HUNTING, FISHING, FOWLING AND FORAGING

seining fish, 5th Dynasty

The hunting of animals for their meat was common in predynastic Egypt. Wild cattle ( Bos  Primigenius) and hartebeest were hunted in the Nile valley, while deer, wild ass and hares were found in the desert margins. Wild cattle were well adapted to the northern marshlands of the Delta, and tolerant of other wet areas, hartebeest preferred drier conditions, nonetheless, the bones of both are often found together in archaeological sites.

The main prey for hunters in the desert was the Dorcas gazelle, which was abundant in Wadis along the edge of floodplain. Addax and oryx antelope, jackals and desert cats were also hunted.

Fish hook, New Kingdom, Angeling 6th Dynasty

Wild cattle were easy to hunt, especially during the dry season, when they congregated around sources of water and food, similarly, hunters found it easy to stalk gazelle that would seek the shade of trees and shrubs. Egyptians hunted on food and used bows and arrows, spears and lassos, and dogs, they caught smaller animals in nets and traps. Their arrowheads were of small sharpened flints, occasionally attached to the lower jaw and teeth of a catfish. Animals were slaughtered and skinned with flint knives and the hides were prepared using flint scrapers.

After the development of agriculture, the hunting of large animals as a subsistence activity declined, but fishing and fowling were still pursued in dynastic times. The Nile and its surrounding marshes provided ample resources. Turtles and mussels were collected from the river. Hippopotami and crocodiles were occasionally hunted for food too. 
March scenes with people fishing, fowling harvesting papyrus and making papyrus rafts are usually closely associated with cattle-breeding activities. The final stage of seining (or netting) fish by fishermen is often shown, as are several other methods, in particular catching fish in baskets and by means of small hand-held clap nets. Spearing fish and angling, both usually done from a small papyrus raft, must have, must have been regarded as enjoyable relaxations.