Page 58 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW - ISSUE 13

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 5 8

Ceramic bowl, Naqada I, crocodile with
net, Abydos, Oxford AM 1892. 1045, the
net for catching a crocodile follows the
round shape of the vessel, although the
overall composition is asymmetrical [41].

Ilaria Incordino describes the fundamental tasks of the ancient Egyptian ruler to
guarantee 'Maat', the idea of cosmic order and justice. It is significant that often the
hunter does not even appear or is present in the scene, he is generally replaced by a

dog.

“The importance of dogs in predynastic representations has often been the subject of study
and seems very likely to be related to the notion of control and power, which was initially

the exclusive preserve of the ruling elite. Some evidence of possible breeding of two or three
types of dogs throughout the dynastic period in Egypt suggests that this activity may have
been a status symbol of the upper classes. The number and position of dog burials in some of
the main elite necropolises of predynastic Upper Egypt (e.g. HK6 at Hierakonpolis) indicate
the importance that dogs had in the early phases of Egyptian rulers.

In other words, dogs are depicted as long as they represent a group context of social
advancement, here they even play a role in burials. However, when one family, tribe or
dynasty rose above the others, more powerful animals were chosen to represent the

individual ruler.”

So we see how important dogs and their representation were in the predynastic period of
ancient Egypt, but also afterwards they have a special significance in the practice of
hunting and the related exercise of the powerful to establish and consolidate the order of
the world in the face of chaos.