Animals and Agriculture
Depicted are the Seven Sacred Cows, and the Sky Bull, all representatives of Sky Goddess Hathor, often depicted as a cow. Collectively, in this image, they represent the bounty of food that will be provided for Nefertari throughout the afterlife. Even beyond the implications of identifying the animals in the fresco as associated with divinity, livestock played an important role in agriculture in ancient Egyptians’ daily life. These animals present in Queen Nefertari’s tomb represent the animals that will provide her nourishment in the afterlife not just through their bodies, but by plowing the fields that will provide Nefertari with crops from her land in paradise.
Visually, this postcard is divided into two halves. On the left, there is depicted a group of people riding camels in front of the Sphinx and pyramids. Of greater interest however, is the image on the right half of the card which shows around a dozen ostriches at the (as the card says) Ostrich Farm in Cairo, Egypt. Interestingly enough, ostriches were widespread in Egypt during the Pharaonic periods and excavations have revealed that they were used in the Saharan Neolithic and Middle Neolithic times for their meat and their skin, and sometimes even the shells from their eggs were utilized. It is thought that in the early 20th century, Egypt was one of several countries which was involved in ostrich production. In the early 1900s ostriches were farmed mostly for their feathers. Ostrich feathers were often adorned by the pharaohs and thought of as a luxury. When this sector of feather production began to decline, they were then farmed for their meat and their skin. So although absent from most postcards in this collection, ostriches seemed surprisingly important to Egypt.
Here we see depictions of the agricultural lives of Ancient Egyptians. Due to its geographic proximity to the Nile River, Ancient Egyptian civilization thrived on agriculture, developing several tools and methods for the practice. The lowest panel in this postcard shows the oxen-pulled plow, a method Ancient Egyptians developed to ensure better crop production. Oxen are always depicted in connection to agriculture as well as being one of the most prominent embodiments of Hathor, mother of the gods, goddess of love, the sky, and fertility. This connection between Oxen and Hathor is likely due to agriculture’s role as the basis for ancient Egyptian life. Together, the four panels in this postcard appear to show a cycle of agricultural life, with the first two panels portraying a man and woman tending to what appear to be wheat crops. The third panel shows vegetation that has been cared for and is ready to be harvested, while the final panel returns to the plowing and sowing stage of agriculture. Tending to crops was key not just to Ancient Egyptians’ life, but the afterlife as well. It was believed life in paradise would be a mirror of one’s life on Earth, with souls harvesting from the ‘Field of Reeds’ that would mirror their own crops in the afterlife.