00 Contents Etc

7/30/2019 00 Contents Etc

1/13


2/13

HEINRICH-BARTH-INSTITUT e.V.in Kooperation mit der Universitt zu Kln

4 C O L L O Q U I U M A F R I C A N U M

Beitrge zur interdisziplinren Afrikaforschung

Contributions to Interdisciplinary Research in Africa

Contributions la recherche interdisciplinaire en Afrique

K L N 2 0 0 9


3/13

Desert animals in the eastern Sahara:

Status, economic significance, and

cultural reflection in antiquity

Proceedings of an

Interdisciplinary ACACIA Workshop

held at the University of Cologne

December 1415, 2007

Edited byHeiko Riemer, Frank Frster, Michael Herb & Nadja Pllath

H E I N R I C H - B A R T H - I N S T I T U T


4/13

Cover and front pages of the first and fifth chapters show details from thepainted relief in the mastaba of Mereruka in Saqqara reproduced after P. Duell,1938, The mastaba of Mereruka, Part II. Oriental Institute Publications 39(Chicago: University of Chicago Press) pl. 153.For the Workshops logo on the title page see pp. 3334

HEINRICH-BARTH-INSTITUT e.V., Kln 2009Jennerstrae 8, D 50823 Kln

http://www.hbi-ev.uni-koeln.deThis book is in copyright. No reproduction of any partmay take place without the written permission of thepublisher.

Bibliographic information published by Die DeutscheBibliothek

Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in theDeutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic dataare available on the Internet at http://www.dnb.ddb.de

Digital image editing and Layout: Lutz Hermsdorf-KnauthTypeset: Ursula TegtmeierCopy editors: Carol Laidler, Franziska BartzPrinted in Germany by Hans Kock GmbH, Bielefeld

ISBN 978-3-927688-36-0

Financed by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft


5/13

Foreword by John Newby

Editors preface

Workshop programme and participants

Introduction

Michael Herb & Frank Frster

From desert to town: The economic role of desert game in the Pyramid Agesof ancient Egypt as inferred from historical sources (c. 26001800 BC).An outline of the workshops inspiration and objectives

In the desert and on the rivers shore:

Archaeozoological evidence from Late Palaeolithic to Pharaonic times

Veerle Linseele & Wim Van Neer

Exploitation of desert and other wild game in ancient Egypt:The archaeozoological evidence from the Nile Valley

Nadja PllathThe prehistoric game bag:The archaeozoological record from sites in the Western Desert of Egypt

Past and present: The distribution and behaviour of desert species

Nicolas Manlius

Historical ecology and biogeography.An example: The Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) in Egypt

Hubert BerkeScope and behaviour of flight in Saharan gazelles:A remarkable change between 1850 AD and the present

Jens-Ove Heckel

The present status of hartebeest subspecies (Alcelaphus buselaphus ssp.)with special focus on north-east Africa and the Tora hartebeest(Alcelaphus buselaphus tora)

5

Contents

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

. . . . . . . . . 79

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141


6/13

. . 157

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

. . . . . 293

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

6

Protein and prestige: The hunt for desert mammals throughout time

Dirk Huyge & Salima Ikram

Animal representations in the Late Palaeolithic rock art of Qurta (Upper Egypt)

Heiko Riemer

Prehistoric trap hunting in the eastern Saharan deserts:A re-evaluation of the game trap structures

Stan Hendrickx, Heiko Riemer, Frank Frster & John C. Darnell

Late Predynastic/Early Dynastic rock art scenes of Barbary sheep huntingin Egypts Western Desert. From capturing wild animals tothe women of the Acacia House

Laure Pantalacci & Josphine Lesur-Gebremariam

Wild animals downtown: Evidence from Balat, Dakhla Oasis

(end of the 3rd millennium BC)

In the realm of gods and concepts:

Cultural reflections on desert animals in ancient Egypt

Salima Ikram

A desert zoo: An exploration of meaning and reality of animalsin the rock art of Kharga Oasis

Dirk Huyge

Detecting magic in rock art: The case of the ancient Egyptian malignant assMartin Fitzenreiter

On the yonder side of bread and beer: The conceptualisation ofanimal based food in funerary chapels of the Old Kingdom

Joachim Friedrich Quack

The animals of the desert and the return of the goddess

Comparative chronology chart

Biographies of contributors


7/13

7

Foreword

Ever since a boy I have been fascinated by ancient Egypt. I recall poring over colourfulbooks covered by mysterious hieroglyphics and the most wonderful paintings depictinglife along the Nile Valley all those millennia ago. Always a lover of nature and wildlife,it was impossible not to be impressed by the symbology and obvious power of animalsin ancient Egypts life, art and religion. Exquisite paintings, too, depicting the diversityand abundance of natural resources plants, fishes, birds and larger animals and theobvious indication of their importance and undeniable role in sustaining ancient Egyptsculture, religion, economy and dining table.

Whether by fate, design or just pure luck, my relationship with Egypt and more broadly,

the Sahara, was boosted unexpectedly when I left Europe as a young post-grad and wascatapulted into northern Chad as a young wildlife biologist in the early 1970s. The rest,as they say, is history and ever since then I have become totally embroiled in deserts,their wildlife and conservation. Unknown to many, the Sahara not only supports a sur-prising diversity of superbly adapted life forms but many of these are among the mostthreatened species on earth. Another significant fact is that by and large these species arevirtually ignored by the conservation community, focussed as it increasingly is on thesupposedly more glamorous mega-rich biodiversity centres or hot spots. One conse-quence of which is an almost total ignorance and disinterest in areas deemed to be of

lesser importance, including some of the hottest spots of them all, the deserts of theworld. To address this sad state of affairs a small group of desert aficionados joinedforces in 2004 to create the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF). And it was as director ofSCF that I received an invitation to attend the workshop so ably organised and orches-trated by the ACACIA team and colleagues from the University of Cologne. What ex-citement and what childhood memories came flooding back!

As an attempt to bring together scholars of different disciplines to initiate and explorean interdisciplinary approach towards a better understanding of the role and signifi-cance of desert wildlife in the culture, religion and economy of the eastern Sahara mil-lennia ago, the workshop was a complete success. From palaeozoological research goingback over 20,000 years to the details of wildlife numbers entering trade, no stone was leftunturned in seeking a better understanding of the role of desert wildlife in society andmans methods of obtaining it all those years ago.

My own presentation on the current conservation status of todays desert wildlife wasintended not only as a reminder of the threats faced by species familiar all those years


8/13

8

ago, but especially as a modest contribution to the dynamic and very exciting processfostered by the meeting of having the past inform the future, and the future the past.Research of this nature is very much a multi-dimensional challenge bringing together thevast amount of multi-disciplinary information and expertise focussed on the perioditself, but also establishing working links with the content and relevancy of modern dayinformation as input, background and reality check. Looking at things the other wayround, from my own more modern day perspective towards the past, the meetingopened up some tremendous and hitherto unknown avenues of knowledge and researchand was a real eye-opener.

Whether in the past or today, the relationship between man and wildlife is exceedinglycomplex and as we know well today highly relevant to working out issues of survivaland sustainability. We can still only speculate on the overall impact and significance ofpeople on wildlife all those years ago, but we can be certain there was one even if only

local in extent. Looking at todays abysmal record of environmental care it is with sur-prise and deep respect species such as the gazelles, oryx and Barbary sheep depicted byancient Egyptians are still around today. What incredible adaptations and resilience tosome of the harshest conditions on earth, let alone the price exacted by mans insatiablehunger and penchant for wiping things out. Yet, as it was in ancient times, there are stillsocieties living in the desert that benefit from and exploit wildlife for food and culturalsustenance. In rather more sophisticated ways, its role in maintaining ecological stabil-ity and productivity, as well as providing us with valuable insights into the insidiousprocesses of desertification and climate change are only just being realised.

The past, the present and the future are but one and with each extinction the fabric of lifeis picked apart and weakened, our own lives impoverished and that of our children andtheirs compromised. The Cologne workshop was a celebration of that life, one expressedfrom many perspectives and through many lenses. I sincerely hope my colleagues gotas much pleasure and information out of my humble contribution as I got out of theirs!The workshop was a wonderful success and these proceedings are a valuable contribu-tion and foundation to further understanding and I hope respect for deserts and theirincomparable wildlife.

Gland (Switzerland), September 2009 John NewbyDirector

Sahara Conservation Fund


9/13

9

This volume presents the proceedings of an ACACIA workshop on Saharan wildlifeheld in the Department of Geography at the University of Cologne, Germany, on 14th

and 15th December 2007. The workshop was originally conceived by Michael Herb, andwas subsequently organised by the editors. The meeting was held as a closing work-shop on one of the various topics that had emerged from the interdisciplinary studies ofthe Collaborative Research Centre 389 ACACIA (Arid Climate, Adaption and CulturalInnovation in Africa) at the University of Cologne. For more than a decade ACACIAwas concerned with changing climate and cultural adaptation in Africas arid zones fromprehistoric to most recent times, and many avenues of research have been envisioned byRudolph Kuper as one of its initiators.1 Between 1995 and 2007 ACACIA was generously

funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council, DFG). Weare deeply indebted to the DFG and its referees for also covering the expenses of theworkshop and these proceedings.

Starting from the question of how the huge number and diversity of desert game inancient Egyptian sources, both pictorial and epigraphic, could be interpreted accurately,the workshop largely dealt with two major problems: Firstly, which species actuallylived in the desert environments of north-east Africa during the past, and how theirexistence has been shaped by climatic developments and the impact of humans during

the last 20,000 years? Secondly, to what extent can the cultural representation of desertanimals in historical texts, depictions, and archaeological material be regarded asrelevant data for reconstructing the actual status, distribution and economic significanceof the individual species in the past? Furthermore, what do these anthropogenic trans-formations of the real animal world into human (visual) language, symbolism andmythology tell us about the iconographic, socio-economic, ideological and religiousconcepts of the human cultures involved?

Although these questions have their traditional positions in different disciplines e.g., archaeozoology, which may reveal species that actually existed in the past,or Egyptology, which considers the facets of the cultural perception of wild animals we felt that giving sufficient answers needed a wider view across the borders of aca-demic specialisation. The workshop, finally, saw the participation of scholars from the

Editors preface

1 For an overview of the various topics addressed by ACACIA see O. Bubenzer, A. Bolten & F. Darius (eds.),2007: Atlas of Cultural and Environmental Change in Arid Africa. Africa Praehistorica 21 (Kln: Heinrich-Barth-Institut).


10/13

10

following fields of research: geomorphology and climatology, biology, botany andecology, zoology and veterinary medicine, archaeozoology, prehistoric and Egyptianarchaeology, nature conservation, art history, and Egyptology.

To some extent, this volume reflects the heterogeneous character of the many disci-plines involved, but we are sure that the reader will discover the many cross-disciplinarylinks. Of course, we have not attempted to create a ready-made handbook on all theaspects of desert animals; for the time being, this is far from being possible. Rather, theworkshop was intended to initiate sensitivity and discussion within an interdisciplinaryforum. As always, at the beginning of such an endeavour there are boundaries set by dif-ferent scientific terminologies, methods and ways of thinking, which must be overcome.However, we feel that this challenge was successfully met, despite some problems andquestions that remain open. Owing to the open-minded atmosphere the participantscreated during the meeting and subsequent discussions, this approach has turned out to

be appropriate for further studies.

In preparing the contributions for publication, the authors were given the opportunityto extend or change the topic of their papers in order to incorporate any new aspectsand ideas that arose during the workshop or subsequently. Many of those who presenteda paper at the workshop (the original programme of which follows) submitted manu-scripts for the proceedings. Moreover, we are glad to include some additional contribu-tions by authors who did not attend the workshop (for further details see theintroduction). The thirteen papers assembled here are arranged thematically in fourchapters, preceded by an introductory paper outlining the workshops inspiration and

objectives in more detail. A comprehensive chronology chart has been added at the endof the book, and we also took the liberty of inserting a number of cross-references onspecific aspects discussed or mentioned in more than one contribution.

First and foremost, our sincere thanks go to the participants in the workshop and to allthose who contributed to the proceedings. Moreover, we are indebted to several peoplewho assisted in the workshop and helped to finalise this book:

We thank Olaf Bubenzer and Ulrich Radtke who generously provided the facilities ofthe Department of Geography at the University of Cologne for the workshop. We wouldalso like to give particular recognition to Andreas Bolten who supported us with histechnical and organisational skills during the meeting, as well as to Svenja Glden whoorganised the catering. Further assistance was kindly given by Franziska Bartz, SilkeHallmann, Gtz Ossendorf, Jacqueline Ruland, and Peter Schnfeld. Thanks are alsodue to Michael Bollig, speaker of ACACIA, for his welcome note, and to Werner Schuck,coordinator of ACACIA, for his help in numerous organisational matters.

As for finalising the proceedings, we have to thank Martin Fitzenreiter as well asFranoise Labrique, director of the Egyptological Institute of the University of Cologne,


11/13

11

for providing us with some high-quality scans for illustrations. Special thanks go to JohnNewby, director of the Sahara Conservation Fund, for his personal notes on the work-shop and the proceedings. Furthermore, we are most grateful to Carol Laidler who ed-ited the English, and to Franziska Bartz who assisted in the final correction of the papers.Last but not least, we highly appreciate the support of Lutz Hermsdorf-Knauth and Ur-sula Tegtmeier in bringing the manuscripts into print without their skills and dedica-tion this volume would not have taken its current form.

Cologne, September 2009 Heiko RiemerFrank FrsterMichael HerbNadja Pllath


12/13

12

Workshop programme and participants

Desert animals in the eastern Sahara: Status, economic significance, and cultural reflection inantiquity. Interdisciplinary Workshop held at the University of Cologne, Department ofGeography, December 1415, 2007

Michael Bollig, University of Cologne, Institute of Cultural Anthropology, Germany

Welcome speech of the ACACIA workshop on desert animals in the eastern Sahara

Michael Herb & Frank Frster, University of Cologne, Egyptological Institute, Germany

Desert animals in antiquity. From desert to town: Hunting in the Pyramid Ages of ancient Egypt (c. 26001800 BC)

John Newby, Sahara Conservation Fund, Gland, Switzerland

Desert animals today. The current status of Saharan wildlife: Status quo and what can be done about improv-ing the situation

Olaf Bubenzer, University of Cologne / Ruprecht Carls University Heidelberg, Department of Geography, Germany

The eastern Sahara facets of the natural landscape and climate since 5000 BC

Frank Darius, University of Cologne, Department of Geography, Germany / Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency,

Cairo, Egypt

Past vegetation zones of the eastern Sahara deduced from archaeo-botanical remains and current habitatfeatures

Veerle Linseele, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Center for Archaeological Sciences, Belgium

Wild mammals in Predynastic Egypt: The archaezoological evidence from the Nile Valley

Nadja Pllath, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Institute of Palaeoanatomy and History of Veterinary Medi-cine, Germany

The prehistoric game bag: The archaeozoological record from sites in the Western Desert of Egypt

Dirk Huyge, Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, Belgium

Desert animals in the rock art at Qurta, Upper Egypt

Salima Ikram, American University in Cairo, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Egyptology,

Egypt

Animals in the desert: An exploration of meaning and reality of petroglyphs in Kharga

Jens-Ove Heckel, IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group / Zoo Landau in der Pfalz, Germany

Status of the hartebeest subspecies (Alcelaphus buselaphus ssp.) with special focus on Northeast Africa

Nicolas Manlius, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France

Development of the distribution of Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) in Egypt

Birgit Keding, University of Cologne, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, African Research Unit, Germany

Ties to the old ways of life: The role of wild animals in a prehistoric pastoral society at the southern marginsof the eastern Sahara during the 4th and 3rd millennium BC

Hubert Berke, University of Cologne, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, African Research Unit, Germany

Scope and behaviour of flight in gazelle and antelope: A remarkable change between 1850 and the present


13/13

13

Christian Leitz, Eberhard Carls University Tbingen, Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Germany

Zoologische Informationen in nichtzoologischen Texten des Alten gypten

Stan Hendrickx, PHL Hasselt / Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

Hunting in the desert during Predynastic and Early Dynastic times

Martin Fitzenreiter, Berlin, Germany

Jenseits von Brot und Bier: Fleisch in Ernhrungskonzepten des gyptischen Alten Reiches (ca. 26002200 BC)

Joachim F. Quack, Ruprecht Carls University Heidelberg, Egyptological Institute, Germany

Das Wild der Wste und die Heimkehr der Gttin

Further participants in the workshop

Wolfgang Decker, German Sport University Cologne, Institute for the History of Sport, Germany

Angela van den Driesch, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Institute of Palaeoanatomy and History ofVeterinary Medicine, Germany

Rainer Hutterer, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany

Friederike Jesse, University of Cologne, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, African Research Unit, Germany

Karin Kindermann, University of Cologne, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, African Research Unit,Germany / Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Cairo, Egypt

Stefan Krpelin, University of Cologne, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, African Research Unit, Germany

Franoise Labrique, University of Cologne, Egyptological Institute, Germany

Tilman Lenssen-Erz, University of Cologne, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, African Research Unit,Germany

Stefanie Nubaum, University of Cologne, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, African Research Unit,Germany

Gustav Peters, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany

Joris Peters, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Institute of Palaeoanatomy and History of VeterinaryMedicine, Germany

Peter Schnfeld, University of Cologne, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, African Research Unit, Germany

Petra Seibold, IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group, Heidelberg, Germany

Heinz-Josef Thissen, University of Cologne, Egyptological Institute, Germany

Wim Van Neer, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels/Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,Laboratory of Animal Biodiversity and Systematics, Belgium

Bettina Ventker, University of Cologne, Egyptological Institute, Germany

Hans-Peter Wotzka, University of Cologne, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, African Research Unit,Germany

Documents

00 Contents Etc