طير النعام في الحضارات القديمة
Abstract
Ostrich bird had a special place regarding the people of ancient near east , due to the extension of Ostrich living area from Morocco in the west to the Iraq in the east within the arid and semi -arid , Herds of ostriches were living and multiplying there which made it a good meal for the people who live there, the ancient human being was used to hunt this bird in order to eat his meat and eggs and benefited from feathers to work hand fans also made from egg cups for drinking and save perfume , but hunting randomly led to a scarcity of ostriches which is made it a precious gift given to the king , during time the kings of Egypt and ancient Iraq used to import this bird from Africans , Arabian and Iranian countries considering it a rare bird .
The ancient eastern people immortalized the ostrich bird in their art rock in North Africa from Morocco to Egypt Sometimes Flying photos and at other times accompanied by herbivores or carnivores animals , as they pictured and sculptured very obviously the ways of hunting and chasing the bird by the local people , as they draw attention by picturing the bird by the way of slitting method and highlight the shape of the surface of the rock or the desert artist at that time by using the colors for drawing and it consider a unique art regarding western Arabian countries.
As in Egypt, pictured this bird on the front of the rocks or in Egyptian tombs In one scene, we see Nubians solders leading the ostrich bird or carrying eggs as a gift to the king , when the discovery of Tut - Ankh - Amon found fans of ostrich feathers and beautiful painting to hunt this bird , in one scene the Egyptian king (pharaoh) fired arrows of his loyal vehicle towards the bird which shows the sport and fun used to do by the Egyptian king In catching ostriches, also had a role to decorate the women’s hair and the goddess by using the feathers of the bird due to the softness regarding the feathers among any other bird .
In Mesopotamia Commonly used ostrich in art Mesopotamian often after (1300 BC). , When Assyrian property yearbooks indicated how to kill and prison the bird , some of it was transferred to public parks and presented to the Assyrians citizens , and rarely pictured on cylinder seals before the second millennium BC. AD , but it appeared in the seals of the Covenant Middle Assyrian ( from the 15th century to 10th century BC). , there is a Panel mud of the old Babylonian era found in ( Kish ) depicting a man riding an ostrich , an Assyrian seal back to the second millennium depicts the god Ashur having four wings suffocates ostrich each one in the side , both in the case of panic and flap the wings, and writing cuneiform at the top of the seal, as discovered ostrich eggs in the tomb of Kish (A) and the tomb of third Dynasty of Ur , then turned the bird to the state of prey in the sport of hunting practiced by the kings of Assyria, this unjust assault on the regions of its presence and indiscriminate fishing and the confiscation of an egg to make it gradually disappears from our world , like other predators such as a lion and tiger , who were previously have control over a wide area extension and currently does not exist for them in the world of the Near East.
