Of all the world's early civilizations, it was that of ancient Egypt that fostered the closest relationship with the animal world. In all aspects of life, both secular and sacred, animals were treated as symbols of creation equal in the hierarchy of life to man himself and closely tied both to everyday existence and the realm of the gods.
The magnificent photographs in this volume show the incomparable richness of the pharaonic fauna in all forms of artistic expression - painting, sculpture, relief carving, architectural ornamentation, and even in hieroglyphs - ranging from astonishing realism to stylization in portraying the animal-headed gods and the sacred creatures that inhabited the ancient Egyptians' world.
The scholarly descriptions and informative captions that accompany this amazing bestiary place each animal in its proper context in relation to man, to the environment and to the gods. From geese to monkeys, crocodiles to scorpions, the superb artistry and extraordinary range of the subject matter will open the eyes of Egyptologists and naturalists alike