Bird Notes from the Nile. 71 



There is little doubt what each sign is 

 meant to represent, except in the case of 

 the U, which is still doubtful. It might 

 be the young of a sand-grouse, partridge, 

 or quail, but it cannot be a chicken, as the 

 domestic Chanticleer and his mate have 

 never yet been discovered in the pictures 

 of the early dynasties, and were not 

 known in Egypt till after the Persian 

 invasion. 



But not only in their daily life and in 

 their writing did the ancient Egyptians 

 give a prominent place to the feathered 

 tribe. Even in their religion an honoured 

 position is the portion of the birds. 



In every funeral picture we see the 

 ba or soul of the dead, hovering, in 

 the form of a bird with a human face, 

 over the closely bound and embalmed 

 body. 



Ra, the personification of the ** Rising 

 Sun," has the head of a hawk, surmounted 

 by the disc and Uraeus ; Horus has a 

 hawk's head, surmounted by the ''double 

 crown " ; and Quebhsennuf, among the 

 four Amenti, is represented with a hawk's 

 head. 



