DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0331
244
0. Bates
It is a general characteristic of all bidents, whether of primitive or of civilized peoples, that
the two points are so mounted as to have their barbs on the inside: by such an arrange-
ment a fish caught in the spread of the prongs is held in a very secure fashion. This often
leads to the beveling of the shank towards its butt end, on the same side as the barb or
barbs, so that the two heads, when lashed on opposite sides of the pole, will trend apart
from each other, like the arms of a V. No heads, either of bone or metal, which have been
found in Egypt exhibit this characteristic, nor are such specimens as have survived from
ancient times suitable in other respects for bident points. This absence in itself cannot
be regarded as significant: too few barbed points of any sort have come down to us for the
rarity of any particular type to call for explanation. But quite independently of this,
the bident spear, so frequently represented on the monuments, may have been compara-
tively rare, for its use, if we are to trust the ancient representations, was restricted to
the nobles.
The peasant fisherman of the Old Kingdom made use of nets, hand nets, lines, and
traps: the noble is never represented as using any of these devices, though in later times,
with the growth of sedentary life, the owners of large tombs are sometimes depicted as
angling. The orthodox fishing weapon of the Old Kingdom noble, whose life was largely
one of vigorous physical activity, was always the bident. As this type of spear is not seen
in the hands of the professional fisherman, it must be regarded either as a purely sporting-
weapon, or as one inherited by the upper classes from an ancestry whose culture, in this
particular, varied from that of the peasantry. Similarly, one sees the throwing stick regu-
larly used by the nobles in the Old Kingdom fowling scenes, whereas the peasants appear
to have taken birds only by means of traps and clap nets.167
The bidents figured upon the monuments are of two sorts -— in one the points are
lashed firmly to the end of the shaft (fig. 47); in the other, a secondary piece is fastened
to the shaft at some distance from the lower end of the latter (fig. 46).
Of these two types the former is by far the commoner in the representations: in the
Old Kingdom it is the only one depicted. The skill and care with which these spears were
sometimes made is well illustrated by the XII Dynasty example here reproduced in fig.
47 -— the original is in the tomb of Khnumhotep at Beni Hasan. The two heads, as is
always the case, carry each one barb. The tangs are fitted into slots to receive them on
opposite sides of the end of the shaft. They are kept in place by a whipping passed round
the end of the shaft, and by a crisscross lashing which travels up the shaft and ends in
107 The name of the bident kswy, “ the two bones ” (dual), cannot be said to throw any clear light on the ques-
tion. The sing, ks “the bone,” is the name for the bone or ivory harpoon head of prehistoric times; Griffith, Hiero-
glyphs, p. 52, sq. What may be a specific allusion to the use of the bident by the nobles exists in the biographical
inscription of Henku, but the text is damaged and obscure; Davies, Deir el Gebr&wi, pt. 2, pl. 24, col. 7-8, and text
p. 30; cf. Breasted, Ancient records, vol. 1 § 280.
0. Bates
It is a general characteristic of all bidents, whether of primitive or of civilized peoples, that
the two points are so mounted as to have their barbs on the inside: by such an arrange-
ment a fish caught in the spread of the prongs is held in a very secure fashion. This often
leads to the beveling of the shank towards its butt end, on the same side as the barb or
barbs, so that the two heads, when lashed on opposite sides of the pole, will trend apart
from each other, like the arms of a V. No heads, either of bone or metal, which have been
found in Egypt exhibit this characteristic, nor are such specimens as have survived from
ancient times suitable in other respects for bident points. This absence in itself cannot
be regarded as significant: too few barbed points of any sort have come down to us for the
rarity of any particular type to call for explanation. But quite independently of this,
the bident spear, so frequently represented on the monuments, may have been compara-
tively rare, for its use, if we are to trust the ancient representations, was restricted to
the nobles.
The peasant fisherman of the Old Kingdom made use of nets, hand nets, lines, and
traps: the noble is never represented as using any of these devices, though in later times,
with the growth of sedentary life, the owners of large tombs are sometimes depicted as
angling. The orthodox fishing weapon of the Old Kingdom noble, whose life was largely
one of vigorous physical activity, was always the bident. As this type of spear is not seen
in the hands of the professional fisherman, it must be regarded either as a purely sporting-
weapon, or as one inherited by the upper classes from an ancestry whose culture, in this
particular, varied from that of the peasantry. Similarly, one sees the throwing stick regu-
larly used by the nobles in the Old Kingdom fowling scenes, whereas the peasants appear
to have taken birds only by means of traps and clap nets.167
The bidents figured upon the monuments are of two sorts -— in one the points are
lashed firmly to the end of the shaft (fig. 47); in the other, a secondary piece is fastened
to the shaft at some distance from the lower end of the latter (fig. 46).
Of these two types the former is by far the commoner in the representations: in the
Old Kingdom it is the only one depicted. The skill and care with which these spears were
sometimes made is well illustrated by the XII Dynasty example here reproduced in fig.
47 -— the original is in the tomb of Khnumhotep at Beni Hasan. The two heads, as is
always the case, carry each one barb. The tangs are fitted into slots to receive them on
opposite sides of the end of the shaft. They are kept in place by a whipping passed round
the end of the shaft, and by a crisscross lashing which travels up the shaft and ends in
107 The name of the bident kswy, “ the two bones ” (dual), cannot be said to throw any clear light on the ques-
tion. The sing, ks “the bone,” is the name for the bone or ivory harpoon head of prehistoric times; Griffith, Hiero-
glyphs, p. 52, sq. What may be a specific allusion to the use of the bident by the nobles exists in the biographical
inscription of Henku, but the text is damaged and obscure; Davies, Deir el Gebr&wi, pt. 2, pl. 24, col. 7-8, and text
p. 30; cf. Breasted, Ancient records, vol. 1 § 280.