Symbols of unification -3

A highly important group of mythical monsters is discernible in a wall-painting in the dynasty XI tomb of the nomarch Baket III (BH 15) at Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt. This grand tomb-chapel is also well-known for its carefully observed collection of birds and bats. In an extensive composition illustrating the tomb-owners’ huntsmen with bow and arrow in the desert, there appears a file of four fancied animals, intermixed with the naturally occurring fauna. Although these curiosities do not appear to be the subject of the chase, the artist has still labelled each of them with their names, as he did with most of the game. These include the dog-like animal of the god Seth, whose zoological identity cannot be ascertained, which has been depicted with its characteristic erect, arrow-like tail and squaretipped ears, but not with its usual curved snout.
Next, come our old familiar friends the griffin and a serpopard. Lastly, there is what is likely to be an outlandish elephant, or so it is called in the caption above it; nevertheless, the single horn protruding from its head is reminiscent of a rhinoceros (but not of a unicorn). While in the dynasty XII tomb of Khnumhotep II (BH 3), at the same site, in a similar desert hunting scene, there is another exotic monster. This one closely resembles the mixture of a cheetah and a griffin, but surprisingly, has a human head sprouting between its outstretched wings. We will encounter this oddity again on ‘magic wands’ of the same age