Kemet - Modern-day Egypt
The early Egyptians called their land Kemet. The name is related to the word “km,” which means black and likely was in reference to the rich black soil around the Nile River. Early Egyptians would have called the Nile River itself iteru and the areas of desert around the Nile deshret. These words not only describe the features of the land but also the relationship people had with the landscape. This relationship is reflected in the art, religion, and architecture people created in early Egypt.
Egyptians created cities along the Nile River, taking advantage of the river for drinking water, as well as irrigation for their fields and livestock, fishing, transportation, and trading.
Charles K. Wilkinson, active 20th century, Sennedjem and Iineferti in the Fields of Iaru, 1922, original New Kingdom, Dynasty 19, reign of Ramesses I–Ramesses II, c. 1295–1213 BCE, from Thebes, Upper Egypt, Thebes, MMA Graphic Section, original Deir el-Medina, Tomb of Sennedjem (TT 1), PM plan (9) I–IV, tempera on paper, height: 21 1/4 in. (54 cm); width: (33 1/4 in. (84.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1930 (30.4.2A), https://bit.ly/2ZHSPlH
The river also provided other resources, like the reeds that grew along the Nile, which people in ancient Egypt used to develop papyrus paper, as illustrated in the lower left corner of the image below. Numerous birds lived among these reeds, which provided opportunities for hunting.
Tomb-painting, Tomb of Nebamun (Thebes), Egypt, 18th Dynasty, c. 1350 BCE, painted plaster, painting only: height: 38 1/2 in. (98 cm); width: 38 1/2 in. (98 cm); thickness: 8 5/8 in. (22 cm), British Museum, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA37977
Of all the birds present along the Nile River, the ibis is one of the most common, living among the papyrus reeds. Early Egyptians associated the Ibis with the god of intelligence and writing, Thoth. Thoth is thought to have invented writing, giving it to people so they could record their history and lives.
Ibis Processional Standard, Egypt, Late Period, 26th Dynasty, 664–525 BCE, bronze, 15 × 11 1/4 × 5/8 in. (38.1 × 28.57 × 1.58 cm), LACMA, Art Museum Council Fund (M.91.73), Egyptian Art, https://collections.lacma.org/node/172017
Questions to Think About: What are the features you notice first in this sculpture of an ibis? How could having those features help you if you were this animal?
A wide variety of other animals lived by the Nile, including hippos, crocodiles, frogs, and toads. There were also a variety of fish that lived in the river.
Vessel in the Form of a Fish, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, 1550–1307 BCE, faience, 4 × 7 7/8 × 4 in. (10.16 × 20 × 10.16 cm), LACMA, gift of the 1999 Collectors Committee (AC1999.57.1),
https://collections.lacma.org/node/189331
Art in Egyptian tombs often featured people fishing. The relief below shows men using a net with floaters, which helped keep the top of the net near the surface of the water. The fishermen are pulling in a variety of fish.
Relief Fragment Showing Fishing Scene, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, c. 2575–2465 BCE, Egypt, Memphite Region, Saqqara, Tomb of Kaaper, limestone, height: 13 5/8 in. (34.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Maguid Sameda, 1958 (58.161), https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/548547
Representations of hippos such as the one below may have symbolized the Nile itself, and were often placed in tombs during the Predynastic Period (4400–3100 BCE). Additionally, the goddess Tawaret, a symbol of fertility, was represented as a hippo and often depicted as pregnant.
Small Statuette of a Hippopotamus, northern Upper Egypt, Abydos, Osiris Temple, Chamber M89 (Egypt Exploration Fund excavations, 1902–3), Early Dynastic Period, c. 3100–2649 BCE, calcite, length: 3 1/2 in. (8.8 cm); height: 2 1/16 in. (5.3 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Egypt Exploration Fund, 1903 (03.4.1), https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/547465
There were vast areas of desert on either side of the Nile River Valley. Among the area’s inhabitants are jackals, gazelles, scorpions, ostriches, golden eagles, and even hares.
The god Anubis was often depicted with the head of a jackal. Below, he appears in the Book of the Dead, which documents the Egyptians’ beliefs of what happens to a person after death. Anubis adjusts the scales upon which a human heart (representing the soul) is weighed.
Book of the Dead for the Chantress of Amun, Nany, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Tomb of Meritamun (TT 358, MMA 65; first corridor, inside Osiris figure, MMA excavations, 1928–29), Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 21, reign of Psusennes I–II, c. 1050 BCE, papyrus and paint, length: 206 5/16 in. (521.5 cm); height: 13 3/4 in. (35 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1930 (30.3.31), https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/548344
The jackal also appears on canopic jars, such as the one below in which the organs of a mummified person were stored. Here, the jackal represents the god Duamutef, who protects the stomach.
Canopic Jar of Tetinakht: Duamutef, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Asasif, Birabi, Tomb CC 9 (Carnarvon/Carter excavations, 1907–11), New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, early reign of Ahmose I, c. 1550–25 BCE, pottery, Marl A4, height: 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm); diameter: 7 9/16 in. (19.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1912, (12.181.253a.1–.2), https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544796
Egypt’s climate has changed a lot in the past few millennia, becoming much hotter and dryer. There used to be grassy plains between the desert and the Nile River Valley, where animals such as antelope, ibex, lions, and leopards lived. During the fourth millennium, elephants and giraffes also inhabited the area, but they disappeared as the Egyptians expanded their agricultural land.
Agriculture on the Nile:
Map of Egypt highlighting the Nile River. The area in yellow surrounds the Nile and indicates the locations of early cities and towns.
The Nile was a regular source of water for agriculture. Each year there were intense storms called monsoons, and the Nile flooded, covering nearby farmland. As did the Mesopotamians, people in early Egypt developed canals and dams that made water available for farming.
The regular flooding of the Nile carried silt to fields and supported the growth of agriculture. In this artwork from circa 2000 BCE, a woman is using what is called a saddle quern to grind grains, likely wheat, to be made into bread.
Model of a Woman Grinding Grain, Egypt, First Intermediate Period, early Middle Kingdom, 2134–1991 BCE, wood, gesso, and pigments, 7 1/4 × 3 × 9 in. (18.42 × 7.62 × 22.86 cm), LACMA, William Randolph Hearst Collection (51.15.10), Egyptian Art, https://collections.lacma.org/node/229902
While the expansion of agriculture benefited humans greatly, other creatures benefited as well, among them, the African Wildcat. Wildcats were first attracted to settlements with agricultural fields because of the abundance of rodents that ate some of the grains. African Wildcats hunted the rodents, feeding themselves while also removing rodents that harmed crops. Over several millennia, these cats became domesticated and eventually worshipped in the form of the goddess Bastet, who protected households. Cats were so revered that they were often mummified and buried with important people. Here is a sculpture of Bastet as a cat made between 1081 and 525 BCE.
Figurine of the Goddess Bastet as a Cat, Egypt, 21st–26th Dynasty (1081–525 BCE), bronze and inlaid gold, 2 3/4 × 1 3/16 × 1 3/4 in. (6.99 × 3.02 × 4.45 cm), LACMA, gift of Varya and Hans Cohn (AC1992.152.51), https://collections.lacma.org/node/172524
Questions to Think About: Take a look at the sculpture above, and its description. What do you notice that is special about this sculpture? Why do you think the artist chose to make it that way? What animals would you make a sculpture of?