Between Heaven and Earth

Birds in Ancient Egypt

edited by Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer

Book cover: Between Heaven and Earth

Extent: 232 pages

Publisher: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures

Subjects: Ancient Egypt, World Archaeology

Series: Oriental Institute Museum Publications

Series volume number: 35

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(October 2012)

ISBN: 9781885923929

Price: $29.95

In stock

Companion to an exhibit at the Oriental Institute Museum, this is the first comprehensive study of birds in ancient Egyptian society, economy, art, and religion. An index of bird species makes this volume useful for naturalists as well as for Egyptologists and art historians.


Issued in conjunction with an exhibit at the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago, this is the first comprehensive study of birds in ancient Egyptian society, economy, art, and religion. Essays address the role of birds in the religious landscape, their use in hieroglyphic and Coptic scripts, birds as protective symbols, as decorative motifs, and as food. A group of essays on “Egyptian Birds and Modern Science” presents the newest forensic research on bird mummies. Other articles address bird behavior as shown in Egyptian art and the present state of avifauna in the Nile Valley. The catalog describes forty artifacts, many of which are previously unpublished. An index of bird species makes this volume useful for naturalists as well as for Egyptologists and art historians.

  • Edited by Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer