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Egyptian Artifacts

Ancient Fish Dish

Today I’m going to talk about fish π“‚‹π“…“π“†Ÿ because fish π“‚‹π“…“π“†Ÿ were an incredibly important part of life 𓋹𓏀 along the Nile River π“‡‹π“π“‚‹π“…±π“ˆ—π“ˆ˜π“ˆ‡π“Ί! Also, I love fish π“‚‹π“…“π“†Ÿ and watching fish π“‚‹π“…“π“†Ÿ swim π“ˆ–π“ŽŸπ“ƒ€π“ˆ— is something I find so relaxing!

So why fish π“‚‹π“…“π“†Ÿ on New Year’s Eve?! In ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–, fish π“‚‹π“…“π“†Ÿ 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 π“‚‹π“…“π“†Ÿ you would find in the Nile River π“‡‹π“π“‚‹π“…±π“ˆ—π“ˆ˜π“ˆ‡π“Ί was tilapia π“‡‹π“†›π“ˆ–π“π“†Ÿ, which is the type of fish π“‚‹π“…“π“†Ÿ that this Fish Dish (18th Dynasty c. 1479-1400 B.C.E.) depicts. Nile tilapia π“‡‹π“†›π“ˆ–π“π“†Ÿ are easily identified by their very long dorsal fin! The tilapia even has its own hieroglyphic symbol – β€œπ“†›,” 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!