Thread by @AntiquityJ

NEW: A “masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art” is so detailed researchers have been able to pinpoint the bird species in it. These images of the natural world helped create a space for relaxation and recreation in a palace.

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📌 The artwork was discovered at Amarna, the location of the capital city of Pharaoh Akhenaten (1347–1332 BC). Excavations in 1924 uncovered a palace belonging to Meritaten, daughter of the pharaoh and Nefertiti. 2/14

📷: The palace today by Olaf Tausch / CC BY 3.0

🐦 The palace features several lavishly decorated rooms. One of these, the ‘Green Room’, has a rare depiction of birds in a wild papyrus marsh with no signs of human activity. 3/14

📷: Part of the marsh scene

🗨️ “They have since come to be regarded as masterpieces of ancient Egyptian art,” said Dr Christopher Stimpson and Professor Barry Kemp, “Featured in these paintings are some of the most skilfully rendered and naturalistic images of birds known from Dynastic Egypt.” 4/14

Despite the quality of these images, they have received relatively little attention. As such, not all the bird species in the art had been identified in the nearly 100 years since it was found. 5/14

🗨️ “The art of the Green Room has not received as much attention as you would perhaps expect. This may have been because the original plaster panels did not survive well,” said Dr Stimpson. Early attempts at conserving the painting accidentally damaged it. 6/14

🔎 So Dr Stimpson and Professor Kemp set out to identify the birds of the Green Room. The pair consulted modern ornithological data and a high-quality copy of the artwork made in 1924 by Nina de Garis Davies to identify the birds. 7/14

📷: Nina de Garis Davies' copy

✅ They were ultimately able to identify several species, including shrikes & wagtails. These join the kingfishers and pigeons previously identified. They also found migrant birds are annotated, perhaps indicating a seasonal element to the art. 8/14

📷: Shrike and wagtail

🪶 The artwork also may show an ancient Egyptian pigeon problem. Rock pigeons are depicted but are not native to the papyrus marshes. Perhaps, like in modern cities, pigeons were attracted to the area by human activity. 9/14

📷: Rock pigeons

Whilst this can't be ruled out, the researchers think the artists instead included these birds to make the scene seem wilder and untamed – an atmosphere the realistic artwork appears designed to create. 10/14

📷: Atmosphere

The team suggests these images of the natural world have made the Green Room a relaxing place. 11/14

🗨️ “No one knows for sure, although the Green Room was most likely a place of rest and relaxation. Illustrations in rock tombs at Amarna possibly show similar settings where women relax, socialise and play music,” said Dr Stimpson, an honorary associate of @morethanadodo 12/14

“In the Green Room, the atmosphere was likely enhanced by the visions of nature. The calming effects of the natural world were as important then, as they are (more than ever) today.” 13/14

Check out the full paper FREE:
Pigeons and papyrus at Amarna: the birds of the Green Room revisited - Christopher M. Stimpson & Barry J. Kemp
doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2…
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