Extinct Animals The Ancient Egyptians Saw

in 2015 the University of Michigan coined the term egyptomania a reference to the obsession that many people have with ancient Egypt such an obsession is actually rather understandable as it was a one-of-a-kind civilization that managed to endure for over 3,000 years making it one of the longest lasting civilizations of all time it's typically thought that ancient Egypt began in 3,150 BC and ended in 30 BC following the death of Cleopatra and the establishment of Roman Egypt during its impressive existence Egypt saw the creation of many inventions and Innovations in nearly every field but they didn't just witness man-made wonders as the Earth was a different place back then too with nature being more pristine and wild than it is today in fact while the Great Pyramids of Egypt were under construction woolly mammoths still roam the Earth or at least in a small part of it additionally nearly every country was different than they are today with Egypt in particular being quite unrecognizable as it was cooler and wetter especially during the early days of ancient Egypt on top of this the Egyptians built most of their civilization along the Nile river which at the time was more Lush and wide partially attributable to the lack of human interference as a result the ancient Egyptians enjoyed and sometimes dis enjoyed a wide range of nature that is no longer seen in those lands this includes animals that are no longer found in Egypt but yet are still kicking in other areas of the world and those that are entirely gone unfortunately and one such animal that is no longer around at least in the wild is the barber lion you may have heard of this Mighty feline but probably didn't know that it's sometimes called the Egyptian line as once upon a time it was relatively widespread throughout Egypt inhabiting deserts mountainous areas and the step bordering the Nile barbery lions were giants who can measure over 8 ft or 2. 4 M from head to tail with 19th century Hunters describing it as the largest kind of lion around with wild men often weighing 660 lb or 200 kilos which is roughly 15% heavier than extan Lions yet despite its massive size this lion wasn't technically a distinct species of feline nor even a subspecies rather a very specific population of panthera Leo Leo aka the northern lion and it had a rather complex relationship with ancient Egyptians for one as it didn't live directly near human settlements commoners seldomly encountered this lion leading to the mystical belief that they guarded the Kingdom from Outsiders however encounters did still happen once in a while namely through attacks on Farmers or cattle though such instances didn't occur frequently enough to be considered a major threat and so ultimately most people never saw these Lions but yet they still understood that they were the fiercest predators in the land who could take down prey much larger than humans like buffalo wild boar and occasionally even elephants opposite to the regular citizen High Society had a much closer relationship with the barbery lion incorporating it into religion art and writings Royal specifically encountered them a lot and often tried to emulate their power and prowess in their own rule over ancient Egypt during their time of coexistence it wasn't uncommon for a pharaoh to keep Barber Lions as a pet or even train them to guard their throne and Chariot sometimes they were also buried alongside these great Lions demonstrated by a fully grown male that was found in the Tomb of Tuton common wet nurse another case involved five lion cups that were part of a ritual mummification proving that sometimes it may not be in your best interest to be revered and this is further seen in the hunting of adult barbery Lions as multiple pharaohs hunted them in order to prove their own bravery best exemplified by alond hotep III who killed 102 lions in 10 years though fnally enough despite his hunting bravery he only showed up in battles once eventually due to increasing aridity desertification and hunting the barbery or Egyptian lion vanished from the lands bringing an end to this Majestic feline at least in ancient Egypt another extinct animal that called these lands home and had a much closer relationship with commoners was the Oro scientifically known as boss primogen this was a species of cattle that is often considered the wild ancestors of cow although unlike their domesticated Brethren orox were different apprciated in the fact they were giants weighing anywhere from 3/4s of a ton to over 1 and 1/2 tons making them more comparable to bison than cows and they weren't just simply bigger since they also had different proportions than what is seen in living bovids with their legs being long and slender while their necks and torsos were more stocky and muscular their horns too were upgraded versions of those seen in domesticated cattle being far larger in size this all paints a picture of one mean cow and indeed it was thanks to a personality that matched its menacing appearance Oro were well known for being less docile than modern cows and would even regularly kill each other during mating Seasons their aptitude for violence may also be why they were less social than other bovids with herds typically being small and seasonal however ancient Egyptians didn't necessarily fear the Oro as they actually played an integral role in society usually through the meat they provided via hunting this hunting also helped the economy as meat and bones could be sold in markets furthermore there is some evidence that Oro were kept in small groups that could be relied upon for resources although in spite of their usage people were still aware of its tempered personality reflected by orox being a symbol of power and prowess within ancient Egypt sadly its power and fierce temperament did not save it in the long run with it now being extinct throughout the entire world that being said the orox did manage to outlast their ancient Egyptian acquaintances with the remains being known from Roman Egypt but alas they stopped there with the main belief being that loss of habitat and human hunting took it out this spelled the end for the orox native to Egypt but other subspecies did manage to survive with one group persisting until 1627 in Poland's Yak toov Forest where they two ultimately one extinct now admittedly while a Super's cow is interesting it's probably not as mystical as this next creature the benu herin as its name so perfectly suggests this is an extinct species of Heron that was extremely distinct from others of its kind thanks to its record-breaking size fossils and Egyptian art show that adults routinely stood taller than humans averaging about 6. 6 ft or 2 m in height making them equal in stature to the late Kobe Bryant and if it was alive today the benu herin would be considered the tallest bird capable of flight he throning the current champion the saus crane yet this extinct Heron wasn't only gifted in the vertical reach Department as benu herin had crazy wingspans too that could measure over 2.

7 M or 8. 9 ft which is 34% larger than the wingspan of an ostrich Earth's current heaviest bird paleontologist believe that this Heron inhabited the Wetland areas of the Nile River and feasted on a mix of fish turtles amphibians small mammals snakes and even baby sheep sharks thanks to its size its stature also seems to have left a profound impact on the ancient Egyptians as many think that benu the ancient Egyptian deity who represents son creation and rebirth was inspired by this great Heron and thus it likely received much worship especially in heliopoulos an ancient city that was the cult Center of benu furthermore following the trend seen in many other Egyptian animals the benu herin was subjected to being buried alongside mummies specifically in this case in order to protect the deceased sadly Beyond its symbolic importance not much else is known about the interactions between benu herens and humans although it's possible that they were hunted as over hunting is often thought to have played a role in their Extinction along with Wetland degradation and by 1800 BC they had disappeared from the fossil record in the benu Heron wasn't the only Egyptian bird to get eradicated as another one which lived alongside it was The elusive made him Goose not to be confused with the medium Goose which doesn't exist this little guy was in nearly every way a normal Goose sharing the same diet and similar habitats where it differed though was color as maum geese possessed unique color patterns not seen elsewhere but what truly makes the maum geese remarkable is that it's the only animal ever discovered through ART and as of yet no bones belonging to it have been found this Monumental achievement has led to the artwork in question being named Egypt's Mona Lisa the 4,600 year old piece depicts maum geese being trapped by a clap net where they are then given as an offering to a royal subject suggesting that at the very least ancient Egyptians likely hunted them and used geese as offerings there are some ornithologists who believe that it may represent an artistic rendition of a red breasted Goose but the patterns in the artwork do not match exactly and this would be a departure from the accuracy seen in the other animal displayed in the piece leading to the idea that it likely was a different species understandably because we only have this painting not much more is known about the maum geese but its method of Discovery remains quite Nifty despite the apparent Trend that every extinct animal was admired to an extent by ancient Egyptians there was one that was not as appreciated and this was the North African elephant this trunked mammal was a subspecies of African bush elephant who is much smaller than subspecies with fully matured adults being more comparable to Asian elephants than African ones although similar to their family members these guys did a proportionately large ears and concave backs giving them a distinct appearance in the early days of ancient Egypt they could be found throughout the kingdom within grasslands savanas forests deserts swamps and Highlands such a diverse list of habitats may sound impressive yet North African elephants were never particularly common in ancient Egypt having experienced years of population loss beforehand which ultimately led to them not lasting long and by 2,900 BC they had fully vanished from the area that makes up present day Egypt their Extinction may have been exacerbated by people who while living alongside them despised these elephants with a passion as they regularly consume their crops moreover while they weren't necessarily Giants they were still elephants and so adults were still big Bigg ger than your typical mammal and herds would unintentionally destroy small structures and agriculture when simply moving around this led ancient Egyptians to forcefully Drve elephants out of their natural habitats or just outright kill them their precious tusks didn't help their cause either as the Egyptians prised Ivory for their use in carvings thus leading to more killings and there is some loose speculative evidence that once in a blue moon they were also kept in training camps which definitely couldn't have done their numbers any good following their eradication from Egypt these poor elephants would still find themselves pestered in areas they remained like itria as they were killed by pharaohs during hunting exhibitions with one hunt alone claiming the lives of over 120 elephants they were also simultaneously used as pets kept at zoos and sent to war yep you heard that right the North African elephant was used for war with the to Dynasty in particular having extensively utilized them for battle naturally being used in war didn't help their already hampered numbers nevertheless they still persisted until that is the 4th Century ad when Roman Imports of these elephants for usage in games and circus took a toll far too heavy bringing them to their final demise hippos which called ancient Egypt home 2 also received rough treatment from their human counterparts yet fortunately for them the population that inh habited Egypt was made up of the same subspecies that is still seen throughout Africa today meaning they're extinct only locally in Egypt and like the northern African elephant these Giants and sometimes chaotic creatures enjoy damaging crops thus angering humans yet they also took it a few steps further by attacking boats mauling people killing livestock and just in general causing Havoc apparently it was such a problem that even pharaohs got involved sometimes unwillingly as Nur the first pharaoh of Egypt kindly demonstrated as in his 62nd year of rule he was carried off and subsequently killed by male hippo evidently hippos and humans didn't get along in ancient Egypt leading to targeted attacks on hippos the desolation of crops by hippos was actually so bad that early pharaohs wound up spending a lot of resources on the extermination of hippos and focused on driving them out of the marshes which they successfully did the survivors of the onslaught took Refuge away from civilization in Upper Egypt but yet still remained targeted with later Pharaoh's routinely hunting hippos in ritualistic ceremonies miraculously though in spite of ancient Egyptians best efforts hippos managed to outlast them and every other animal featured on this list with herds actually surviving in Egypt all the way up until the early 1800s clearly Egypt had a more nature back then compared to now and that's not to mention the host of other locally extinct animals that I didn't have time to mention such as giraffes spotted hyenas adexs and baboons amongst others all of which helped make ancient Egypt one interesting place and that about wraps up this episode but two quick announcements the first one is that I'm thinking about launching a website for extinct Zoom which ideally will serve both as an educational website but also as a little corner on the web that extinct Zoo can call home so with that said I'd love to work with a web designer or developer who also has a passion for extinct animals and paleontology so if that sounds like you send me an email and the second announcement is for all of you multilingual folk out there I've said this before but a big goal of mine for extin zoo is to make educational content that's accessible to people around the world and so if you speak another language and are interested in helping me bring extinct Zoo to your country send me an email at extin Zoo PR gmail.