Sacred ibis. 1790 engraving of a sacred ibis,Threskiornis aithiopica,a wading bird native to Africa. In ancient Egypt this bird was revered as the embodiment of the god of wisdom,Thoth. Thoth was depicted in hieroglyphic form as a man with the head of an ibis,such as in the temple of Sethos,where he hands the hieroglyph of life to Osiris. Entire "cemeteries" of preserved ibis mummies have been found at Sakkara in Cairo and at Hermepolis in middle Egypt. The bird is thought to have been common in Egypt at the time of the Nile floods,but it has not bred there since the first half of the 19th century. Sacred ibises form lines of V-formations in flight | |
Lizenzart: | Lizenzpflichtig |
Credit: | Science Photo Library / Bernard, George |
Bildgröße: | 2480 px × 3699 px |
Modell-Rechte: | nicht erforderlich |
Eigentums-Rechte: | nicht erforderlich |
Restrictions: | - |