DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0326
Ancient Egyptian Fishing
239
by his son and an attendant, hunting on a papyrus raft. Antef has sunk three har-
poons into the head and neck of an enormous hippopotamus, which roars at him in
defiance. An attendant in the bow of the raft endeavors to catch the head of the animal
with a noose. The noble holds the beast by three retrieving lines gathered in his left
hand, while with his upraised right he is about to drive another point into its body. The
head of Antef s harpoon has been erased, but, if we may judge from the weapon which his
son holds in readiness behind him, it was bilaterally barbed. Along the whole length of
the shaft runs a line, which passes over the U-shaped crotch at the butt end of the pole
(fig. 79). Apparently this line travels down the other side of the shaft, for from the lower
part of the latter to the left hand, which holds the three retrieving lines, runs a cord which
is inexplicable except as that to the other end of which the set head is attached. From the
ends of the three engaged retrieving lines hang V- or Y-shaped objects, which are undoubt-
edly floats, though of what description it is impossible to say.143 An arrangement com-
parable to this is that seen in a New Kingdom hippopotamus hunt. Here the shaft, instead
of ending at the butt in a U-shaped crotch has a short spur which serves the same purpose
(fig- 78).
The bilaterally barbed harpoon is almost unknown before Middle Kingdom times:
before that date the j harpoon and the simple types shown in figs. 51, 52, 59, 61, 66, 76,
77, 82, and 83 are the ones most frequently found. This is the-- more remarkable when
one considers that in Europe even paleolithic man of the Magdalenian epoch was well
acquainted with harpoons having numerous barbs on each side of the shank. The few
bilaterally barbed harpoons of early date are not symmetrical, but of the form shown in
text fig. E, and described in the Addendum to this paper. The types which are seen in
figs. 65, 81 (= 67 enlarged), and 78, first appear at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom.
The harpoon in fig. 67 is especially remarkable in that whereas almost, if not quite, all the
actual specimens found in Egypt have a tang which fitted into a socket, in this case, if we
are to trust the representation, the head had a hollow socket into which the shaft was set.144
One would be inclined to regard this peculiar weapon as a spear except for the fact that
1431 suppose these floats resemble those ip. the 0. K. tomb of Mera, cited by Griffith in connection with the
hieroglyph; see above, n. 94. The M. K. (XI Dynasty) scene above described I know only from the reproduction
in Wilkinson, op. cit., vol. 2, fig. 376, p. 128. In Ibid., vol. 2, fig. 377, p. 129, is figured another hippopotamus hunt of
the N. K. (detail here shown in fig. 78). In this latter case the hunter, as in the earlier example, holds the retrieving
lines in his left hand, and the lines are fitted to floats. These are represented as very small isosceles triangles, a form
which, if it be correct, I confess my inability to explain.
144 It is not impossible that the Middle Kingdom example of the glyph in fig. 64 owes its unusual form to the fact
that the artist who cut it was acquainted with a new type of harpoon head which ended in a socket instead of in a
tang. Harpoon heads of this description are rare in modern Africa, where the prevailing type is the single barbed
form with a tang which is socketed loosely into the end of the pole (e. g. C [K]. J. Andersson, Lake Ngami; or, ex-
plorations and discoveries. . .in. . .South Western Africa, New York, 1857, p. 417 sqq.; S. W. Baker, Joe. cit.;
Idem, Albert N’Yanza, vol. 2, p. 97). The hollow shanked harpoon, is however, known; P. Kollmann, The Victoria
Nyanza, trans. H. A. Nesbit, London, 1899, fig. 341 and p. 201.
239
by his son and an attendant, hunting on a papyrus raft. Antef has sunk three har-
poons into the head and neck of an enormous hippopotamus, which roars at him in
defiance. An attendant in the bow of the raft endeavors to catch the head of the animal
with a noose. The noble holds the beast by three retrieving lines gathered in his left
hand, while with his upraised right he is about to drive another point into its body. The
head of Antef s harpoon has been erased, but, if we may judge from the weapon which his
son holds in readiness behind him, it was bilaterally barbed. Along the whole length of
the shaft runs a line, which passes over the U-shaped crotch at the butt end of the pole
(fig. 79). Apparently this line travels down the other side of the shaft, for from the lower
part of the latter to the left hand, which holds the three retrieving lines, runs a cord which
is inexplicable except as that to the other end of which the set head is attached. From the
ends of the three engaged retrieving lines hang V- or Y-shaped objects, which are undoubt-
edly floats, though of what description it is impossible to say.143 An arrangement com-
parable to this is that seen in a New Kingdom hippopotamus hunt. Here the shaft, instead
of ending at the butt in a U-shaped crotch has a short spur which serves the same purpose
(fig- 78).
The bilaterally barbed harpoon is almost unknown before Middle Kingdom times:
before that date the j harpoon and the simple types shown in figs. 51, 52, 59, 61, 66, 76,
77, 82, and 83 are the ones most frequently found. This is the-- more remarkable when
one considers that in Europe even paleolithic man of the Magdalenian epoch was well
acquainted with harpoons having numerous barbs on each side of the shank. The few
bilaterally barbed harpoons of early date are not symmetrical, but of the form shown in
text fig. E, and described in the Addendum to this paper. The types which are seen in
figs. 65, 81 (= 67 enlarged), and 78, first appear at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom.
The harpoon in fig. 67 is especially remarkable in that whereas almost, if not quite, all the
actual specimens found in Egypt have a tang which fitted into a socket, in this case, if we
are to trust the representation, the head had a hollow socket into which the shaft was set.144
One would be inclined to regard this peculiar weapon as a spear except for the fact that
1431 suppose these floats resemble those ip. the 0. K. tomb of Mera, cited by Griffith in connection with the
hieroglyph; see above, n. 94. The M. K. (XI Dynasty) scene above described I know only from the reproduction
in Wilkinson, op. cit., vol. 2, fig. 376, p. 128. In Ibid., vol. 2, fig. 377, p. 129, is figured another hippopotamus hunt of
the N. K. (detail here shown in fig. 78). In this latter case the hunter, as in the earlier example, holds the retrieving
lines in his left hand, and the lines are fitted to floats. These are represented as very small isosceles triangles, a form
which, if it be correct, I confess my inability to explain.
144 It is not impossible that the Middle Kingdom example of the glyph in fig. 64 owes its unusual form to the fact
that the artist who cut it was acquainted with a new type of harpoon head which ended in a socket instead of in a
tang. Harpoon heads of this description are rare in modern Africa, where the prevailing type is the single barbed
form with a tang which is socketed loosely into the end of the pole (e. g. C [K]. J. Andersson, Lake Ngami; or, ex-
plorations and discoveries. . .in. . .South Western Africa, New York, 1857, p. 417 sqq.; S. W. Baker, Joe. cit.;
Idem, Albert N’Yanza, vol. 2, p. 97). The hollow shanked harpoon, is however, known; P. Kollmann, The Victoria
Nyanza, trans. H. A. Nesbit, London, 1899, fig. 341 and p. 201.