); M. Bárta, “Kolaps Staré říše, éry stavitelů pyramid?,” in P. Pokorná and M. Bárta, eds. Něco překrásného se končí. Kolapsy v přírodě a společnosti (Prague, 2008), 121–44.

59 K. W. Butzer, “Klima,” LdÄ III, 455–57.60 K. W. Butzer, “Studien zum vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Landschaftwnadel der Sahara, III. Die Naturlandschaft Ägyptens

während der vorgeschichte und der Dynastichem Zeit,” AAWLM 2 (1959), 44–122.61 L. Keimer, “Quelques hiéroglyphes représentant des oiseaux,”ASAE 30 (1930), 1–30.62 J. Janák, “A Question of Size. A Remark on Early Attestations of the Ba Hieroglyph,” SAK 40 in print; L. V. Žabkar, A Study

of the Ba Concept in Ancient Egyptian Texts. SAOC 34 (Chicago, 1968).63 Houlihan, The Birds of Ancient Egypt, 23–25.

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region. Ancient signs and monuments thus provide ornithology or avian ethology with information on avian patterns observable several thousand years ago.

In case of the northern bald ibis, the presence of this bird in Egypt is well attested until the final phase of the 3rd millennium bc, but similar evidence is lacking from later periods. Thus, we can con-clude that these birds either avoided Egypt during their migration or that they ceased nesting there from the end of the 3rd millennium bc. Thus it is probable that either the northern bald ibis migrated via, or rather over Egypt making no or a few stops, or that the present migration route of these birds from Ethiopia to Syria that avoids Egypt 64 (Lindsell et al. 2009) already originated at the beginning of the 2nd millennium bc.

Czech Institute of Egyptology

64 Lindsell, “Satellite tracking.”