Today I’m going to talk about fish 𓂋𓅓𓆟 because fish 𓂋𓅓𓆟 were an incredibly important part of life 𓋹𓏤 along the Nile River 𓇋𓏏𓂋𓅱𓈗𓈘𓈇𓏺! Also, I love fish 𓂋𓅓𓆟 and watching fish 𓂋𓅓𓆟 swim 𓈖𓎟𓃀𓈗 is something I find so relaxing!
So why fish 𓂋𓅓𓆟 on New Year’s Eve?! In ancient Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖, fish 𓂋𓅓𓆟 were seen as a symbol of rebirth and regeneration! Since the ancient Egyptian religion was primarily based on these ideas, symbols that represented them were considered important and very powerful in Egyptian culture.
One of the most common fish 𓂋𓅓𓆟 you would find in the Nile River 𓇋𓏏𓂋𓅱𓈗𓈘𓈇𓏺 was tilapia 𓇋𓆛𓈖𓏏𓆟, which is the type of fish 𓂋𓅓𓆟 that this Fish Dish (18th Dynasty c. 1479-1400 B.C.E.) depicts. Nile tilapia 𓇋𓆛𓈖𓏏𓆟 are easily identified by their very long dorsal fin! The tilapia even has its own hieroglyphic symbol – “𓆛,” and it definitely looks like the dish in the picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏!
The first Fish Dishes have been dated to the pre-dynastic period, and they are one of the types of every day objects that have persisted throughout the Egyptian civilization. It always amazes me how such ideas and objects were able to persist for thousands of years!