EGYPTIAN Relief of NILE BIRDS from Saqqara 2460BC

Material:
SYNTHETIC LIMESTONE
(weight 8 lbs)

HAND CAST
HAND PAINTED
READY TO HANG!

click to enlarge

RECREATION

Background
The relief was found during Lauer’s 1948 excavation of the upper temple of the funerary complex of Userkaf.   Userkaf built his main pyramid at Saqqara (called "Pure Are the Places of Userkaf").  It was not as large as many other pyramids in the same area and is thought to be a sign of his diminished power.  The structure was built of small, irregular stones placed haphazardly and was originally encased in fine limestone.   What it lacked in size, however, it made up for in aesthetic appeal.  The inside contained granite columns and beautiful reliefs on the walls. 

Userkaf also built a temple at Abusir that was a northern extension of the Saqqara necropolis (city of the dead).  The pyramid complex at Abusir was built primarily of local limestone and Tura limestone (from the east bank of the Nile) was used for casing stones and on reliefs such as the Egyptian Waterfowl. Userkaf’s importance lies in the new type of monument he built here called a solar temple.  This contained a raised platform with an altar in the front of a mound that held a board low obelisk.  The exact meaning and significance of this is not known but is believe to be related to his mortuary cult.   Very little remains of most of the temple and its decorations due to the shifting sands in the area, but the few pieces and fragments found show the decoration of the temple was of the highest workmanship.  A beautifully preserved head of Userkaf wearing the crown of Lower Egypt was found here.

THE WATERFOWL RELIEF
This exquisite low relief engraving was carved 4500 years ago and depicts a lively scene on the banks of the Nile with graceful butterfly and waterfowl that could have been sculpted today. It is unusual because of the nature of the subject; however, many birds such as the falcon (called Horus) were considered Gods and decorated tombs and other monuments throughout Egypt.   The relief was carved during the Fifth Dynasty into a limestone facing in an oblong tomb of the mortuary temple of its first king, Userkaf.  It is one of the earliest of this type of reality paintings to be found.  Traces of the original painted colors remain on the lotuses.  The quality of the workmanship suggests that the Egypt’s economic resources were at a high at that time.

THE BIRDS
The Nile permeated every aspect of life in Egypt and provided homes for approximately 300 species of birds who lived amongst the marshes, swamps, river banks, pastures, plowed land and flood plain.  Among the birds pictured on the relief are the pied kingfisher, the purple gallinule, the striped hoopoe, the sacred ibis, the bittern, the night heron and the European kingfisher. 

The Pied Kingfisher can be found hovering over the water when hunting and can be found both inland and on the coast.  Hoopoe can be identified by their unmistakable appearance with a conspicuous crest of erectile feathers.  They feed largely on the ground and eat mainly ant-lion larvae that are very important to their diet.  Heron and Bittern are tall graceful birds many of whom are gregarious and nest in mixed colonies with other wading birds.  Bittern can be found skulking in dense reed and papyrus beds where they are often overlooked while Night Heron frequent marsh, swamps, lakes, rivers and coastal swamps where suitable cover can be found for their nocturnal habits.  They spend their days in shelters of dense reed beds, papyrus swamps and thick foliage.