DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0341
254
O. Bates
however thought them deserving of mention in this place since, though they unques-
tionably appear in some scenes to have been used as baskets, their external form is almost
identical with that of some of the smaller wicker fish traps of modern Europe.
§ 9. Hand nets. For taking medium sized fish and small fry the Egyptians used
hand nets of simple construction and no great size (figs. 128, 137-142, 147, 148). The
frames of these nets are essentially alike in the Old and Middle Kingdom examples; in
fact, broadly speaking, only one form appears to have been known in the ancient Nile
Valley. In almost every case the frame of the hand net consists of a pair of sticks crossed
and lashed (fig. 142 A) near the handle ends so as to make a V. Between these two sticks,
which formed the sides of the frame, a third stick was placed crosswise to act as a spreader,
while the projecting ends of the V were then connected by a cord which formed one side
of the mouth of the net (figs. 128, 140, 142, 147). In some representations the spreader is
not shown, but since, if it were absent, there would then be nothing to keep the two
side sticks apart, its occasional omission is probably due to an oversight on the part of
the artist (fig. 139). In other cases, the frame of the net is seen to be strengthened by
a stay of rope connecting the middle of the spreader with the middle of the cord which
joins the two ends of the V (fig. 141). In the New Kingdom appears a form of hand net
which, while of the same general type as the earlier ones, seems to have been strung on
a frame having the form of an isosceles triangle, instead of on the sticks set V-fashion
(fig. 157).
The nets themselves were generally deep (figs. 128, 137, 138, 140, 141, 147, 148),
and hung between the side sticks, the cord joining the ends of the side sticks, and the
spreader (best indicated in figs. 137, 138, 147, 148). In some cases the net appears to
have been hung from the whole frame (cf. fig. 128) but the comparison of numerous
modern examples of these V-and-spreader hand nets leads me to believe that in the case
of the deep specimens this appearance is due to the artist’s difficulties in showing the net
in perspective. It is otherwise with the nets of the sort shown in figs. 139, 142. In these
cases we see a net made on a frame like that used for the deep type, but strung so as to
make a shallow scoop net.
Hand nets of the ancient Egyptian type are used today in several parts of Africa, as
for example on Lake Nyasa. There nets “with handles working over each other scissor-
wise, but kept in place by a crossbar” are in daily use.201
In their use both the deep and the shallow nets were held by the crotch of the V and
by the transverse bar, so that the fisherman could lever the net up and down (figs. 137,
140, 142), or they were grasped at the crotch and at a point far enough out on one of the
201 A. Werner, British Central Africa, London, 1906, p. 193.
O. Bates
however thought them deserving of mention in this place since, though they unques-
tionably appear in some scenes to have been used as baskets, their external form is almost
identical with that of some of the smaller wicker fish traps of modern Europe.
§ 9. Hand nets. For taking medium sized fish and small fry the Egyptians used
hand nets of simple construction and no great size (figs. 128, 137-142, 147, 148). The
frames of these nets are essentially alike in the Old and Middle Kingdom examples; in
fact, broadly speaking, only one form appears to have been known in the ancient Nile
Valley. In almost every case the frame of the hand net consists of a pair of sticks crossed
and lashed (fig. 142 A) near the handle ends so as to make a V. Between these two sticks,
which formed the sides of the frame, a third stick was placed crosswise to act as a spreader,
while the projecting ends of the V were then connected by a cord which formed one side
of the mouth of the net (figs. 128, 140, 142, 147). In some representations the spreader is
not shown, but since, if it were absent, there would then be nothing to keep the two
side sticks apart, its occasional omission is probably due to an oversight on the part of
the artist (fig. 139). In other cases, the frame of the net is seen to be strengthened by
a stay of rope connecting the middle of the spreader with the middle of the cord which
joins the two ends of the V (fig. 141). In the New Kingdom appears a form of hand net
which, while of the same general type as the earlier ones, seems to have been strung on
a frame having the form of an isosceles triangle, instead of on the sticks set V-fashion
(fig. 157).
The nets themselves were generally deep (figs. 128, 137, 138, 140, 141, 147, 148),
and hung between the side sticks, the cord joining the ends of the side sticks, and the
spreader (best indicated in figs. 137, 138, 147, 148). In some cases the net appears to
have been hung from the whole frame (cf. fig. 128) but the comparison of numerous
modern examples of these V-and-spreader hand nets leads me to believe that in the case
of the deep specimens this appearance is due to the artist’s difficulties in showing the net
in perspective. It is otherwise with the nets of the sort shown in figs. 139, 142. In these
cases we see a net made on a frame like that used for the deep type, but strung so as to
make a shallow scoop net.
Hand nets of the ancient Egyptian type are used today in several parts of Africa, as
for example on Lake Nyasa. There nets “with handles working over each other scissor-
wise, but kept in place by a crossbar” are in daily use.201
In their use both the deep and the shallow nets were held by the crotch of the V and
by the transverse bar, so that the fisherman could lever the net up and down (figs. 137,
140, 142), or they were grasped at the crotch and at a point far enough out on one of the
201 A. Werner, British Central Africa, London, 1906, p. 193.