Pelican

The Pelican in Ancient Egypt


 * Egyptian Name:**

//Henet// or //Psd'tj//

The Great White Pelican, the Dalmatian Pelican, and the Pink-backed Pelican were hunted and semi-domesticated in ancient Egypt, and they were sometimes pictured in barnyard scenes. The feathers and eggs were valued as a tribute item. The pelican was associated with the mysterious goddess Henet, and flocks of sacred pelicans were kept in solar temples. According to funerary texts, the pelican was a protective symbol against snakes.

The description of "the pelican falling into the Nile" seems connected with the idea of scooping up in its prominent beak hostile elements under the guise of fish - a concept comparable to the dragnets and bird nets used for trapping sinners in the Duat. The open beak of the pelican was also associated with the ability of the deceased to leave the burial chamber and go out into the rays of the sun, possibly an analogy made between the long cavernous beak of the pelican and the tomb shaft.

In funerary papyri the pelican has the power of prophesying a safe passage for a dead person through the Duat. A passage from the Papyrus of Nu sees the pelican as a helper: "The mouth of the pelican is opened for me. The pelican has caused that I shall go forth during the day to every place where I wish to go." Being sacred, pelicans were sometimes mummified.

The Waterfowl of Ancient Egypt