Ancient Near Eastern

This bull head was discovered in present day Iraq in the 1920's.  It is elaborate, brightly colored and very decorated.  The bull was given some human aspects when it was created.  The bull's eyes, frown and furrowed brows are all very human quality.  I think that this suggests animals were viewed as very important during this time period and valued probably just as much as humans.  Humans were very vulnerable to nature at this point in history and were dominated by it.  Since this bull is made out of gold, I'm assuming it was an image of sacred origin, showing animals (and nature) dominated this early civilization and were a determining factor in a lot of their day-to-day activities and way of life.  During this time in history (2200 BCE) metal work was being developed and experimented with.  This bull figure is an example of the beginnings of metal work in the Ancient Near East.

Egyptian Art

Egyptians had a deep respect for nature and in many ways worshipped it. Animals and plants found their way into hieroglyphs, sacred architecture and paintings. Modern biologists can identify the species of many plants and animals depicted on hieroglyphics, while humans were painted unrealistically, showing us plants and animals were well studied and of great importance in ancient Egypt. This sculpture of a cat is adorned with gold jewelry and an intricate necklace. The cat also looks very poised and dignified, showing how cats were viewed during this time period.  Egyptians had many gods that had the head of an animal and some that were a complete animal. Many plants and natural phenomenas were an integral part of Egyptian life in addition to animal worship and respect. The annual flooding of the Nile, the stars, the moon, and the sun were all studied and reverenced. During this time, cats were thought important enough to be mummified, a burial process reserved for influential and wealthy Egyptians.  In 1888 an Egyptian farmer uncovered a large tomb containing over eighty thousand cat and kitten mummies. There have only been around three thousand human mummies discovered, leading us to believe that cats and other animals and things of nature were very important to ancient Egyptians.