Duck

The Duck in Ancient Egypt


 * Egyptian Name:**

//Zt// or //St//


 * Hieroglyphics:**



The Nile valley was home to many kinds of ducks: the Ruddy Shelduck, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Eurasian Widgeon, Common Teal, Tufted Duck, Garganey, Eurasian Coot, Common Porchard, Ferruginous Duck, Eurasian Teal, and the Northern Pintail. The ancient Egyptians distinguished 15 different kinds of ducks and attempted to domesticate many of them during the Old Kingdom.

Wild ducks were a favorite prey for hunters in the Delta. They were flushed out of their hiding places by dogs or genets, then captured with nets or brought down by throwsticks. Ducks were often pictured in the marshes in Egyptian paintings and reliefs of wildlife scenes. Roasted duck was a popular food, and ducks were buried with the dead and offered to the gods. Ducks were also boiled and pickled, and plucked duck can be seen hanging in images of butcher's shops. Duck feathers were used to stuff cushions.

Flocks of domesticated ducks were kept in poultry yards or enclosures with pools for breeding, and were fed milled grain and bread pellets. The Northern Pintail (Egyptian name //Apd//) was sometimes kept as a pet. Amulets of ducks, made of ivory, jasper, glass, bone, carnelian, or gold, were buried with the dead.

The Egyptian hieroglyphic for "duck" was very common, and was used in words such as "fly," "alight," "tremble," "washerman," "cleanliness," "enter," "son," and "daughter." Images of ducks decorated jewelry, furniture, clothing, and cosmetic tools. Like the goose, a duck with a turned-back head symbolized eroticism and rebirth.

The Waterfowl of Ancient Egypt