Page 59 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW - ISSUE 13

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 5 9

This is what Delphinia Salamin writes in her blog at Wordpress.com. She has made some
interesting observations for our questions. Her article is about hunting in Ancient Egypt,
which can be traced in the tombs of various pharaohs and other dignitaries. She writes:

“But the ancient Egyptians enjoyed hunting wild animals. The depiction of the life of
hunting expeditions in the desert contained a sporting element that emphasised the physical

abilities of the leader and his skill in competition. Hunting was not only the privilege of
kings, but also of the aristocracy. For the pharaoh, hunting was not only a demonstration of
his physical prowess, courage and skill, but also a sign to his people that he was capable of

ruling and a symbol of his ability to protect his kingdom from wild animals. As the
representative of a god on earth, it was his task to maintain order against the forces of
chaos.”

Delphinia Salamin is Greek. As such, she emphasises the sporting side of hunting, the
Agon, the competition between hunter and hunted. Historically, this idea of competition

played an important role in ancient Greece. The Olympic Games, for example, are based
on the idea of the Agon. The competition in ancient Greece was related to physical
exercise, to driving and riding and to disciplines of fine arts.

Delphinia Salamin notes: “The Egyptians could hunt in parks or enclosures where wild

animals were kept for that purpose. During such hunting excursions in the parks or
reserves, however, only a limited space was available, as they were of limited size.
Therefore, if the hunter wished to engage in a more exciting and demanding task of animal
hunting, he could do so by following the animal trains in the vast desert. On these occasions

he was accompanied by several hunters who were in his service to manage all matters
related to the hunt, such as: Directing the hunt, following the dogs, carrying arrows and
hunting sticks and stretching the nets (dictiagagos). The long net, called dictis, had several
ropes and was supported on forked posts that varied in length to compensate for uneven

terrain. The net enclosed any desired area. Smaller nets called enodia were used to close
gaps.”

It describes how hunting was done, also with dogs. Nets were stretched to enclose a
whole area. Hunting took place within this enclosure. However, since the enclosure
greatly restricted the animals’ range of movement, the use of sighthounds is not

necessary. This parallels the husbandry of reindeer in the north. People there followed
the more or less wild animals and drove them into gates or surrounded an area with nets.
This may also have been the case with the fast gazelles on the Arabian Peninsula. Musil
describes such a hunt among the Rwala Bedouins in the 1920s. The Salukis were let into
the gate with the captured gazelles.