THE BIG, THE BIZARRE AND THE BEAUTIFUL

John Wyatt, Maria Nilsson and John Ward present the last instalment of their report revealing the bird species discovered at ancient Gebel el-Silsila.

- John Wyatt, Maria Nilsson and John Ward

A large range of desert birds and diurnal raptors were visitors to the ancient quarrying site of Gebel el-Silsila (as we have seen in AE120 and AE121), their presence captured as images in rock inscriptions. We end our current series with eight further fascinating images, highlighting their overall relevance.

Vultures

Quarry 37 on the East Bank of the Nile has been dated to the Early Roman Period (Augustus-Claudius) and is dedicated primarily to Isis and Amun-Min, its stone being destined for Koptos. One small depiction of a bird remains in the top right corner of an area which once held a now erased demotic stela (below, left and right). Close examination under magnification shows it has the heavy head, longish neck and hunched, semi-mantled wings of a vulture. Only four species of vulture – Egyptian, European Griffon, Lappet-faced and Lammergeier – have so far been positively identified as having occurred and bred in ancient Egypt. The first three were certainly mummified and depicted as hieroglyphs and/or deities. The fourth is only known from mummies.

The depiction now under consideration is almost certainly the European Griffon Vulture (opposite, top right), the same species as the Nekhbet vulture in the nebty name. It is too large and has the wrong shape to be the Egyptian Vulture (Gardiner’s G1 hieroglyph) while the head is too small for the Lappet-faced Vulture. The Cinereous or Black Vulture (now a winter visitor) and Ruppell’s (Griffon) Vulture (an occasional wanderer from the Sudan) might also have occurred in the past but this remains unproven.