Ancient egg hunts were no stroll in the park
British Museum research uncovers trade in ostrich specimens for royal tombs predating Christianity
DECORATED eggs were highly sought after by ancient kings long before they became a symbol of Easter, research at the British Museum has found.
From 3,300BC, elites from Egypt to Italy were at the pinnacle of a lucrative but dangerous trade in ostrich eggs, which were hollowed out to be used in funeral rites and inlaid with gold, silver or ivory.
Scientists from Bristol and Durham universities have worked to reveal the complexities of the trade, and their analysis shows that these came from a vast network of suppliers across the ancient world.
Hunters would have to brave the ostriches to take the eggs, and the researchers found no supplier took the step of trying to farm the ostriches for the eggs. “Ostriches can be extremely dangerous, so there was a tremendous risk involved to anyone trying to take eggs from a nest,” said Dr Tamar Hodos, whose work has been published in the Antiquity journal.
Greek writer Xenophon referred to their ferocity in his epic, Anabasis, adding that his comrades were unable to catch the birds.
Eggs have symbolised rebirth for millennia, which tied in neatly with Christian theology as the religion spread in the first century AD.
In medieval times eggs would be eaten when the Lent fast was broken, and the tradition of egg hunts seems to have emerged in Germany.
But long before this spring ritual, funerary rites for ancient rulers often included the burial of the ostrich eggs.
Ancient texts refer to Assyrian King Ashurbanipal II hunting ostriches for pleasure and even keeping them as luxury pets.
But despite some rulers keeping them in captivity and the birds being notoriously difficult to handle, egg hunters appear to have sourced their supplies from wild rather than captive beasts.
Carved and decorated eggs that are part of the British Museum collection were tested to determine the environments in which ostriches were living when they laid their stolen eggs, giving an idea of the range of hunting grounds where these prized possessions were sought out.
Assyrian, Egyptian and Phoenician elites demanded the objects, which research shows were sourced from a larger area than previously thought.
This means suppliers may have been switched due to competition, or if chains were disrupted, and shows that the ancient world was economically sophisticated and connected.
“The entire system of decorated ostrich egg production was far more complicated than we had imagined,” said Dr Hodos.