DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0342
Ancient Egyptian Fishing
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side pieces to give the same control (figs. 139, 141). The deep nets were used from rafts
or canoes (figs. 128, 137, 140, 147, 148); the shallow type, obviously intended for catching
small fry, was used in shallow waters in which the fisherman waded about (figs. 139,
142). Both forms were known in the Middle as well as in the Old Kingdoms, and in
conjunction with both the fisherman often made use of a net bag in which he dropped
his fish when caught. These bags (figs. 128, 139, 142) were either held by the fisherman
with the hand nearer the crotch of the frame, or, possibly, were tied to the latter at that
place.
The simplicity of the frame of the Egyptian hand net insures its having many cog-
nates among modern primitives: a perfect parallel, for example, is used by the Kwakiutl
of Vancouver Island.202 In Egypt the type survives, but has been modified in the man-
ner seen in figs. 143, 145: the spreader has been set well up in the angle between the side-
sticks, and instead of the latter being crossed, they are set in a short handle so placed
between them as to bisect the angle they form. This handle sometimes (fig. 143) joins
the spreader. Many of the modern Egyptian hand nets are fitted with a cord made fast
to the ends of the V: by means of this cord the net can be very easily raised by the fisher-
man. Modern Egypt has evolved or imported a hand net to which this attachment is
usually fitted, and which has in addition a long handle fastened to a semicircular iron hoop
(fig. 144) — a type quite unrepresented on the ancient monuments. In the Upper Nile
basin, among the Mittu, is found the net with the isosceles-triangular frame already
noticed as of occurrence in the New Kingdom (fig. 146; cf. with fig. 157); but whereas
the net of the ancient example appears to have been shallow, that of the modern one is
deep.
§ 10. The cast net. The form of net most commonly employed by the modern
Mediterranean, Egyptian, and Red Sea fisherman is that most rarely represented on the
ancient monuments — I refer to the circular cast net, of which a modern Egyptian
example is given in fig. 150, and the use of which I have tried to illustrate (after Boat’s
excellent photographs) in figs. 152, 153, 154.
The simplest of the modern Egyptian cast nets, as employed from Khartum to the
Delta, is circular in shape, and has an average circumference of about 15 m. with a 1.5 cm.
mesh. Both circumference and mesh vary a good deal, the smaller meshed nets being,
of course, the more expensive. To the middle of the net is attached a strong cord, while
a thinner cord runs round the circumference. Leads, spaced about 8 cm. apart, are bound
to this latter cord, which is caught up on the inside of the net every 40-50 cm. so as to
form all along the inside of the net, at its bottom, pockets some 15 cm. deep. These
202 F. Boas, The Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island (Jessup North Pacific Expedition, vol. 5, pt. 2), Leyden and New
York, 1909, p. 467, fig. 145. Small olachen net with wishbone-shaped frame and rectangular opening.
255
side pieces to give the same control (figs. 139, 141). The deep nets were used from rafts
or canoes (figs. 128, 137, 140, 147, 148); the shallow type, obviously intended for catching
small fry, was used in shallow waters in which the fisherman waded about (figs. 139,
142). Both forms were known in the Middle as well as in the Old Kingdoms, and in
conjunction with both the fisherman often made use of a net bag in which he dropped
his fish when caught. These bags (figs. 128, 139, 142) were either held by the fisherman
with the hand nearer the crotch of the frame, or, possibly, were tied to the latter at that
place.
The simplicity of the frame of the Egyptian hand net insures its having many cog-
nates among modern primitives: a perfect parallel, for example, is used by the Kwakiutl
of Vancouver Island.202 In Egypt the type survives, but has been modified in the man-
ner seen in figs. 143, 145: the spreader has been set well up in the angle between the side-
sticks, and instead of the latter being crossed, they are set in a short handle so placed
between them as to bisect the angle they form. This handle sometimes (fig. 143) joins
the spreader. Many of the modern Egyptian hand nets are fitted with a cord made fast
to the ends of the V: by means of this cord the net can be very easily raised by the fisher-
man. Modern Egypt has evolved or imported a hand net to which this attachment is
usually fitted, and which has in addition a long handle fastened to a semicircular iron hoop
(fig. 144) — a type quite unrepresented on the ancient monuments. In the Upper Nile
basin, among the Mittu, is found the net with the isosceles-triangular frame already
noticed as of occurrence in the New Kingdom (fig. 146; cf. with fig. 157); but whereas
the net of the ancient example appears to have been shallow, that of the modern one is
deep.
§ 10. The cast net. The form of net most commonly employed by the modern
Mediterranean, Egyptian, and Red Sea fisherman is that most rarely represented on the
ancient monuments — I refer to the circular cast net, of which a modern Egyptian
example is given in fig. 150, and the use of which I have tried to illustrate (after Boat’s
excellent photographs) in figs. 152, 153, 154.
The simplest of the modern Egyptian cast nets, as employed from Khartum to the
Delta, is circular in shape, and has an average circumference of about 15 m. with a 1.5 cm.
mesh. Both circumference and mesh vary a good deal, the smaller meshed nets being,
of course, the more expensive. To the middle of the net is attached a strong cord, while
a thinner cord runs round the circumference. Leads, spaced about 8 cm. apart, are bound
to this latter cord, which is caught up on the inside of the net every 40-50 cm. so as to
form all along the inside of the net, at its bottom, pockets some 15 cm. deep. These
202 F. Boas, The Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island (Jessup North Pacific Expedition, vol. 5, pt. 2), Leyden and New
York, 1909, p. 467, fig. 145. Small olachen net with wishbone-shaped frame and rectangular opening.